{"id":161,"date":"2020-03-15T05:45:07","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T00:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pugdundeesafaris.com\/blog\/?p=161"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:21:16","slug":"naturalist-training-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pugdundeesafaris.com\/blog\/naturalist-training-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Naturalist Training Program | Courses For Naturalists"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Naturalist Training Program<\/h2>\n

Deeper into the Woods<\/b><\/h5>\n

It\u2019s not just you preparing to witness the wilderness in the forests of Bandhavgarh as the park opens on 16th<\/sup> October. Pugdundee Safari\u2019s naturalists experienced and amateurs went through an intensive knowledge-enhancing \u2018Naturalist Training Program\u2019<\/strong>. It\u2019s our small step to make your Safari and stay with Pugdundee count big. Religiously for the past 12 years, Pugdundee has been in fluxing shareable knowledge in its naturalists to create a measurably distinct experience for the guests.<\/p>\n

The Need?
<\/b>
There is no \u2018need\u2019 unless one decides to take the extra mile for smiles. The irony is that trees don\u2019t move but the forest still changes! Our Naturalists are great forest enthusiasts, backing such enthusiasm by the mentorship of people like Mr.Shekhar Kolipaka (renowned conservationist and author \u2013Tracks and Signs) and Dr.Kunal Nikhil Bhopale(student BNHS) was indeed thought of as an agency driven by the motto of providing nothing less than the best safari experience<\/a><\/strong>, which comes from naturalists who are way ahead of the pack.<\/p>\n

I would like to divide the ways of sighting animals into two categories: \u2018Sight on the Way\u2019 or \u2018Follow the Way\u2019.<\/p>\n

The quality of a good naturalist is that he can identify the animal from a distance by connecting links of- the habitat, time, and behaviour (Interpreting Forests).\u00a0 Identifying animals when sighted or tracking them by following trails, scanning forests and night safaris were all a part of training. How to identify a flying Hawk, hanging Bats, dancing Butterflies, or prowling Cats in the dead of night? These were deeply discussed things and were put into practice through day and night safaris into the buffer zones of Satpura tiger reserve.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 Mr.Naresh Singh (Sr. Naturalist, Gudda) has been attending the training from past ten years but still rejoices in it as a new experience every time. In contrast, Karan who has just joined our team of naturalists had never expected such training. In his words \u201cI could not think beyond a common induction program which I have been through my four years of naturalist experience\u201d. Forest imbibes in it an unknown secret at each step; our naturalists have more to tell.<\/p>\n

Skimmer name: Pied-paddy Skimmer(Male & Female)<\/h2>\n

Scientific name: Neurothemis Tullia<\/p>\n

\"Neurothemis-Tullia\"<\/p>\n

They call each other \u2018Dai\u2019 out of respect which is a local word for \u2018elder brother\u2019.<\/p>\n

In the photo above: Shukre Dai explaining forests to NTP\u201914 batch in the woods of Satpura<\/p>\n

\"Indian<\/p>\n

\"S\u0101mbhar<\/h3>\n

Spotted: Indian Eagle Owl and S\u0101mbhar Deer during a night safari<\/h3>\n

\"crocodile\"<\/p>\n

Spotted: Crocodile (juv)in backwaters close to the lodge<\/h6>\n

Amidst Talks and Walks!<\/b>
I realised, that these Naturalists eat, breathe and dream Wildlife. Such is the passion that the two hours of nature walks in the morning never lasted for less than four hours. Reason? These never satiating brains of curiosity would stop at every new plant, every footmark, flower, or butterfly which is new to them. A call of the Sloth bear<\/a><\/strong> would reroute them to bear trails otherwise Pug marks eventually became a compass for the trails. Every year they meet once and spend some quality time with each other. Needless to say, Wilderness is the thing that gets them candid.<\/p>\n

Each one has their stories and lessons from the previous year. Connecting with Pugdundee, where their calibre has got the right push these naturalists acknowledge that training has exponentially enhanced their skills and brushed up the concepts.\u00a0 This 1 week is also a reunion for naturalists and a great week of knowledge sharing! The senior, junior, new, and old naturalists sit with each other and pool their knowledge for each-one to learn. One motivates the other and tags the new ones along.
They all compete to perform better than the other, that to be judged by the number of stories you can share. Kings Lodge<\/strong> \u2013Bandhavgarh took the tag last year. With spirits high and no connectivity until next year our naturalists have headed to their respective lodges with a bag full of mammals, butterflies, Flora, and Fauna memories. Left at Satpura, are the footmarks of 21 of these gems of naturalists, some leopard would quietly walk over them!<\/p>\n

\"Fresh<\/p>\n

Spotted: Pug Marks just outside Denwa Backwater Lodge as setting out for the 4th-morning\u00a0safari<\/p>\n

The park opens on the 16th<\/sup> and the competition to improve and be nothing but the best would start! Countdown begins\u2026<\/p>\n

Courtesy: Vineeta Yadav<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

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Wildlife Courses In India<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n\n
Naturalist Training Courses in India<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naturalist Training Program Deeper into the Woods It\u2019s not just you preparing to witness the wilderness in the forests of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[612],"tags":[556,123,16,23,278,276,109],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-naturalist-courses-in-india","tag-wildlife","tag-bamera-pug-marks","tag-bandhavgarh-national-park","tag-denwa-backwater-escape","tag-kings-lodge","tag-pugdundee-safaris","tag-satpura-tiger-reserve"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t