October 8, 2023

Sunday, 10:45 PM

Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve

Dholpur, Rajasthan

Today morning, we went to check the Karauli area of Dholpur-Karauli, as half of the Karauli area has been taken into the Dholpur-Karauli district while the other half of the Karauli area now falls under the RTR 2 (Ranthambore Tiger Reserve – 2). The administrative division of the reserved forest areas is such that all three areas — Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve – 2 (RTR 2) and Ranthambore Tiger Reserve — have their own separate DFOs. So today we explored the Karauli side of the Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve, which is one of the two newest Tiger Reserve alongside Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh. 

We saw the villages that are to be soon relocated so as to allow the tigers and the wildlife to reclaim the space. After spending some time around the villages, we went to meet the DFO of the Dholpur-Karauli Tiger Reserve, who told us the finer details of the future plans for this tiger reserve, which is in the process of being developed as a safari park for wildlife tourism. The route for safari vehicles as well as patrolling and still being carved through the forest, but the work is progressing at a satisfactory speed. 

Gazette notification notifying the Dholpur-Karauli district as a Tiger Reserve came in two days ago, the DFO told us, which might explain why it is not on the NTCA’s list of Tiger Reserves even though the Veerangana Duragavati Tiger Reserve is on it despite having been declared a reserve by the September 20, 2023 notification. However, Dholpur-Karauli is still not on the list as of now (10:53 PM, October 8, 2023). Maybe it takes a day or two for the NTCA to update the list — government processes being notoriously circuitous and time-consuming.

We also had a look from a distance at those areas of Karauli that are to be soon opened for safari. Currently, safaris are allowed in only some areas of the Reserve. That was the touring part of today. 

The long version of the interview with the DFO will soon be uploaded on my YouTube channel. That’s it for now!