Crowds, Bollywood music and celebrity tigers: Are Indian safaris getting out of hand?

The Hindu

6 days ago

When Arrowhead, one of Ranthambore National Park's favourite tigers, died of cancer, the Internet exploded with tributes. However, wildlife biologist Sanjay Gubbi, whose work focusses on the conservation of large carnivores such as tigers and leopards, believes that selective sympathies towards animals that have attained celebrity status, often because of their popularity with tourists, may be somewhat misplaced.
He argues that tourists who enter protected parks with large cameras and have an immense social media following push for policies and management that are completely 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 not interfere in the lives of animals, especially large animals like tigers and elephants, which have few natural enemies in 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.'
According to conservationists, there are other equally serious aspects of tiger tourism, which has seen a steady rise in recent years, that need to be considered, including the impact of risky tourist behaviour (making loud noises, getting off vehicles during safaris or misusing mobile phones) and the creation of infrastructure that exceeds the carrying capacity of these forests. 'I am not againsttourism,' says Dharmendra Khandal, the executive director of Tiger Watch, a leading 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 under Project Tiger, the tiger conservation programme launched by the Indian Government in 1973. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) website, ecotourism in these reserves is supposed to emphasise low-impact activities, such as guided nature walks and safari tours, promoting a deeper understanding of the delicate ecosystems that support these magnificent big cats. 'Strict regulations are in place to ensure minimal disruption to the natural habitats, safeguarding the vulnerable tiger population,' it further states.
Tourist footfall in these reserves has been steadily increasing in recent years. The Kaziranga National Park in Assam, for instance, welcomed over 3.4 lakh tourists in the previous financial year, marking a 30% increase compared to last year, according to the park's website, while the Kanha Tiger Reserve has already had nearly 2.58 lakh visitors in 2025, 'a surge of nearly 16,000 more tourists compared to the previous year. '
In the view of Chandreyi Bandyopadhyay, Nagpur-based wildlife writer and enthusiast, who has been visiting tiger reserves since childhood, the rise and rise of tiger tourism has been putting things out of balance. '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, something that has changed markedly since the COVID pandemic, with more and more people opting to holiday in forests, and an obsession to see tigers in the wild, 'because sightings increased and social media came in. There are daily updates on where you can spot a tiger.'
This tourist frenzy — to sight a tiger and get Instagram-worthy photographs — often leads to a flouting of protocol for safaris laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which include regulations on vehicular movement and maintaining a safe distance from the animal. According to a recent study, published in ScienceDirect in 2024, the rise of social media platforms, the phenomenon of 'micro-celebrity' status, and the quest to share high-quality, dramatic images have influenced the way people behave in nature and around 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 enthusiast and amateur photographer, rather candidly puts it. 'At the end of the day, tourists want to see a tiger, and they can be idiots,' he says, recalling his last 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 best to minimise poor behaviour — mobile phones are banned inside reserves like Pench and Tadoba Tiger Reserves during safaris, for instance — Chandreyi feels that heftier penalties on tourists who flout safari protocols may be necessary. Guides and drivers are penalised for not adhering to protocol, but badly behaved guests rarely are, she says. 'I think, like for flying, people who disregard the rules of the forest despite being warned by guides must be blacklisted.'
This tiger obsession among tourists is also emblematic of a larger problem with the country'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 trainer and wildlife advisor at the Bamboo Forest Nature Conservancy, an ecolodge and conservancy located in Gothangaon, Maharashtra. While he is aware of the animal's charisma and ability to draw people 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 balance
As more and more tourists flock to these reserves, hoping to sight a big cat, another major issue crops up: unmitigated development within and around tiger reserves. While the NTCA has laid out rules for tourism in tiger reserves, stating that it needs to be 'contemplated as ecotourism…ecologically sustainable Nature tourism,' this does not always hold on the ground. 'There are very few examples of real ecotourism in this country,' believes Sanjay, pointing out that simply going to a natural landscape filled with wildlife does not mean that it is ecotourism.
In his opinion, the larger impact of infrastructure creation in these parks to support tourism is a major cause 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 another 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 line between conservation and sustainable development is always a challenge, believes L Krishnamoorthy, additional 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 done correctly, is an integral part 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.
Managing conflict
Another cause for concern is that wildlife tourism could exacerbate the already serious issue of human-animal conflicts in and around tiger reserves. While local communities have traditionally coexisted with wildlife for centuries, the situation is changing rapidly. Forest cover is shrinking even as the human population and that of some wild animals, such as the tiger, are increasing. Besides, many people living within the notified core areas of the tiger reserves have been and continue to be relocated, often against their will. The tourism juggernaut, too, does not help. '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.
Prioritising local communities for employment activities, something that is already happening in Madhya Pradesh, as Krishnamoorthy points out, could help mitigate the conflict. '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.
While community engagement is certainly crucial to the country's complex conservation narrative, it is also clear that mass wildlife tourism, centred around the commodification of tiger sightings, even when branded as sustainable tourism or ecotourism, is not enough. For starters, 'ecotourism is often an ill-used word,' believes Arjun, adding that 'it won't work' if one is building large luxury properties and hiring people from top hotel management schools in these reserves, since 'local involvement is zero in this case,' he says.
At a broader level, it may also be necessary to reassess our priorities regarding the role 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, adding that one needs to see wildlife tourism as an educational tool, not an economic model. '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'.