Holi Tiger

तस्माद्व्याघ्रो वनं रक्षेद्वयं व्याघ्रं च पालयेत् ॥

Majestic: a king in his kingdom

John Doe were looking eagerly in the direction where the forest rangers were trying to locate a collared tiger sleeping inside bushes. Suddenly, one gypsy driver shouted- पीछे देखो….बाघ पीछे से आ रहा है (Look back..tiger is coming from the other side). It was another tiger who came looking for her mating partner lying in the bushes. Holy cow! We just had our first tiger sighting at the most unlikely place – Sariska Tiger Reserve, a place that became infamous for wiping out its entire tiger population just few years back. 

Holi : the spirit of celebration

As the cold winter breezes transforms into warm dusty gusts heralding onset of Falguna, the transient period before arrival of spring, the whole of India gets ready for a season of festivals like Teej and Mahashivratri. It also is the time for Holi. Harivansh Rai Bachhan saab had eulogized the spirit of the festival of colors in these beautiful lines:

होली है तो आज अपरिचित से परिचय कर लो, 

होली है तो आज मित्र को पलकों में धर लो, 

भूल शूल से भरे वर्ष के वैर-विरोधों को, 

होली है तो आज शत्रु को बाहों में भर लो !

(On this Holi, let’s forget the differences and, let’s give a warm hug not only to friends, but also to foes)

With time, the way we celebrate holi had transformed so much that it makes one scream - नहीं ये है गुलाल-ए-सुर्ख़ उड़ता हर जगह प्यारे । Silver and golden humanoids, laced with myriad of industrial dyes, moving around reminds one of the notoriety of holi in Delhi. It has become obvious to look for escape routes when holi is around. शत्रुओं को भूल जाओ, मित्रों से भी दूर भागो।

When the holi of 2011 came knocking, we were looking to get away from Delhi. Getting a booking on short notice was not that tough those days. We set out for Sariska, roughly about 200 km from Delhi.

Sariska : the hunting ground

The former hunting grounds of the Maharajas of Alwar, was notified as a Wildlife Reserve in 1955, then a Wildlife Sanctuary in 1958, and finally a Tiger Reserve in 1979. Maharajahs gone, but hunting continued. Notorious poacher Sansar Chand had systematically exterminated all 25+ tigers from the park in collusion with some villagers settled within periphery of the park. By year 2005, only the name remained as Sariska Tiger Reserve, sans any tiger. The furor that Sariska wipe out created led to the first tiger census of India with latest technique in 2006 that pegged the number of remaining tigers at a shocking 1411.

In a renewed conservation effort to revive a prime tiger habitat, the forest authorities decided to reintroduce tigers at Sariska by relocating 5 tigers (2 males and 3 females) from Ranthambhore. The country's first tiger reintroduction programme using an Indian Air Force MI-17 helicopter in 2008 is well documented by Subiah Nallamuthu ji in Tiger Queen. Tigers were named ST (Sariska Tiger) – 1 to 5. Later, one the five relocated tigers, a male ST-1, was also killed.

Despite the dire situations, the nexus was ugly and apathy was unimaginable. Probably a well  thought out plan for relocation of villages and livelihood of displaced villagers was missing to reduce human-animal conflict. Creating a balance has been a paradox. A report of Indian Express found 12 marble mines operating inside core areas of the tiger reserve even in 2014. This was due to disagreement between forest and mining departments. Money over tigers’ survival! Remember, it was the Forest department's denial mode of extermination of all tigers in the park by 2004-05, and they conituned to show tigers on paper, before the lid was blown off.

Ghost of a chance

A Ghost of a Chance points to the near nil possibility scenario. In probability theory, Kolmogorov's zero–one law,  specifies that a certain type of event, namely a tail event, that will either almost surely happen or almost surely not happen; that is, the probability of such an event occurring is zero or one.

The above theorem was a true depiction of the probability of getting to see a tiger in Sariska in 2011. Four relocated tigers were roaming in an 800+ sq km of forest. Map below gives an idea of how erratic the movements of tigers in the park can be. Therefore our trip was not to see a tiger, but to spend some time in the lap of nature rather than getting laced with industrial dyes. Yet, to utilize the available time, we hopped onto a safari gypsy and set out for an afternoon safari in the park. Safaris were easily available as there were hardly any tourist those days.

