On the rule of Kaziranga safari

A horrifying video of a woman and daughter falling in front of a charging rhino during a jeep safari in Kaziranga National Park recently that went viral on social media has set off the alarm bell ringing on the carrying capacity of the iconic tourism site apart from tourist safety. Record-breaking tourist footfall in the national park post-COVID-19 pandemic has brought cheers to all stakeholders of the hospitality industry. For the park authorities, the surge in visitors to the national park is a boost to revenue generation. The revenue is crucial for meeting expenditures of park management, including conservation of natural resources, wildlife habitat, and strengthening anti-poaching measures. Allowing a large fleet of jeeps for safaris inside the park has visibly disturbed the rhinos of the national park, as several incidents of rhinos charging during safaris have come to light. The national park authorities balancing revenue generation from tourist footfall and maintenance of park tranquillity to prevent disturbance to wild animals is critical for the long-term sustainability of their conservation initiatives. Images of a large fleet of jeeps carrying tourists moving bumper to bumper during safaris in Kaziranga is a worrying trend for the world heritage site and calls for undertaking a comprehensive assessment of the ground situation. The video clips of safari vehicles cornering a tigress and her cubs inside a sanctuary in Maharashtra to facilitate tourist capture videos and photos, which went viral, speak volumes about laxity on the part of authorities of protected areas in the country to enforce preventive action against disturbing wildlife in their protected habitat. The Bombay High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and directed the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests to submit a detailed affidavit on actions taken and preventive measures. The primary objective of a national park is to create a protected area for endangered and threatened species and make it a safe sanctuary for them. The World Heritage site tag of the national park is a global recognition of its conservation success and the commitment of the government to protect the park animals and its rich biodiversity. The objective of allowing tourists to limited areas of a national park is to generate awareness among them on conservation of endangered and threatened species while allowing them to enjoy the captivating view of wildlife from a closer but safe distance. Apart from the recreational angle of ecotourism, tourism activities inside protected areas like national parks and wildlife sanctuaries are important to carry forward the message of conservation of wildlife and biodiversity for making the earth a sustainable planet for every living being. A single incident of tourist safety concern due to negligence on the part of tourism stakeholders attracts negative publicity, which affects the morale of park staff—the most important stakeholders, who risk their lives and often work overtime to make the protected area a safe habitat for the rare, endangered, and threatened species. Educating the tourist vehicle owners and drivers, as well as visitors, about the importance of strict adherence to the list of dos and don’ts issued by park authorities so that wild animals feel safe at all times in their habitat. All stakeholders of the tourism industry, including the hospitality industry and tour operators, can play a crucial role in educating the visitors to national parks like Kaziranga and Manas about the role of responsible tourism in conservation and better management of protected areas. Hotels, tourist lodges, and homestay owners in collaboration with the Forest Department and park and sanctuary authorities can make briefing tourists about the dos and don’ts make a big difference. A second briefing about strict observance of the rules before embarking on jeep and elephant safaris, followed by another reminder about the safari rules by the forest staff before allowing visitors inside the park areas, can ensure that tourism activity is smooth and wildlife friendly. Social media campaigns on visitors’ responsibilities by the Forest Department, authorities of protected areas like Kaziranga and Manas that are also iconic tourism sites, the Forest Department, the Tourism Ministry, state tourism departments, and other tourism stakeholders can also be effective in raising the awareness level. Enforcement is essential for deterrent action. Anyone found disturbing wildlife while on a safari inside a national park or a sanctuary in violation of the laid-down rules must be meted out due punishment to send across a strong message to others. In view of the increasing footfall, Kaziranga National Park authorities need to revisit the rules for park visitors to incorporate necessary amendments to prevent recurrence of any irresponsible behaviour by any visitor or safari operators through strong preventive measures. It is also high time to explore the viability of the introduction of larger vehicles to regulate the number of vehicles for safaris inside Kaziranga and for decarbonising the dirt tracks inside the world heritage site for making conservation efforts sustainable.