I read this thread today and cannot help but add to what has been mentioned here.

I recently came back from there. Noticed the hut like structure present. Just heard from Harshad that it

has been taken down....woohoo ! The Director has been transferred too !!

Must have been a result of this structure that I didn't sight a single tiger in that area for almost 6-7

days. Glad it was removed.

2ndly, the chaos that tourists created in the Sidhbaba area was overwhelming. Everyone wanted to see a

Tiger (for the first time, most likely) and was parked near the temple, one late morning. I was coming back

from the other side and noticed about 40 jeeps waiting there...in groups..blocking the road completely, 3

jeeps in each row. The sheer noise levels created by the tourists/their children was louder than the

Cicadas that chirp throughout the jungles. It was SO SO...commercial that I dropped my cameras and picked

up a videocamera to record this amazing chaos where tourists were shouting at each other, moving from jeep

to jeep...jumping on seats. All this was happening when the Sidhbaba female (apparantly limping these days)

was not even visible !!!!
Once she showed her head from the grass....all hell broke loose ! Tourists went crazy....the Tigress

ignored us all with her best behavior. It really was a lesson in moral science especially since she didn't

go to school ever. But, nobody cared to see her, all they wanted was a shot in their lovely mobile cameras.

Ah, bliss !!!

Thirdly, I have begun hating those tiger shows, now that I have read about and seen what the animals go

through. Admittedly, I only do them as a last resort when I cannot spot a Tiger and time is running out for

me. Proudly, I can say, in this last trip to Bandhavgarh, I did zero tiger shows and feel relieved in some

ways. They should be banned altogether........

The only time I did it last was in Kanha, that too just for my cousin who wa accompanying me for the first

time. The female tigress was sitting in thick bamboo undergrowth....panting like crazy....she clearly

needed water. However, the mahouts and rangers didn't give a damn. They were sending tourist after tourist

for 3-4 hours. We thought we were the last to ride the elephant which I had boarded reluctantly. Once I

took a first glimpse of her, I put down my cameras and pitied her hapless situation, tears filled my eyes.

The mahout asked me " sahib, photo kyu nahi nikal rahe aap". I responded only with a stare.....

All these things that are being done for extra $/ Rs ....make me cringe. After this recent experience at

Bandhavgarh and Kanha, I don't feel like visiting these places again, especially Bandhavgarh, which really

has become a glorified zoo, a modern circus with chicken wire fences that run miles and miles...and you run

a rat race to catch a tiger for yourself. If I do visit them, I will most likely focus on the lesser

attended animals and try to showcase their beauty (I have tried it this time).

Oh well, enough with my rant.....