Movement map of the 4 reintroduced tigers of Sariska in 2011
Source: Wilflife Institute of India

Holy Tiger

Icarus tigris, also known as The Spirit Tiger, or the Holy Tiger, is an elegant, ethereal and mysterious animal in the legendary comics graphic novel Kingdom Kong. This mystery, coupled with power and grace attached with the tiger makes it so special. And getting to see one in the wild roaming majestically get etched in your memory forever. Even after seeing 30+ wild tigers in these years, I can still recall each and every encounters.

the Holy Tiger

As the safari progressed, we could easily comprehend that finding one of the four tigers in an 800+ sq park is like finding a needle in haystack. It indeed was a tail event of probability theory. Forget tiger, even finding other animals was a tough task. We saw remnants of few settlement and free cattle grazing inside park that was a reminder of the hazard to wildlife of the park. A carpeted road passed through the park where private vehicles were allowed.

The forest was set ablaze by blooming of the Palash or the Flame of the Forest with its orange flame-like flowers set against dried trees and fallen leaves. As we watched our vestige of hopes going up in the dust trails behind our gyspsy, our smart driver noticed a speeding gypsy with forest officials holding up a tracking antennae. All four relocated tigers were collared. There were some so called VIP guest in the gyspsy for whom tiger is being tracked. Our driver immediately understood that the forest officials had found some signal. He turned around to follow them. But the speeding forest car had quickly disappeared in the jungle. It was a cat and mouse chase for us looking for sign of dust cloud left by the forest vehicle, which reminded me of a Hindi movie scene. After few minutes of searching, we could locate the forest gypsy. It was trying to get close to a tiger hidden inside bushes. We lesser mortals, the mango people, could just wait and expect the tiger to come out on road. The news of spotting had spread, and all safari gypsys had arrived at the spot.  

Suddenly, one gypsy driver shouted- पीछे देखो….बाघ पीछे से आ रहा है ( look back..tiger is coming from the other side).

The tiger that was sleeping in the bushes was male ST-4. And the tiger, now majestically walking towards us was female ST-2. Within few minutes both tigers were out in the open. 

Voila! We just had our first tiger sighting of life, that too in Sariska. And two out of the four living tigers of a park larger than 800 sq km were walking in front of us. We could not believe our luck. The escape from Holi was made truly colorful by Tiger. In the map above, the movement pattern of ST-2 is shown in RED and ST-4 in BLUE colours. This will give an idea of how the Ghost of a Chance theorem worked in our favour that evening.

This Holi Tiger played an important role in my becoming a nature and wildlife photographer. I had a Canon 350D those days with a 70-200 F4L lens. In those falling light of that evening, I got tiger ST-2 crossing road in front of my gypsy without any background clutter. I kept clicking. Later I found that only one photograph came sharp.  I understood that wildlife photography in variable and low light is a different ballgame from the constant studio lighting for which I was trained. Time to expand learning. Next stop was the Canon India workshop at Bandhavgarh and Kanha with lessons by Shivang Mehta and Uday Shringi. Rest is history.

 

(Images : The one on Top is my tiger image of ST-2 as a novice in 2011. The one on bottom is a tiger from Ranthambhore clicked in much worse light than that of ST-2 in 2011, but with professional knowledge and gear. Now I also see the awkward angle of ST-2 as I shoot standing high)

Tyger Tyger burning bright, In the forests of the night…..

Relocation of tigers to Sariska has been a success story of conservation efforts. The ST-4 and ST-2 mating we witnessed had produced offspring that propelled next generation. ST-3 and ST-5 died without producing any cubs. Later more tigers were relocated from Ranthambore as that park can hold about 30 tigers only as against 40 of Sariska. Tigers were moving away from Ranthmbhore in search of territory due to over populations. The population started growing at Sariska. A report of 2023, hold the tiger count of Sariska as 30. Each one counts. Humans need to let them flourish. The wisdom from Mahabharata says:

निर्वनो वध्यते व्याघ्रो निर्व्याघ्रं छिद्यते वनम्।

तस्माद्व्याघ्रो वनं रक्षेद्वयं व्याघ्रं च पालयेत् ॥

                                                    -महाभारत – उद्योग पर्व : ५.२९.५७

Meaning in English:

If there is no forest, then the tiger gets killed; if there is no tiger, then the forest gets destroyed. Hence, the tiger protects the forest and the forest guards the tiger!

-Mahabharat– Udyoga Parva: 5.29.57

अतः, यदि वन सुरक्षित रखने हैं, तो बाघों को संरक्षित करना होगा। Let’s do our bits to save the tiger and save forests. And do keep playing Holi…with safe and natural colours.

