Pauni Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary And Tiger Reserve — Attraction in Maharashtra

Our family group (12 persons with ages 71 to 3 years) visited Karhandla Wild Life Sanctuary in Nagpur district on 10 and 11 April 2024. The two jungle safari trips proved quite a memorable experience, particularly, the unpleasant visit on the early hours (5.30AM) on 11 April 2024. At the sanctuary private Maruti open-top jeeps are deployed for visitors which run every afternoon and morning – each for 2-3 hours. Each jeep is accompanied by a driver and one official guide plus 5-6 passengers. They take you through the jungle route and show the flora and fauna along with deer, wild boars, wild dogs, wild hens, Neel Gayi species of birds, peacocks etc. The icing on the cake is when you sight a tiger/leopard. Such a sighting is merely 50-50% chance and you may return without seeing a tiger/leopard on a trip – as it happened with us on both the days. We had an unpleasant ride on the morning of 11 April. As we embarked the jeep with our 3-year grand-daughter, in 20 minutes it started raining and we were all wet as there was no tarpaulin roof cover over our jeep. Of the 8-10 jeeps running across the safari, two-three jeeps had a tarpaulin roof cover. After complaining about the negligence of our driver, the driver struggled to get hold of tarpaulin from other drivers. After waiting under a tree to save us from rains, finally, one of the drivers who had a double tarpaulin sheet offered half of it which was cut in half using a knife borrowed from one of the passengers and we had some relief. As there was no chance of any animals venturing out we cancelled the trip and returned to our cars in less than one hour. The private jeep operators charge Rs. 13,000. - per jeep, per trip. Obviously, money making is top priority here and passenger comfort is totally forgotten. Reportedly, it had rained in this area for 3-4 days prior to our visit. The jeeps are parked in open and if it rains, all the seats get wet. There is no covered parking provided. The only toilet facilities for ladies are at the Pullari Gate in the sanctuary, Gents are asked to go behind the trees and relieve themselves. Forest Department rules are cited for not making structures. This is weird when you see a souvenir shop at the parking area and a tea stall at Pullari Gate (obviously for revenue generation, what else) but inadequate toilet facilities! If you are planning a visit to Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary then keep the...

We met an accident at Kothangaon gate...there was no sighting this week (27-28 Jan 2024) and due to a Monkey call, all the Safari guides went crazy to rush to the spot (some were driving the gypsey at speed of upto 50-60 kmph)...a guide already standing at the spot asked our guide to turn the car around (probably to make way to rush in case of tiger or for another call, he only knows)...the road was just a few feet wide with the lake on one side and a 10-12 feet deep slope on other...our gypsey fell on the slope side in an attempt to turn....we were 4 of a family in that Jeep, one suffered a fracture, another had swelling all over his head and face ,(likely that his face came below some part of the Jeep), I have a swollen foot and pain all across my body and luckily the last only only has some pain here and there. The sight was such that you wouldn't be surprised if someone died in that accident.

To top it all, there was no (I mean nothing at all) first aid at the Safari office...even after 30 mins of incident, no responsible officer took charge of situation...there is no medical facility nearby...

We were lucky to have our family in other Jeep who immediately took the victims to Nagpur (took ~1.5hr to reach) and we took primary care and did x-rays...

I reach out to all tourists to avoid goin to this place (Umred Karhandla Wild Life Sanctuary) and if anyone from government office responsible for management is reading this, please help ensure basic training, discipline to staff and atleast a first aid at ticket office...

Lastly, I thank God for saving my family from this near death experience...

Please reach out to your friends and family and stop them from visiting this place...

See the tiger in a zoo, instead of this horribly managed wildlife sanctuary

To add, the jungle is also not even any good and has negligible wildlife ...

Go to Tadoba/ Ranthambore/ Kanha/...

Peaceful Evening Safari at Umred. No Tigers This Time, But Still Worth It. We visited Umred Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary via the Paoni Gate for an evening safari with high hopes, especially after learning that tigers had been sighted consistently over the past four days. This visit came right after our rather disappointing experience at Nagzira Tiger Reserve, where we took four safaris without any big cat sightings. Umred felt like our shot at redemption — but nature had other plans. Despite the enthusiasm and optimism we carried into this fifth safari, we were once again met with no tiger sightings. That brings our total to five back-to-back dry safaris. Naturally, it was a bit disheartening, especially knowing the recent sighting streak at Umred. But that's the reality of wildlife tourism, sightings are never guaranteed, and luck plays a huge role. That said, we truly enjoyed the experience. The forest at Umred is peaceful and picturesque, with a good mix of dry deciduous vegetation and open meadows. The trail was serene, and we spotted a few birds and herbivores along the way, though the highlight, the tiger remained elusive. Our guide and driver were knowledgeable and did their best to track fresh pugmarks and signs, keeping the excitement alive throughout the drive. The infrastructure at Paoni Gate was decent, and the entry process was smooth. Overall, while we didn't spot the big cat this time, the experience reminded us that wildlife safaris are as much about the journey as they are about the destination. We’ll surely return, still hopeful, because when it finally happens, that tiger sighting will be worth...