[ruzbehxyz]

From March 2021 onwards, the state of Madhya Pradesh has introduced the idea of a night safari in three of its national parks. Now all safari lovers will be able to book a night safari in Madhya Pradesh. This way the travellers will be able to see the animals under the moonlit sky. The move is also set to boost tourism in the state.


Image Credit: iStock

The route of the safari will be in such a way that it does not create any nuisance for the animals and the visitors can enjoy too, said the State Government.


How to make the bookings?

Travellers interested can book tickets online on the wildlife safari reservation portal which is handled by the forest department of Madhya Pradesh.


Which national parks are part of it and what are the timings?

Bandhavgarh national park, Kanha national park, and Pench national park will be providing these night safaris.

In Bandhavgarh national park, the timing for the night safari will be 6.30 PM to 9.30 PM. Here you will be able to see spotted deer and royal Bengal tigers. The safari will be held in the buffer zone.

For Pench national park, the timing will be from 5.30 pm to 8.30 pm. Here the tourists will be able to spot tigers, leopards, wild boar, jackal and some some beautiful birds.

And in Kanha national park the timing will be from 7.30 pm to 10.30 pm. This is a perfect place to see some barasinghas, peacocks, owls, eagles, and even royal Bengal tigers, as it is their home.

Source: https://www.tripoto.com/trip/explore...paign=listicle

[Dry Ice]

On one hand, it would be quite a thrill to experience the jungle in moonlight, on the other, I feel we will not let the wildlife be even in the nights now. Days are anyway quite chaotic for them, with all these Safari vehicles running around. Would love to hear more opinions from wildlife experts if its good or bad.

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

On one hand, it would be quite a thrill to experience the jungle in moonlight, on the other, I feel we will not let the wildlife be even in the nights now. Days are anyway quite chaotic for them, with all these Safari vehicles running around. Would love to hear more opinions from wildlife experts if its good or bad.

Not an expert, but I do recall watching a documentary where animals like tigers are usually very active at night. Members of the cat family have eyes with night vision which are far superior to us humans. This is supposedly for assisting them with their night time activities. Not sure about the others animals, but there are definitely more nocturnal animals in the jungle. Also the timings mentioned are reasonable, with the last closing time being 10:30 pm. Perhaps these night time safaris could be to compensate for the dip in earnings due to the pandemic.

[Samba]

Good that it's official now. Earlier the safari drivers used to take tourists around the buffer zone where there were no check-posts. They knew well, where they can spot animals.

Sharing a similar video, I saw in youtube from 2014. One of my close friend also did such night safaris in Kanha earlier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA0ljZn3pvQ

Originally Posted by Dry Ice

On one hand, it would be quite a thrill to experience the jungle in moonlight, on the other, I feel we will not let the wildlife be even in the nights now. Days are anyway quite chaotic for them, with all these Safari vehicles running around. Would love to hear more opinions from wildlife experts if its good or bad.

Am no wildlife expert, still sharing my views.

I can't disagree to your point.

Actually within national forests for day time safaris, tourists are not allowed to venture even 5% of the core area. Plus the safari jeeps do not leave the tracks. In buffer zone the chances of disturbing animals are even lesser. Buffer zones are more closer to human habitats. Still it may disturb some animals like Deer, Jackal or few more. Chances of Tigers or Leopards venturing these area lesser.

This move will enhance tourism and generate revenue but on the other flip side, few animals will get disturbed. If done in a disciplined way, am in favor of this decision. Rules should be strict and headlights should be used judiciously, so they do not disturb the animals much.

[am1m]

Unfortunate decision.

I thought daytime safaris ran full anyway, so not sure how much more tourism is required. The point is are reserves for tourism or for conservation?

Bad enough we follow tigers around in hordes during the daytime, now we'll start disturbing their prey and their activities when they are at their peak!

And we'll post the photos proudly online with captions like "I love wildlife!" "Magnificent wildlife!" "Tigers forever!" And we'll soothe our conscience by copy-pasting the arguments of the "tiger-celebrity" resort owners (self-styled conservationists without any scientific training on conservation however!) "Tourists bring revenue to save the tiger!" (revenue for the resorts, not the locals or the conservation effort!)