Paul Pitchard: Jim Corbett & Pilibhit Tiger Reserve.

Mr. Paul Pitchard was on his business trip to India. He had hardly 05 days in hand. So asked us for wild life safari. He was thinking of Ranthambhore & other park  but it was not practical to give Ranthambhore as good zones in Jeeps were sold out.

He is a good birder so second option for him was Jim Corbett. In Jim Corbett , Dhikala night stay permits were not available. And we knew that outer zones of Corbett will not give spotting in 04 safaris.

After discussing with our planning team & daily sightings updates from various parks, we suggested him to take Pilibhit Tiger reserve in addition to Jim Corbett.

08 Mar 2025: Delhi – Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve

After breakfast Mr . Paul was transferred by ac sedan car ( 05:30 Hrs.). Check in the resort & had lunch.
08 Mar 25 : Afternoon safari.

Zone: Jhirna

This zone has good grassland areas after Dhikala zone in Corbett.

The jeep reported at the resort . we spotted lots of Sambhar deer , Spotted deer, Languor Monkeys & Rhesus Monkeys . different kinds of bird. Corbtett is heaven for birders as it alone has list of approximately 600 different species. We saw some tushkars . Heard warning calls many times but tiger did not come out. No tiger sighting done .

09 Mar 2025: Morning Safari

Zone: Bijrani.

This zone is second most important zone in Corbett. We left hotel early morning & entered the park in time. Different species of Birds & mammals with Elephants were seen . Still the Tiger was not spotted in our second & last safari of Corbett. Sometimes jungles are quite too.

After breakfast we check out & drove to Pillibhit Tiger Reserve ( 04:00 Hs). This afternoon was free for relax.

10 Mar 2025: Pilibhit Tiger Reserve – Morning Safari

Zone 02: Morning Safari

Since last 04 years Pilibhit Tiger Reserve has done extremely well in tiger sightings. This place is several times better than Jim Corbett’s outer zone . We started safari & entered the park  . Fresh air was excellent in open jeep. We found pugs marks of various tigers in their territories. We waited several places to listen to warning calls but they were not strong enough to suggest any predator’s presence. Any way this safari was also without tiger spotting.

10 Mar 2025: Afternoon Safari

Zone 02:

After lunch we left for our afternoon safari. As we had same zone so we decided to recheck those area where there were pugmarks of tigers. As during morning safari non tiger was seen , our guide told us to focus in those areas only.  After waiting for some time, we some moment in bushes.  A huge male tiger  Rocket emerged in front of us.  We spent good time with him & taken many good pictures. This sighting made our day.

As there were pugmarks in S3 territory as well so we decided to take chance for the second tiger as well. After reaching its area we saw him siting under a huge banyan tree. Around 04;45 pm it too started moving on the main road.

There is water canal in zone 02 & surprisingly these two tigers were on opposite to each other.

Nature sometimes gives you more then our wishes. A lot birding was done in Jim Corbett & Philibhit gave us two tiger sightings. What great day it was.

11 May 2025: Morning Safari

Zone 01:

As usual we started from hotel for our last safari of the trip & in Philibhit Tiger Reserve. Zone 01 is also as good as zone 02 in Philibhit. Here sloth bears are more in density . So, we checked the whole zone / trek in first 45 minutes of safari. Found some pugmarks & started waiting near a water hole. Few calls from spotted deer were there but finally no tiger moment.

As Mr. Paul had to drive back to Delhi  so we left the park little early to manage time to avoid evening traffic of Delhi.