4 Aug. 2019



There are 39 tiger reserves in India but arguably the most famous is Pench Tiger Reserve in Seoni, a vast nature reserve that straddles the central Indian states of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Besides being one of the world’s most renowned tiger habitats, it is also among India’s most important bird sanctuaries. The Pench Tiger Reserve and the surrounding area were the original setting for Rudyard Kipling’s famous work, The Jungle Book. Not surprisingly then, given that tiger conservation is the prime motivation for the Wild Tiger Roar Trip, Pench was a compulsory stop for the Roar Trip co-pilots Gautom Menon and Paul George V.

Day 4 saw our intrepid duo make the ten-hour, 600km drive from Hyderabad to the tiger reserve. But first there was an important stop in the city of Nagpur, two hours to the south of Pench. There Gautom and Paul caught up with one of India’s most famous wildlife conservationists, Nitin Desai (pictured below).

Desai is Director, Central India with the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). Having worked as a volunteer with the World Wildlife Fund in 1987, he became increasingly concerned by the impact of poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

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