Meet the 'Tiger Men' of Pench and Tadoba

Time of India

4 days ago

Gajendra Singh Rathore, MD, Jungle Camps India
The forest has a rhythm. But you have to be still. You have to be willing to listen.
At the entrance to Pench, the massive gate opens into the Pench Jungle Camp - the very landscape that once inspired Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book.
But the fiction ends there. At Pench, the stories are real.
They walk on four legs. They glide through the trees. And as the Jungle Camp India resort's staff at Pench and Tadoba - from founder to naturalist to chef might tell you, these stories linger long after tourists leave.
They speak of the bravery of the unseen, the unheard, the undervalued - those who protect the wild not with fanfare, but with fierce commitment.
Lives Rewritten by the Wild
The passion for the wild runs deep among the founder and staff.
There's Gajendra Singh Rathore, who took an improbable journey from chartered accountancy to conservation. Over two decades, he has built infrastructure, introduced safaris, and mentored a new generation of naturalists across central India. He speaks with quiet reverence about his mission: turning tourists into conservationists.
'Every day, our staff educates guests not just about tigers, but about the rangers who defend nature, about how you can contribute to sustainable coexistence, and about the urgency of habitat loss,' he says.
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'This is not just hospitality - it's a movement.'
Gajendra Singh Rathore, MD, JCI
Jungle Camp India's model isn't just about creature comforts or curated experiences. It's rooted in community. From hiring locals to teaching tourists about scientific research, the camps strive to embed sustainability into every aspect of their operations.
Gajendra Singh Rathore says,"Every day through our resort, our safaris, and our passion for eco-tourism, we try to make guests understand that we all share the responsibility of protecting the natural world.Our efforts are rooted in respect, listening, and patience like the forest itself."
Eco-tourism as conservation
Jungle Camps India is a constellation of luxurious eco-lodges scattered across Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, two tiger-rich states in central India. From the raw, rugged forests of Tadoba in Maharashtra to the calmer canopies of Pench on the Madhya Pradesh border, these stays do more than just accommodate - they interpret, educate, and protect.
Yash Rajput, who now oversees operations at Tadoba, left a career at McKinsey & Company to work in the forest.
'Finance couldn't compete with the call of the wild,' he says. 'Nobody goes disappointed from Tadoba. The tiger sightings here have made it a magnet for true wildlife enthusiasts.'
Naturalists here are more than guides, says Raghuveer Singh, GM at Pench branch of JCI. 'We are the glue,' Nayan, who calls himself 'Tiger Man' says. 'Between tourists and the wild.' Indeed, increasing tourist footfall has paradoxically helped tiger conservation by deterring poaching through visibility and awareness.
Samrat, a seasoned naturalist, puts it plainly, 'It was never the tourists who undermined the tiger protection campaign. When tigers vanished in certain areas, it was tourists and local nature lovers who blew the whistle.
Suagto, a naturalist at Pench, is a trained tracker who has participated in multiple wildlife censuses. But he's just as likely to halt a safari for the humble beauty of a butterfly. 'The forest speaks in many languages,' he says. 'It's not just the big cats. It's everything. You have to be willing to listen.'
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