India: Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve Pre-trip

Bengal Tiger © Exotic Journeys

Excellent birding, world-class mammal viewing, and superlative photographic opportunities are a certainty on this pre-trip to our Ganges River and Himalayas tour, with a very impressive range of wildlife including one of the world’s largest populations of Bengal Tigers.

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of its founding, the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is a jungle jewel in the crown of Indian wildlife preserves. The dense teak forests and bamboo thickets of this 240-square-mile reserve are home to an astonishing variety of mammals, birds, and other wildlife—most famously, one of the densest populations of Bengal Tigers in India. In addition to some 80 individual tigers, we also have a reasonable chance at encountering such exciting mammalian specialties as Leopard, Sloth Bear, and Four-horned Antelope.

The bird list of Tadoba-Andhari is equally impressive. Among the more than 200 species recorded here thus far are such dramatic forest-dwellers as the Green Imperial-Pigeon, Asian Koel, and Indian Roller. Waterbirds and waders are also well represented, with no fewer than five stork species, three ibis, and nine herons among the possibilities. Raptors, too, are common, and we’ll be looking for the Crested Serpent-Eagle, Gray-headed Fish-Eagle, and another dozen species of hawks and owls that are seen on the reserve. Vivid color is provided by a whole suite of improbably dazzling insectivorous birds, among them the Asian Green Bee-eater, Orange-headed Thrush, and Indian Paradise-Flycatcher.

All nights at the reserve in a single luxurious, eco-friendly jungle lodge, with elegantly furnished modern accommodations and refined Indian and continental food; travel in the reserve by custom jeep; warm, usually sunny days and pleasant evenings; typically dry, with low chances of rain.

Crested Serpent-Eagle © Brian Gibbons