When Arrowhead, one of Ranthambore National Park’s favorite tigers, died of most cancers, the Internet exploded with tributes. However, wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi, whose work focusses on the conservation of massive carnivores corresponding to tigers and leopards, believes that selective sympathies in direction of animals which have attained celebrity standing, actually because of their reputation with vacationers, could also be considerably misplaced.
He argues that vacationers who enter protected parks with massive cameras and have an immense social media following push for insurance policies and administration which are fully unscientific. “People may go on a safari and take a picture of a tiger limping or a wounded elephant and come back and put it on social media, putting pressure on the government to treat it,” says the wildlife conservationist, who firmly believes that we should always not intervene within the lives of animals, particularly massive animals like tigers and elephants, which have few pure enemies within the wild. “If we start treating animals like humans, and the natural mortality comes down, the population goes up artificially,” he says. And, “since habitat is not expanding, this could lead to human-animal conflict.”
Sanjay Gubbi
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
According to conservationists, there are different equally critical elements of tiger tourism, which has seen a gentle rise in recent times, that must be thought of, together with the impression of dangerous vacationer behaviour (making loud noises, getting off autos throughout safaris or misusing cellphones) and the creation of infrastructure that exceeds the carrying capability of these forests. “I am not againsttourism,” says Dharmendra Khandal, the chief director of Tiger Watch, a number one wildlife conservation NGO working in Ranthambore. “But the way it is going on, it needs some kind of correction.”
Tiger tourism rising
India has 58 protected areas designated as tiger reserves, established below Project Tiger, the tiger conservation programme launched by the Indian Government in 1973. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) web site, ecotourism in these reserves is meant to emphasize low-impact actions, corresponding to guided nature walks and safari excursions, selling a deeper understanding of the fragile ecosystems that help these magnificent massive cats. “Strict regulations are in place to ensure minimal disruption to the natural habitats, safeguarding the vulnerable tiger population,” it additional states.
Tourist footfall in these reserves has been steadily rising in recent times. The Kaziranga National Park in Assam, as an example, welcomed over 3.4 lakh vacationers within the earlier monetary yr, marking a 30% enhance in comparison with final yr, in line with the park’s web site, whereas the Kanha Tiger Reserve has already had practically 2.58 lakh guests in 2025, “a surge of nearly 16,000 more tourists compared to the previous year.”
In the view of Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay, Nagpur-based wildlife author and fanatic, who has been visiting tiger reserves since childhood, the rise and rise of tiger tourism has been placing issues out of steadiness. “Wildlife tourism was specific to hobbyists and real enthusiasts, unlike now. It is now driven by increased accessibility and popularity of individual tigers,” she says. The focus, earlier, she believes, was on inbound tourism, one thing that has modified markedly for the reason that COVID pandemic, with extra and extra individuals opting to vacation in forests, and an obsession to see tigers within the wild, “because sightings increased and social media came in. There are daily updates on where you can spot a tiger.”
A tiger walks previous vacationers at Ranthambore National Park
| Photo Credit:
Sourabh Bharti
This vacationer frenzy — to sight a tiger and get Instagram-worthy images — usually results in a flouting of protocol for safaris laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which embrace laws on vehicular motion and sustaining a protected distance from the animal. According to a current research, revealed in ScienceDirect in 2024, the rise of social media platforms, the phenomenon of ‘micro-celebrity’ standing, and the search to share high-quality, dramatic pictures have influenced the way in which individuals behave in nature and round wildlife. “The pursuit to gain influence, followers and/or a sense of gratification through virtual praise has the potential to increase risk-taking behaviour, promote unethical practices and create unrealistic expectations for nature appreciation.”
Or as T Shatru, a Chennai-based wildlife fanatic and novice photographer, somewhat candidly places it. “At the end of the day, tourists want to see a tiger, and they can be idiots,” he says, recalling his final encounter with Chota Matka aka T-126, one of the best-known tigers of Maharashtra’s Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, says, “There were nearly 30 jeeps, blocking the road, not allowing him to walk. And everyone was honking, yelling and trying to get as close as possible.”
While parks are doing their greatest to minimise poor behaviour — cellphones are banned inside reserves like Pench and Tadoba Tiger Reserves throughout safaris, as an example — Chandreyi feels that heftier penalties on vacationers who flout safari protocols could also be mandatory. Guides and drivers are penalised for not adhering to protocol, however badly behaved company hardly ever are, she says. “I think, like for flying, people who disregard the rules of the forest despite being warned by guides must be blacklisted.”
