Bandhavgarh tourism shifts towards lower-impact tiger viewing

Tourism at Madhya Pradesh’s Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is changing as visitors, operators and guides confront the pressure to see and photograph tigers. Bandhavgarh covers 1,536 square kilometres, divided broadly between core and buffer zones. The reserve has 164 tigers according to the latest census cited by the source, with 35 accessible to tourists in the core and buffer areas.

Guide Viswajit Singh Solanki said buffer zones include farms and villages and are important to younger tigers, which may find cattle easier prey there. Adult tigers more often use core zones, where deer and other prey are more plentiful. Manav Khanduja of Pugdundee Safaris said tourists were increasingly choosing buffer zones because of the pressure to obtain a sighting.

He recalled an earlier period when “tiger shows”, involving elephants taking visitors to animals’ locations, were available. Those practices were later banned. Khanduja said responsible tourism needed renewed attention as technology and artificial intelligence made it easier to focus on recording animals rather than observing them.

Visitors are now not allowed to take mobile phones into the park, following a Supreme Court ruling in early 2026 aimed at reducing stress on wildlife. Solanki said tourists once spent more time studying a tiger’s behaviour, stripes and injuries. He hoped the phone restriction would help restore that approach, noting that some visitors had tried to take selfies with tigers.

The reserve’s tiger population remains its central attraction, although it also supports other wildlife, including the India pitta and crested serpent eagle. The article describes the reserve’s buffer areas, caves and historic fort as part of the wider visitor experience, while emphasising that responsible viewing is becoming increasingly important.