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Journalism of Courage
It’s official. The shocking drop in the tfiger population in the Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan, due to poaching, first highlighted by The Indian Express, has hit tourism in the park. Ranthambore has seen as much as a 30 per cent fall in tourist visits this year compared with the last few years.
Rajasthan’s loss is Madhya Pradesh’s gain, with travellers and wildlife enthusiasts now preferring two other premium tiger destinations, the Kanha National Park and Bandhavgarh National Park, both in MP.
P R S Oberoi, Chairman of the Oberoi Hotel chain, which runs the luxurious, tented Vanya Vilas property at Ranthambhore admits, ‘‘Yes, we’ve taken a drop in our bookings. I’ve been saying that business will fall if we do not act quickly to save the tiger. Apart from the poaching problem, it is equally important to restrict people’s entry to the park. I’d suggest charging a premium amount, not only to control crowds but also to generate revenue to equip guards better for effective vigilance in the park.’’
Similarly, Jaisal Singh, proprietor of the Sherbagh Resort and the global luxe chain of Aman Resorts, called Aman-e-Khas in Ranthambore, admits, ‘‘We have taken a 40 per cent hit in our bookings this year. Tour operators who deal with us have asked us why should they send clients to Ranthambore when the tiger population has come down from 35 to 16. I am myself diverting many to Kanha and Bandhavgarh. I am willing to take a hit even for two years so long as the state government is serious about taking corrective measures to restore the park’s glory.’’
Singh’s concern is matched by the gritty business sense of Ravi Kalra, MD, Travel Inn (India) P Ltd, a premium wildlife tour management company in India, whose client base is mainly from the UK. He says ‘‘The Kanha and Bandhavgarh parks are not only lush and well managed and tiger sightings are almost guaranteed there. So why should I not promote them?’’ He is peeved that he lost 300 room night a season when his well-heeled London clientele refused took an ethical stand against visiting a poacher-riddled park.
Other tour operators report the same trend. Sanjay Ojha, GM, Dynamic Tours Pvt Ltd, says, ‘‘It is ironic that this agency, founded by the son of the founder-president of the celebrated Tiger Project, Kailash Sankhala, is now sending people from Ranthambore to Kanha.’’ However, he says he will not refuse clients who want to visit Ranthambhore.
Faced with the adverse publicity, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje saidt, ‘‘It is a wake up call and we are working hard to get everything under control.’’ She lists the steps taken by her government to save the tiger in its habitat: deploying several platoons of the Rajasthan Armed Constabulary to ring the park and break the poacher-official nexus, strict policing and networking that had several poachers in the net, and setting up a tiger task force with conservationists and naturalists in the team.
Tiger conservationist Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India and a member of Raje’s Task Force, is looking forward to a ‘‘decent, honest dialogue’’ between all the stakeholders—from the locals and goverment to hoteliers and conservationists—to come up with a blueprint for park management.
Wright believes it is a blessing that traffic to Ranthambore has slowed down. ‘‘Ranthambore needs a breather. It is good if the park is shut down for a while, and a proper tourism and conservation management plan is set in place before it is opened again.’’ Her words are echoed in Raje’s plainspeak, ‘‘Everyone will return once the tiger is safe. We are working hard to ensure it.’’
