📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Appaloosa
Travel
Indravati Tiger Reserve Reopens to Tourists After 40 Years, Promising Tiger and Otter Sightings
✍️ The Better India
🗓 17 Oct 2026, 10:46 PM
👁 11
After a four‑decade hiatus, Chhattisgarh’s Indravati Tiger Reserve will welcome visitors again, offering chances to spot its resident tigers and the rare smooth‑coated otter.
The forest department of Chhattisgarh announced that Indravati Tiger Reserve, which has been closed to the public for roughly 40 years, will reopen its gates for tourism. The decision follows extensive habitat assessments and the installation of basic visitor infrastructure aimed at promoting responsible wildlife tourism.
The reserve is home to a healthy population of Bengal tigers and is also a known habitat for the smooth‑coated otter, a species listed as vulnerable in India. Wildlife enthusiasts can now hope to glimpse these apex predators and the elusive otters along the Indravati River, which snakes through the protected area.
Authorities have outlined strict guidelines for visitors, including limited group sizes, mandatory guides, and a ban on night‑time entry to minimise disturbance. The move is expected to generate livelihood opportunities for nearby communities, particularly in Jagdalpur, while funding conservation efforts through eco‑tourism revenues.
The reserve is home to a healthy population of Bengal tigers and is also a known habitat for the smooth‑coated otter, a species listed as vulnerable in India. Wildlife enthusiasts can now hope to glimpse these apex predators and the elusive otters along the Indravati River, which snakes through the protected area.
Authorities have outlined strict guidelines for visitors, including limited group sizes, mandatory guides, and a ban on night‑time entry to minimise disturbance. The move is expected to generate livelihood opportunities for nearby communities, particularly in Jagdalpur, while funding conservation efforts through eco‑tourism revenues.