The majestic tiger slinks through the forest and jungle, its stripes dazzling and its eyes a startling yellow. There are just a handful of places in the world where you can see them in the wild, including a couple of parks in Bhutan and Nepal and the Sundarbans, a mangrove forest that sits on the Indian border with Bangladesh. India is the undisputed queen of tiger safaris; the country has 57 reserves spread across the country, from Kalakad Mundanthurai at its very southern tip all the way to Kamlang, some 2,500 miles east near the border with Myanmar.
India’s national animal hasn’t always been so protected. British rule saw Bengal tigers hunted nearly to the brink of extinction. The Zoological Society of London says that there may have been 100,000 tigers roaming the country in 1900, but by the early ‘70s, that number was 1,800—down from an estimated 40,000 during the country’s Independence in 1947.
Enter Kailash Sankhala, one of the country’s earliest conservationists. In 1973, he became director of the newly founded Project Tiger, a government conservation project that helped implement strict anti-poaching laws and the establishment of tiger reserves. Fifty years on, India is home to more than 70 percent of the world’s tigers—at least 3,682 of them (based on 2023’s count). Considering the average lifespan of a tiger in the wild is just 14–16 years, that’s impressive progress.
There are 57 tiger reserves across India. Visitors can see wild tigers in all four corners of the country.
Photo by Kailash Sankhala
Where to see tigers in India
You can go on tiger safari all over the country, but some reserves are easier to reach. Madhya Pradesh in central India is known as “the tiger state” and has the most tigers of any state in the country: 785 across eight reserves. Among these is Pench National Park, a 3.5-hour drive from Nagpur airport. Ranthambore, in the northwestern state of Rajasthan, can be reached by train from Jaipur in under 2 hours and from Agra in about 3.5 hours.
Visiting wild tigers wasn’t always so simple. Kailash Sankhala’s son Pradeep was an ecotourism pioneer and opened some of the country’s first lodges in the mid-1980s. Pradeep’s son Amit has been going to the jungle since he was a month old and recalls that seeing a tiger once “meant 20 hours on the train and then hours driving to the camp. In the late ’80s, elephants would come pick us up in our rooms, because that’s how you used to do safaris. Roads were limited and Jeeps could only go to certain places.”
Today, every tiger reserve is accessible—in more ways than one. None are so remote that they can’t be reached by a combination of train and car or plane and car. The parks department also sets the price on safaris, so Indians can more easily go on game drives and pay reasonable fees. Do note that most tiger reserves are closed during the monsoons—from July through September—and that reserves in Madhya Pradesh are closed on Wednesday afternoons.
A 2022 report by All India Tiger Estimation found 105 tigers in Kanha Tiger Reserve in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
Photo by James Rogerson
How to book a tiger safari
Depending on your budget, you have three choices: book a single seat in a shared Jeep; book your own Jeep through the park; or—in the style of an African safari—leave everything to your lodge. If cost is no concern, several tour operators, including Intrepid Travel, Abercrombie & Kent, and Encounters Asia (owned by Amit Sankhala), offer luxury tiger safari packages.
What it costs
The price of entry to a tiger reserve varies depending on the park. At Pench in Madhya Pradesh, for example, a seat in a shared Jeep costs 3,000 rupees (US$35) on weekdays and 4,000 (US$46) on weekends for a four-hour safari (morning or afternoon). A full Jeep—which can seat four or five people—is 12,000 rupees on weekdays and 18,000 on weekends (US$139/$208). If you go this route, you’ll need to book through the park’s website directly and coordinate getting to the park gates.
Most safari camps, such as Jamtara Wilderness Camp, a luxury tented lodge in Pench owned by the Sankhalas, generally include two game drives per day in the room rate. Many also offer a flexible option, in which you can book a room rate that includes all meals and then add game drives à la carte. The latter option is ideal for night owls who won’t make it to the Jeep at 5:30 or 6 a.m.
With only 10 luxury tents, Jamtara is an intimate camp where guests can mingle around the campfire each evening.
Courtesy of Jamtara Wilderness Camp
Where to stay
These are three of the best places to stay across three tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh.
Pench National Park
Intimate Jamtara Wilderness Camp has 10 luxury tents, which are set up a 15-minute drive from the park gates. When you’re not out looking for tigers, eat salads from the garden, borrow a bike, go for a dip, or enjoy milky chai and shortbread under the enormous banyans with their resident monkeys.
Bandhavgarh National Park
Opening March 1, the Oberoi Vindhyavilas Wildlife Resort will have two villas with private pools, 19 tent-style guest rooms with gardens, and an infinity pool overlooking a small lake.
Satpura National Park
After a morning game drive, keep the activities going with horseback riding, canoeing, or a cruise down the Denwa River at Reni Pani Jungle Lodge, which has both cottages and safari-chic tents.
Depending on the park, in addition to elusive tigers, visitors may see sloth bears, elephants, and all manner of birds.
Courtesy of Reni Pani Jungle Lodge
Will you actually see tigers?
Seeing a tiger in the wild is entirely up to chance. This is a big difference between a tiger safari in India and an African safari where you’re guaranteed to see at least some wild game. It comes down to a couple of factors: All 57 tiger reserves are government owned and managed, and so the rules are more stringent than those of most African safaris. Jeeps cannot go off-road, and walkie-talkies are for parks department staff only, so there’s no radioing around to say there’s been a tiger spotting. Guides and trackers use warning cries from birds such as hornbills and white-tailed deer to assess where these regal cats might be, but unlike, say, giraffes, zebras, or even lions who hang out on the savannah unbothered, tigers are elusive.
So, is a reserve visit worth it if there’s no guarantee you’ll see tigers? Yes, because where else would you have the slightest chance of seeing a tiger? Maya, a tourist from Madrid who went on a tiger safari in Pench and Satpura reserves, said, “After hours of tracking deer alarm calls and scanning the jungle, the moment you finally spot a tiger in the wild is magical. Its majestic and powerful presence leaves you in awe of nature’s beauty.” And there’s other wildlife to encounter, too. Amit cites Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in the southern state of Karnataka, saying it “has some of the best places to see elephants, wild dogs, black panthers, and tigers.”
