Rudyard Kipling is said to have written 'The Jungle Book' based on his stay in India and his imagination of the Central Indian forests. His story 'Hunting-Song of the Seeonee Pack' is based on the jungles around Seoni town, that include Pench Tiger Reserve.
I visited the well-known Kanha Tiger Reserve in Central India from the 19 to 24 of this month to attend a WWF-India meeting and also to see our work there. Flying in to Jabalpur from Delhi on Monday, we drove through the beautiful forests of Satpura - Maikal landscape. The forests are of teak as one drives from Jabalpur on the highway to Raipur City (Chattisgarh), through Jabalpur and Mandla territorial divisions. The teak slowly gives way to sal as one crosses the Narmada River at Mandla Town. About 40 km south-east of Mandla is Kanha Tiger Reserve. 
During the week we managed to get into the park a couple of times. Tourism here is very visible unlike many of the parks down south like Dandeli or Mudumalai. There are hordes of Maruti Gypsy vehicles lined up at the entrance to the park, as early as 5 AM, waiting for their chance to enter the forest. All seems organised and well-oiled until you meet this guy driving a Gypsy towards you and says where they saw a tiger a few minutes ago. Your driver races down the dirt track and as you near the site where the tiger was sighted, you see tens of Gypsies lined up along the road to catch a glimpse of the King. Hyper-excited kids, childish adults, awe-struck videshis...a wide spectrum of the audience awaits you, much of which is noisy.
As tourism is important to the economies of many small villages and towns around Kanha and since Kanha is one of 'The' places to see a wild tiger, the forest department is under tremendous pressure to cater to the needs of different sectors. Despite these factors, the forest department and the Government of Madhya Pradhes have done an excellent job in protecting Kanha and its wildlife. I guess some one up the chain needs to be firm and restrict the number of gypsies approaching a tiger. Till then it's literally a rat race, even in Kipling's Jungle Book country. 
