The Story for Conservation started in the Sankhala Family three generations ago. When Amit’s grandfather was a Forester, he was lured into killing his first Tiger. The feeling of guilt made him change his mission in life. In his book he writes –
“Even today the scene is as fresh as it was that morning, and the open eyes of that tiger have haunted me all my life. To overcome my guilt I have dedicated my life to the cause of tiger preservation. “
Kailash Sankhala was the first conservationist who raised his voice in favour of protecting the tiger as early as 1956. He conducted an extensive study under the Jawahar Lal Nehru fellowship during a time when tiger population was dwindling at an alarming rate due to poaching and hunting. His presentation on the status of the Tiger, at the IUCN conference in 1969 Delhi, raised an alarm of Tigers heading towards extinction. With the backing of Indira Gandhi and determination of great leaders like Dr.Karan Singh, MK Ranjitsinh and many more, an aspirational conservation program was launched name Project Tiger, to which Sankhala was the first founding Director. Till today, this is the biggest conservation program for Tigers and has created over 50 Tiger reserves in India.
Kailash Sankhala was the first conservationist who raised his voice in favour of protecting the tiger as early as 1956. He conducted an extensive study under the Jawahar Lal Nehru fellowship during a time when tiger population was dwindling at an alarming rate due to poaching and hunting. His presentation on the status of the Tiger, at the IUCN conference in 1969 Delhi, raised an alarm of Tigers heading towards extinction. With the backing of Indira Gandhi and determination of great leaders like Dr.Karan Singh, MK Ranjitsinh and many more, an aspirational conservation program was launched name Project Tiger, to which Sankhala was the first founding Director. Till today, this is the biggest conservation program for Tigers and has created over 50 Tiger reserves in India.
Kanha and Bandhavgarh, are already well established national parks where conservation projects by various organisations have been successful. The idea of Tiger Trust was, after they finished establishing grassroot conservation in these parks, with medical camps for villagers, conservation awareness in local villages, skill training, Tiger Trust started to focus on bigger issues. Poaching was rampant in the 90s and TT recruited a legal team to start fighting on behalf of the Tiger with the help of the forest department and local villages. Legal cases were tried against poachers, while giving witness protection to local villagers. TT went on to provide guard training workshops to various national parks, awareness in schools based in metropolitan cities and organising the Kailash Sankhala memorial lecture at WWF Delhi to spread awareness of whatever the current crisis in wildlife conservation that would need awareness.
The Lodges at Kanha & Bandhavgarh, support the work of Tiger Trust and provide a home base to many conservation documentaries which are made. Sustainability is high priority for any camps that are made by the Sankhalas. You will always find that 95% of the employees at any of the lodges are from the local villages, who have been trained over many years to move up the ladder. (Might be good to insert an image of an employee). The Food is all sourced from local area to provide a Farm to Table Experience. In Bandhavgarh, you will find Solar Haat’s, Solar Cookers, and Wormi-Composting. Whereas in Kanha, they have regrown a Sal Forest over 25 years around the property, which is now home to countless birds and flying squirrels.
And one of the utmost important sustainability principles – is the experience. Every person at the lodge along with the naturalists are there to teach our guests about nature. About why nature preservation is important and how addictive a Wildlife experience can be. Hence, bring your children, friends, and family. You may come as a guest but we will send you back as a conservationist.
It’s 50 years since Kailash Sankhala took the helm at India’s Project Tiger - and his family wildlife lodge is still doing a roaring trade, finds Tamara Hinson. MTEN minutes into a stroll along Bandhavgarh National Park’s boundary when I start questioning my keenness to see the wildlife. My companion is naturalist Simranjit, whose stories amuse and terrify in equal parts. He chuckles when he realises I mistook the flimsy fence for some kind of barrier.
Alarm calls from monkeys grew increasingly shrill, the shrieks of peacocks ever louder. The jungle was on red alert. Such animal warnings about predators are just what you want to hear if you’re searching for a big cat in India: in this drum roll of agitation, our 4x4 rounded a corner and came to an abrupt halt. In front of us, a tiger had stepped out of the undergrowth.
Poner Singh is a stubborn man. When India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) invited him to swap his hand-to-mouth existence in the teak forests of the Satpura Tiger Reserve for a free house and five acres of farmland on the outside, the father of two declined.
Sankhala is certain I’ll see a tiger. He tells me this as we bump along the dirt roads of Bandhavgarh National Park, India’s tiger country – 1,540km2 of swaying grassland and tropical forest where the mighty Bengal tiger roams freely.
Tamara Hinson heads to Bandhavgarh National Park, one of India’s best conservation success stories, in search of big cats.
From the moment I enter Bandhavgarh National Park, it’s clear the wildlife is never far away.
