Rewildling Our Tiger Lodges | Tiger Safari Lodges

Rewilding the land : the heart of our set-ups

Getting hotels and resort up on its feet is challenging for both the curators and the nature. Along with a possibility of growth comes the trade off of habitat destruction that comes in form of landscape alteration, felling of trees, diversion of natural water systems and profiling of exotic species into the natural. These tradeoffs if managed responsibly could bring social, economic and environment prosperity.

To turn responsible tourism goals into reality, Pugdundee Safaris and many other sensitive operators consider re-wilding the land as the very heart of their setup and operations. We strive towards avoiding unchecked damage from the very genesis stage of construction and into full fledged operations. Infact we have experienced that just a few mindful steps could create this harmonious balance between our presence with the wild. Our lodges have been set up on primarily agricultural or abandoned over-grazed patches.

By choice, we earmarked no interference areas during construction phase and we have noticed the plants came back thriving in no time. Special attention was paid post construction in regenerating the area that was once fallow by supplementing it with local species of trees and grass. Now what we have is ‘mini forests’ that add to corridor forests or provide a strong refuge for animals. For the nature’s delight we have recorded more than seventeen mammal species that frequent, reside and even breed to raise families at the natural forested estate of the lodges. Some of the mammals that have been sighted are – Spotted Deer, Wild Pig, Jungle Cat, Tiger, Leopard, Langur Monkey, Rhesus Macaque, Jackal, Fox, Palm Civet, Small Indian Civet, Sloth bear, Rhino and Hare along with a long list of birds and reptiles.

Our guests love the natural wilderness, feeling a marked difference from the usual landscaped gardens and urbanisation. Not only is it economical to maintain but also a joy for us to be living with these wild denizens in today’s times. Plant a tree, maybe just a few pots in your balcony and you will soon have company.

Wishing you all a cleaner, greener and a wilder New Year!

Sharing some of the photographs of our rewilding efforts at the lodges

Photographs of some of our lodges as seen from Google Earth then and as on today. Over the years, we have supplemented the indigenous root stock with more local species creating a natural forest around the lodge. Currently because of the natural forest, the lodge has its resident species of birds and mammals and are happily coexisting with us.
 

Photographs of Kanha Earth Lodge in 2007 (top) and as on today (bottom)

Kanha Earth Lodge

Kanha Earth Lodge

Photographs of Ken River Lodge in 2010 (top) and as on today (bottom)

Ken River Lodge

Ken River Lodge

Photographs of Kings Lodge in 2007 (top) and as on today (bottom)

Kings Lodge Bandhavgarh

Kings Lodge Bandhavgarh