Jharana Jungle Lodge, Tadoba

They could go extinct. Back in 2006, a huge campaign was run across India to “Save Tigers”. The campaign has been successful, with the population of tigers rising to 1,706 in 2010 and to 2,226 in 2014. India’s tiger reserves now house around 70% of the world’s tiger population. But that’s not the end of “Save Tigers”. According to scientists working towards tiger conservation in India, 41 out of 50 tiger reserves in India could go extinct. India boasts of 50 tiger reserves, but scientists have found that only 9 out of those 50 have enough tiger population to sustain growth in breeding and avoid extinction. The criteria is as follows: The tiger reserve should have at least 20 breeding units in order to qualify as being a safe reserve for tigers. A breeding unit is a unit of one male and one female tiger. And only 9 tiger reserves: Corbett, Kanha, Painch, Ranthambore, Bandhavgarh, Sundarbans, Kaziranga, Tadoba and Mudumalai have a population of 20 o

People go to Tadoba to catch a glimpse of magnificent tigers in their natural habitat, but no tiger has ever caught everybody’s eye as the tigress Maya - the Queen of Tadoba. Born in 2010 to the W male and Nira Tigress, near Telia lake in Tadoba, Maya has quickly grown in popularity over the years, with tourists flocking to the Andhari Tiger Reserve in thousands to witness her majesty. Soon after her mother’s death, Maya started taking over her territory near the Pandherpauni waterhole.  She gave birth to her first litter of cubs in 2014 after mating with Gabbar male tiger, but while shifting them from one location to another, her cubs were killed.  This incident led Maya to become elusive for a while, as she avoided coming out in the presence of jeeps and tourists. In 2015, she was found mating with Namdev male and soon gave birth to 3 cubs - 2 male and 1 female. Maya and her cubs since became the center of attention at Tadoba, with people coming from all over the world