'Tiger Express' to Bandhavgarh and Kanha

Indian Railways is planning to hit the popular tiger circuit of Bandhavgarh and Kanha in Madhya Pradesh with launch of its special train 'Tiger Express'. The services of the semi-luxury train  will commence from June 5, the World Environment Day, at Delhi’s Safdarjung railway station. This service is a collaboration between the Railways and Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Packages are available though IRCTC.

This is the first time that Indian Railways will operate a tour package on the wildlife circuit. Apart from luxury trains like Maharaja’s Express, the IRCTC also offers tours packages on the desert circuit, Buddhist circuit, Bharat Darshan , etc. 

The five-night-six-day tour will cover Bandhavgarh and Kanha national parks in Madhya Pradesh, apart from Dhuadhar Falls of Bhedaghat, Jabalpur. The “Tiger Express” will only have first and second AC accommodations, with fare starting from Rs.38,500. The parks in MP currently have the highset charges for safaris in the country. The fare includes train ticket, local AC transport, accommodation and food. “The tour will include two tiger safaris at Kanha national park and one at Bandhavgarh, apart from accommodation at three-star hotels. Our prices are affordable keeping in mind the services provided and there are no hidden charges,” said IRCTC spokesperson Sandip Dutta.

IRCTC Tiger Express package

Ranthambhore diary

Mismanagement, corruption and resulting crowd menace at Ranthambhore is increasing every year. It is no more a place where you can watch a tiger walking the forest in peace.  After every visit, I said to myself that this is going to be the last time. But the tigers of Ranthambhore keep bringing me back. We had a sighting of T19’s cubs last year when they were just 3 months old. They were barely larger than a house cat last June (2014). Now they are sub adult cubs of one and half year. And they were treating tourists and photographers to some lifetime’s sighting. They were everywhere in FB – playing in water, chasing crocs, play fighting, suckling. The most magnificent creature in the entire world, the tiger is. - Jack Hanna. So I could not held me back. May be one last time to Ranthambhore before moving out of Delhi. 

Summer is the best time for watching the tiger in the wild. Temperatures in Rajasthan during peak summers can soar to mind boggling degrees. It is not easy to travel in an open gypsy, specially the journey of 3-4km from your hotel till you enter the park, when scorching loo brush you at more than 40km an hour. Yet, more and more people are braving the sun to travel in summers, even to hot places like Ranthambhore. Demand for safari seats have gone up drastically over the years. @Rs.750 per seat or @Rs.4500 per gypsy, safaris do not come cheap. Most regulars to the park knows which zone to visit to get maximum value for their money. Booking a safari online in your desired zone is tough, in fact near impossible these days. The controversial online safari booking process has grown in notoriety this year. Supply is as short as just 3 gypsy in each zone as against a train full of crowd clamouring for it. There is sheer madness for online booking. Imagine a situation when you land there without any booking! You will have to shell out 1000-1500 per seat in gypsy depending on the day of the week. Or take a horrible ride in canter with a motley crowd of 20 others, that too at a hefty rate of about 600 per seat.

Tiger - Ranthambhore (High resolution image for professional use is available for sale at Getty Image)

The prime attraction this summer was T19 with her three sub adult cubs roaming in zone 3. So everyone who are familiar with Ranthambhore wants to be in zone 3. There were only 18 seats available for online booking in every safari session for zone 3 (or an equal no in each of the zones). Supply was so short that the demand for zone 3 was unimaginable. Thanks to a friend, I had to acquire special skill to beat it and manage booking for zone 3. This happened after failed attempt over 4 nights, with even money getting deducted on two occasion. Finally I got lucky on fifth night. Once I had managed zone 3 booking, planning the trip for other zone over 3 days was cakewalk. For all those unfamiliar with this zone business may refer some of earlier posts on Ranthambhore. Tiger dynamics changes every couple of years. Therefore, even after ticking all boxes right in your trip plan, sighting a tiger is a matter of luck.

This year’s trip to Rnathambhore was my longest till date, with 6 safaris spanning over 4 days. Ranthambhore was rocking this year. Baring the first safari on Sunday afternoon, which was actually booked to fill the spare time, we had ‘photographic’ tiger sighting. As a wildlife photographer, and someone who had seen many tigers in wild, a ‘photographic’ sighting is all that matters. Even one photographic sighting out of 4 or 5 I generally do in a trip, sooths the soul. Here we got super sighting in 5 out of 6 safaris this year.

