Tourism & Tigers in Asia
 Many people have a life-long dream to see tigers
in the wild. The trouble is, these large predators are notoriously
elusive, and in most parts of the world they occur in such low densities
that the probability of sighting one in the wild is very low. For
example, parts of Russia with healthy tiger populations have tiger
densities of 1 tiger for every 100km2! Some parts of the world in
places like India and parts of Nepal have lush tropical grasslands
support large numbers of deer and ungulates that also support high
densities of tiger prey, and therefore have more tigers. The odds of
encountering a wild tiger increase with increasing tiger
densities.
The highest tiger densities in
the world are found in Indian parks and reserves like Pench,
Ranthambhore, Nagarahole, Kaziranga and Kanha all of which have more
than 10 tigers per 100km2. Some
of the tigers in these places are habituated to the presence of people,
making them easier for people to see from vehicles or
elephant-back.
Tourism revenues also provide an
important economic justification for tiger conservation.
This industry, if managed responsibly, has the potential
to cultivate an attitude of stewardship among hotel owners and tourists,
and to inject vital revenue into poor local communities living alongside
the park. However, some tour operators have developed reputations for
getting their clients to see tigers at all costs, even if it means
degrading the very parks that support the tigers. This causes tensions
between park staff, tour operators and can literally reduce what should
be a once in a life-time experience into a circus act.
In response to these growing concerns,
a large group of tour operators, known as Travel-Operators
for Tigers, banded together to form a set of best-practice
guidelines for the industry, which has evolved into a certification
scheme for responsible tiger tourism. For
information about going to view wild tigers in India, and the most
responsible local and International Tour Operators and wildlife lodges,
please visit the award winning Travel-Operators for Tigers website. Your
travels can make a real difference.
One way for tourists to engage in tiger
conservation is to take photos of wild tigers on their vacation, and to
share the images with tiger researchers through our website. This will
help us to keep a track of which reserves still have tigers, and because
of their unique stripe-patterns, we could even count tigers in a reserve
based on photos that you submit. Click
here to report a wild tiger sighting.
Photo credit: Aditya Singh
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