Best place to see tigers in India

[Judey]

I want to come to India only so that I can see tigers, in their natural habitat. I know there are many tiger reserves in India, but I dont know which is the best one to visit. I will probably not visit India again well for at least another 7 or 8 years, so I need advise for the best tiger reserve to visit from experts or those who know about the tiger reserves.

 

[Deven]

I am no expert at telling which tiger reserve is in India, but I can defiantly provide you with a list of tiger reserves in India.

Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve - located in Madhya Pradesh
Sunderbans Tiger Reserve - located in West Bengal
Bandipur Tiger Reserve - located in Mysore (Karnataka)
Ranthambore Tiger Reserve - located in Rajasthan
Corbett Tiger Reserve - located in Uttarakhand
Kanha Tiger Reserve - located in Madhya Pradesh
Pench Tiger Reserve - located in Maharashtra
Sariska Tiger Reserve - located in Rajasthan
Periyar Tiger Reserve - located in Kerala
Tadoba Tiger Reserve - located in Maharashtra
Bhadra Tiger Reserve - located Karnataka
Buxa Tiger Reserve - located in West Bengal
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve - located in Uttar Pradesh
Indrawati Tiger Reserve - located in Chhattisgarh
Manas Tiger Reserve - located in Assam
Melghat Tiger Reserve - located Madhya Pradesh
Namdapha Tiger Reserve - located in Arunachal Pradesh
Panna Tiger Reserve - located in Madhya Pradesh
Simlipal Tiger Reserve - located in Orissa
Valmiki Tiger Reserve - located in Bihar

I hope this has helped you a bit.

 

[Bulbul]

There are so many tiger reserves in India, I thought there were only 4 or 5.
What are the chances of actually getting to see a tiger?

 

[Didds]

I would like to suggest one thing which a friend of mine done. He too is also someone who takes interest in wildlife and especially tigers and came to India to see a tiger reserve, he had laid out two options in front of himself, either choose around 3-4 tiger reserves across India which he would see or choose a state which has the most number of tiger reserves and explore those.

 

[DhongiBaba]

It is easiest to spot a tiger at Ranthambore. Take an experienced guide with you to make sure you make the most out of your trip. Without a good guide it would be nearly impossible to see a tiger. Have a look at some of the pictures in the Ranthambore thread that GoriBride has posted.

 

[Lalit]

DhongiBaba I was going to say the total opposite, I think that Ranthambore is a place where you will find it difficult to spot a tiger. We went to the reserve twice on the same holiday and couldn't see a tiger, maybe it was sheer bad luck!

 

[Dhruv]

Madya Pradesh has some of the best tiger reserves so I would recommend going to Madya Pradesh. You can also visit two states depending on the duration of your holiday.

 

[Anubhav]

Ranthambore is a large park, but number of tigers is very less. I went there some time back and unfortunately the park was closed then but was told by the guide that there are very few tigers left in the resort, but they do take you to the locations where tigers stay so the chances are greater to see, if going to a national park make sure you spend at least 2 days there in case you are not able to see any tigers in your first visit.

 

[turtledove]

I think the Bandavgarh Tiger reserve is good, and you can also spot other wild animals like leopards, sloths, monkeys, wild boars, wild birds and more. The Pench Tiger reserve is also great. It's located in Madhya Pradesh, and I believe the probability of seeing tigers there is quite high. The Kanha Tiger reserve is an older reserve, but I've heard that it's quite good as well.

 

[Alexandoy]

It is easiest to spot a tiger at Ranthambore. Take an experienced guide with you to make sure you make the most out of your trip. Without a good guide it would be nearly impossible to see a tiger. Have a look at some of the pictures in the Ranthambore thread that GoriBride has posted.

That is a good advice, I guess. Since tourists have limited time, it is a good option to hire a guide to achieve your objective of seeing a tiger. And as you said that it is nearly impossible to see a tiger without a guide then what's the point in going for a safari without seeing the animals? But I'm sure the guide would cost a lot unless you would hire him for just a short time only. But being tourists, I think it is all right to spend on guides as a way of helping them with their employment.

