Welcome to Tadoba National Park is one of the premium wildlife sports destinations in the country. An ideal spot for all wildlife enthusiasts, this park can offer views of tigers, leopards, sloth bears, and other varieties of birds in their natural habitat. Spread across an area of 1,727 square kilometres, Tadoba is the oldest and largest national park in Maharashtra.
A few entry gates serve to enter the wild of Tadoba. Each gate offers entry to various parts of the park.
Mohurli Gate: This is one of the popular entry gates, famous for its maximum tiger sightings. It offers access to core and buffer zones, hence widely preferred by tourists.
Kolara Gate: The gate lies close to Kolara village and presents an entrance to the core zone of the park. This gate has lesser congestion as compared to the famous Mohurli Gate, and thus it won't sound too crowded for a serene safari experience.
Navegaon Gate: Perfect for people who like to steer off the popular beaten paths, Navegaon Gate goes into the unvisited parts of Tadoba. It takes one to the buffer zones, which are a haven of attractive landscapes and biodiversity.
Khutwanda Gate: This gate also provides access to the core zone and is good for tigers and other species.
Zari Gate: It is located at the southern part of the park, providing an access point to the core zone fed with stunning forest cover and wildlife sightings.
Tadoba National Park is bifurcated into two zones—core and buffer—with the former having exclusive sets of characteristics from the latter and following different rules.
Core Zones: These are the core heart zones of the park, where prime concern has been given to wildlife conservation. Access to these areas is very much restricted, and strict protectionism prevails to minimise human interference. These areas harbor a maximum concentration of wildlife, including the elusive Bengal tiger. Popular core zones include Tadoba, Mohurli, and Kolara.
The zones that lie outside the core zones, and thus called the buffer zones, not only provide additional habitat for wildlife but also offer more flexible tourist access. The buffer zones are, in effect, a transition zone between human settlements and core zones, mitigating human-wildlife conflict. Agarzari and Devada, as buffer zones, are very good viewing areas for wildlife with lesser restrictions.
Different safari options in Tadoba National Park are designed to offer a unique wildlife experience to individuals:
Jeep Safari: The most famous and closest exploration of the park is by jeep safaris, which allow small groups of visitors to move within the ruggedness of the terrain and get up close to wildlife. Every Jeep holds a maximum of six passengers with a driver and a guide. Jeep safaris are available for morning and evening slots, as the pattern of animal activities varies at these times.
Canter Safari: Groups with more people, Canter safaris have open-top buses that can take up to 20 people. Though they cover a larger area, canter safaris give the most social and economic way of covering the park.
While it may seem that the system takes you on an aimless tour of the park, the safari routes are planned to give you the maximum wildlife experience while disturbing the least number of animals.
Here are some of the main routes: