Ook zonder tijgers was er genoeg te zien. Veel herten en zo. Alleen weet ik niet hoe droog het er nu is. Laatste keer in Ranthambore was het erg droog en dan is er weinig te zien.
Een nachtje in het Sariska Palace slapen en overdag een boek lezen op het terras met uitzicht over de paleistuin is ook de moeite waard
Berichtje uit India van januari:
First the Sariska reserve lost all its tigers to poachers. And now the other wild animals are being disturbed by the heavy rush of people and vehicles twice a week when entry to the park is free.
The Sariska reserve is situated in the Alwar district, more than 110 km from here. Wildlife there includes the leopard, jungle cat, hyena, jackal, chital, sambar, carecal, langur, wild boar, four-horned deer and several species of birds.
'The state government has made entry free on Tuesdays and Saturdays because of the various religious places inside the tiger reserve and these two days witness a heavy rush of vehicles that disturb the free movement of wild animals,' Babulal Jaju of People for Animals (Rajasthan) told IANS.
Moreover, it increases the danger of poaching and accidents. The noise and air pollution also increase the threat to wild animals, he added.
The central government too has asked the state government to regulate the heavy vehicular traffic on these two days before a proposed rehabilitation of tigers takes off in the reserve.
'We have already requested the government to help us regulate traffic on the days when entry is free,' a senior official of the forest department said.
On other days, Indian visitors are charged Rs.25, foreigners Rs.200 and Rs.125 is charged for every vehicle.
A report produced in March 2005 by the Wildlife Institute of India confirmed that there were no tigers left in the reserve. Poaching was blamed for it. The forest department and the state government had faced criticisms from various quarters over the disappearance of tigers from Sariska.
The Sariska tiger park, originally a hunting preserve of the erstwhile princely state of Alwar, was declared a wildlife reserve in 1955. In 1978 it was declared a tiger reserve. The present area of the park is 866 sq km.
The Rajasthan government has started the process of shifting villages situated inside the reserve. After this, the government plans to bring in tigers from the Ranthambore national park to the Sariska reserve.
The state government had submitted a detailed project to the central government for the rehabilitation of tigers in the reserve. The project was sanctioned in November 2005.
As part of the project, officials are planning to release a tiger couple in the reserve after shifting the villages. The tigers will be fitted with radio collars to monitor their activities.