Naturalist Arjun Manjunath
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement
This tiger obsession amongst vacationers can also be emblematic of a bigger drawback with the nation’s conservation narrative. “In many ways, it has been both a blessing and a blind spot for conservation in India,” says naturalist Arjun Manjunath, the lead coach and wildlife advisor on the Bamboo Forest Nature Conservancy, an ecolodge and conservancy situated in Gothangaon, Maharashtra. While he’s conscious of the animal’s charisma and potential to attract individuals to it, he believes that “too much focus on the tiger leads to a narrow set of experiences, and you end up neglecting the larger ecosystem.”
Striking a steadiness
The nation’s conservation narrative stays closely targeted on tigers
| Photo Credit:
Arjun Manjunath
As extra and extra vacationers flock to those reserves, hoping to sight a giant cat, one other main situation crops up: unmitigated growth inside and round tiger reserves. While the NTCA has laid out guidelines for tourism in tiger reserves, stating that it must be “contemplated as ecotourism…ecologically sustainable Nature tourism,” this doesn’t at all times maintain on the bottom. “There are very few examples of real ecotourism in this country,” believes Sanjay, pointing out that merely going to a pure panorama full of wildlife doesn’t imply that it’s ecotourism.
In his opinion, the bigger impression of infrastructure creation in these parks to help tourism is a significant trigger for concern. “If you look at the Corbett Tiger Reserve, it is now ensconced all around with tourist infrastructure, cutting off tiger corridors, organising Bollywood-styled wedding parties that create huge noise pollution in addition to the other stress on resources, etc, that sort of thing.” Ranthambore is one other reserve that “is going in a very wrong direction,” feels Dharmendra. “They are developing wedding hotels in Ranthambore, because this is now a destination wedding area,” he says. “It is not a sin to get married here, but when you include 1,000 people, shouting, music, a DJ, lights, crackers, it is a problem.”
Drawing the road between conservation and sustainable growth is at all times a problem, believes L Krishnamoorthy, further principal chief conservator of forests in Madhya Pradesh. “Conservation is a complex thing, where everyone’s support is needed,” he says. “We have to assume that it is a multifarious activity where many people are involved.” However, he firmly believes that ecotourism, when completed accurately, is an integral half of conservation. “Ecotourism is important for creating awareness about wildlife, creating job opportunities for local communities and also to generate resources that can go towards park management initiatives,” he says.
A tigress together with her cub ingesting water at a pond within the Sariska Tiger Reserve
| Photo Credit:
Special association
Managing battle
Tribal individuals of Gudalur protesting relocation from Mudumalai Tiger Reserve
| Photo Credit:
Sathyamoorthy M
Another trigger for concern is that wildlife tourism might exacerbate the already critical situation of human-animal conflicts in and round tiger reserves. While native communities have historically coexisted with wildlife for hundreds of years, the state of affairs is altering quickly. Forest cowl is shrinking even because the human inhabitants and that of some wild animals, such because the tiger, are rising. Besides, many individuals residing inside the notified core areas of the tiger reserves have been and proceed to be relocated, usually towards their will. The tourism juggernaut, too, doesn’t assist. “They (locals) bear the cost of conservation, while the excitement of conservation is enjoyed by a rich tourist, the social influencer or the photographer. If such people can also become promoters of conservation, then their endeavours will have meaning and benefit wildlife,” says Sanjay.
Education must be a significant side of wildlife tourism
| Photo Credit:
Arjun Manjunath
Prioritising native communities for employment actions, one thing that’s already occurring in Madhya Pradesh, as Krishnamoorthy factors out, might assist mitigate the battle. “Whether it is the guide, protection watcher, driver or gypsy owner, almost everybody is from the local community. Our objective is to involve local communities so that the conservation benefits are brought back to them. Wherever the tourism zones are joining villages, community tolerance is high because they know they are getting livelihood opportunities and the visibility because of the tiger,” he says.
A Royal Bengal tiger walks contained in the Kaziranga National Park in Kaziranga, India.
| Photo Credit:
Anupam Nath
While neighborhood engagement is definitely essential to the nation’s complicated conservation narrative, it’s also clear that mass wildlife tourism, centred across the commodification of tiger sightings, even when branded as sustainable tourism or ecotourism, is just not sufficient. For starters, “ecotourism is often an ill-used word,” believes Arjun, including that “it won’t work” if one is constructing massive luxurious properties and hiring individuals from high resort administration colleges in these reserves, since “local involvement is zero in this case,” he says.
At a broader degree, it might even be essential to reassess our priorities relating to the position of tourism in conservation itself, as Sanjay implies. “The larger argument has been that since tourism brings in revenue, we need to have it to conserve these areas. But I feel that conservation is like education and health; you can’t expect to generate revenue out of it,” he says, including that one must see wildlife tourism as an academic instrument, not an financial mannequin. “Keep it at a minimal carrying capacity and accessible to the public. You shouldn’t make tourism expensive and out of reach of common people”.
