Eye-brows are being raised in forestry circles, especially among those in the wildlife wing of the state forest department, over a particular advertisement issued to a section of the print media by the state-run autonomous MP Tourism Development Corporation to encourage wildlife tourism.
Drawing attention to the advertisement in question, a senior Indian Forest Service officer told this newspaper that it has two major flaws. It carries the big error of depicting Pench (national park) as a bison habitat and, for illustration purpose, they have even gone to the extent of using the photo of an American bison, he said, adding in fact Pench, just like Kanha and Satpura Tiger Reserves, is a perfect habitat for Gaur, which is also called the Indian bison for the sake of convenience. However, fact remains that Gaur and bison are two entirely different and distinct species, he pointed out.
Another forestry expert said the controversial advertisement gives the impression that for sighting a tiger in Madhya Pradesh, the tourists should only go to Bandhavgarh and if they are interested in watching the endangered crocodilian gharial, they should just head for Ken Gharial sanctuary. Similarly, for sambhar, bear and barasingha—the destinations marked are Bori, Satpura and Kanha respectively. The advertisement also associates the Chambal sanctuary with only the gangetic dolphin and this amounts to hiding the fact that river Chambal and its sandy banks form one of the rarest and best gharial habitats in the world.