 

[harpazo22]

The first place would be Bandhavgarh National Park in Madhya Pradesh. I went there for my first trip and it was absolutely amazing. They are so beautiful. They have a lot of tigers there too. You can get safari tickets too to see forest tigers as well.

 

[Debapriya Deb]

Bandipur National Park, Madumalai Tiger Reserve, Nagarhole National Park and Periyar Tiger Reserve are located very close to one another in the borders of Karnataka, Tamilnadu & Kerala. Although sighting a tiger on a safari ride is purely based on your luck, the probability of sighting one in any of these 4 tiger reserves is much higher than anywhere else in the country.

Being an wildlife enthusiast, I have personally been to Bandipur (thrice), Madumalai and Nagarhole. And except Madumalai, I was lucky to spot the majestic animal in the other two sanctuaries. I have also visited Kaziranga, Manas and Buxa tiger reserve previously, but the big cat kept on eluding me till my first visit to Bandipur.

From my experience, your best bet in India to spot a tiger is the Bandipur National Park. Period.

Here's my latest travelogue to Bandipur which might interest you (Yes, I did manage to spot a tiger this time as well ) - Bandipur Travelogue - Boys Day Out At Bandipur National Park

And a teaser for you -

Tiger Safari At Bandipur

• Debapriya Deb
• Sep 3, 2015

Regards,
Deb

 

[pwarbi]

I knew there was tiger reserves in India but as others have already said I too wasn't aware there was that many. I guess just because you go to a reserve, even with an experienced guide taking you to the places that you regularly see tigers it's still down to luck if you see one or not.

 

[kokosflocken]

I would recommend the Sundarban Tiger Reserve. If you're very patient, you will almost certainly see one.

 

[Daniel]

Well, you seem like your main goal is to see Tigers, so I suggest you go to a reserve with a High likelihood that you will seem them, I recommend Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, because this reserve has a high chance of visitors seeing the Tigers, or you can go Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh/ Maharashtra borders, both of these places have high chances of spotting the tigers, and in addition camps for visitors that want to stay there a few days, that are quit nice.

 

[Steve Dawson]

I visited Pench Tiger Reserve in 2008 and stayed for several days. We managed to see tigers on 3 seperate occasions with no real problems. The sheer number and choice of reserves in India can be a bit overwhelming but there is plenty of additional information about nearly all of them online. I would recommend a guide if you're going to one of the smaller reserves, as well as increasing your chances of seeing the wildlife, you will also learn a great deal more if you have a friendly and knowledgeble guide, which they nearly always are.

 

[travelguide]

I think Corbett National Park is also worth to try. It got some beautiful jungle sceneries as outlined in the Rudyard Kipling's famous work "Jungle Book". Being the first national park of India, set up in 1936, the park managed to retain its primeval ambiance. It remain closed from June 15 to November 15. It offers great opportunities for adventurous tourists, photographers and anglers. You can also enjoy elephant ride for wildlife viewing in morning and evening hours.

You can find a lot of other discussions in this forum with more details of this park that gives a perfect picture.

 

[briannagodess]

The best tiger reserves in India:

1. Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh
Possibility of seeing tigers: High
Additional: Temples, shrines, caves, other wildlife animals (monkey, sloths, boars)

2. Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh
Possibility of seeing tigers: High
Trivia: Inspired The Jungle Book

3. Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh
Possibility of seeing tigers: High
One of the best known and oldest parks

4. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra
Possibility of seeing tigers: High

These are the tiger reserves which you have a high possibility of spotting tigers. There are many more but they mostly have a low or good possibility of spotting tigers. I hope this helps!

 

[sillyllucy]

I have seen tigers in zoos in America. They look so powerful. It would be so amazing to see some tigers in India, but I always feel bad for animals held in captivity. What compels you to want to see them?

 

[briannagodess]

I think that seeing tigers in reserves is more like seeing them in their natural habitat rather than seeing them in cages in zoos. And that is really the great thing about India as it has a lot of tiger reserves where you can see tigers in their natural habitat and living as they naturally do so. They catch their own food, hunt and sleep on their own preference. And I think reserves are great places for them to enable them to be safe from captors but at the same time, not become held like a prisoner in cages.