Core Zone or Buffer Zone: A Plain-English Guide

Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve is Maharashtra's oldest national park, and its layout trips up a lot of first-time visitors. Here's the plain-English version of what "core zone" and "buffer zone" actually mean, and why it matters for how you plan your safari.

Tadoba National Park was declared in 1955, covering roughly 116 sq km. The neighbouring Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary was added in 1986, and in 1995 the state merged both into the present Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve — today around 625 sq km of core critical tiger habitat, surrounded by a much larger buffer landscape of roughly 1,700+ sq km.

Core Zone

The protected heart of the reserve, managed with fixed vehicle quotas and strict routes. Sighting frequency is generally highest here, and permits are limited and sell out well in advance.

Buffer Zone

The surrounding forest ring. Wildlife moves freely across the boundary; permits are typically easier to get, vehicle density is often lower, and it can offer a quieter, more relaxed safari experience.

So which should you book? If your priority is the best possible odds of a sighting and you're planning well ahead of your trip, the core zone is worth the extra effort of securing a permit early. If you'd rather have a more flexible, less crowded drive — or you're booking on shorter notice — the buffer zone is a genuinely good option, not a consolation prize.

Whichever zone you end up in, staying near the gate matters more than most people expect. Aranyam is within 0.5 km of Moharli Gate, one of the main entry points into the core zone of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve — which means less time on the road before sunrise and more time actually in the forest.