Tiger reserves are in important part of our tourism industry. There are 42 declared tiger reserves in India which are generally operated by state forest departments. Indian tiger, also known as Bengal tiger is the national animal of India.

Its scientific name is Panthera tigris. Tigers are maintained in reserves for their scientific economic, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values and they are kept as national heritage for the education and enjoyment of the people. But in recent years tiger tourism has become a troublesome issue due to the rapid growth of killing of tigers due to illegal poaching.

This is a wakeup call not only for the department of tourism but also for the various wildlife organisations and other governing bodies. Séance the governments have failed to implement adequate enforcement response and investigation wildlife crimes have increased by yeas.

Today there are some activists and environmentalist who are demanding a complete ban in public access to wildlife reserves. But such a complete ban would be a setback. There is no question that commercial tourism must be strictly regulated, however a complete ban would be an extremely harmful step, as it will negatively impact conservation education monitoring and other conservation activities.