However it did not start off that well. My first safari in zone 4 was actually more of an afterthought or ‘fill in’ kind of arrangement to utilise my spare time after arrival in Ranthambhore. Safari in Zone-4 is a bone rattling experience because of rocky roads. Though I had fond memories of zone-4, this time I had no hope and hence I did not even carry my camera expecting nothing to see. My only sighting of legendary Machli was in zone 4 and we had a close encounter with elusive T41. Sultan had also reportedly moved into zone 4. Even though jungle always throws up surprises, expecting to see any of the tigers was a farfetched hope. As expected it went blank. However as were exiting the park, a disappointing piece of news passed onto us was that T19 had moved with her cubs into adjoining zone previous day, and has not been seen since either in zone 2 or 3. They might have made a kill deep inside and hence were not coming out. It was enough to plan a seed of worry in my mind.

Day 2:

Next morning, leaving our can of worries behind in hotel, we set off our next safari in zone-3, touted as sure shot sighting zone. It took me 5 night’s attempt to get zone 3 booking. The bad news of previous evening was confirmed barely minutes into the safari. The T19 family had not returned to their lakeside palace. After checking the area around Padam talao for sign of T19 families return to the lake, our guide decided to explore upper areas where another tiger T64 is occasionally seen. We went up and down, but could not track down any tiger more than one hour into the safari. This was supposed to be sure sighting zone! Everyone was clamouring for it. I too had come only after getting zone-3 booking. It was rocking for last few months with 4-5 tiger regularly roaming the scene, and here, we are yet to find even a single tiger. I know that despite ticking all boxes right in your trip plan, sighting a tiger is a matter of luck. ‘Best laid plans of mice and men oft go astray’. That day, we were in zone-3 and the tigers were in adjoining zone-2. We would be going to zone-2 next day, and what if tigers return to zone-3 that night. The thought was frightening. The ghost of not sighting a tiger in any of the safaris in this trip started haunting me. Couple of my friend had this misfortune once. In that trip together I beat them by the barest margin of just a single tiger sighting in four safaris. You have to be extremely unlucky not to see a tiger in 4-5 safaris.

 A tiger amidst dust cloud at Ranthambhore. Image courtsey my daughter Swathi.

With an ever increasing bag of woes and the sun over our head getting hotter by minutes, we came back to Rajbagh area, expecting against hope for one of the T19 cubs to return. We had about two hours of safari time left with nothing to do but to wait in hope.  “The miserable have no other medicine but hope.”  Then came the moment which was change the course of our fate in next 48 hours. We saw a gypsy hurrying onto the dirt track we were standing. In one of them was the national award winning wildlife film maker S Nallamuthu. I know him for quite some time now. On seeing me, he informed that tiger is reported at a spot called platform. We too hit the dusty trail left behind by Nalla’s gypsy. And there he was.  T64, the male cub from T19’s last litter was cooling off majestically in lake, with the Ranthambhore fort and Rajbagh hunting palace as backdrop. It was a dream backdrop for a Ranthambhore tiger frame. T64 took the opportunity of T19’s absence to visit the area where he grew up. We were looking for him up in the hills, but he was sleeping by the lake. T19, though his mother, no more tolerate T64 in lake area for the safety of her new litter. The sighting soothed our frayed nerves. Now we were relieved that we had a tiger sighting and the trip will not go blank. I cannot express this sense of relief in word.

More importantly, this was the moment that had changed our luck. In the afternoon safari, we caught up with T64 again, before he went up the hill to cross over to zone-4. My two safaris in zone-3 was in expectation of T19 and three cubs. But they were zone-2 that day. Now I have full day booked for zone-2 next day. What if T19 moves back to zone-3 that night?  And, with T24 no more there to give a darshan, what if we do not get to see a tiger tomorrow. Many IFs remained unanswered that night.

Day 3:

Next morning we entered zone 2 with an air of uncertainty. Barely half kilometre into the park, there were they – the T19 family. Partly hidden behind tall grasses, they were lying by a dry nullah. We were informed that all 4 of the family were there. As cavalcade of gypsy’s started arriving one by one, T19, the mother of the cubs got up and started walking. Two of the cubs also got up and followed her. We did not find the third cub though. As the tigers started moving, the madness of vehicle started. Fortunately the mother and the cubs went different way. Therefore the drivers and guides of the vehicles were making choices on the tracks to hit.

As the commotion continued, the cubs sat down to became invisible, while T19 perched herself up in almost open. Few canters arrived by then and join the hordes of gypsys already there. Officially there is supposed to be only 5 gypsy. But there were too many. How and why is known to most regulars to Ranthambhore. We got caught up in traffic jam. I hate Ranthmbhore for this madness. If we give tigers more space, they will be more relaxed. What is required is an open view, not close view. Unfortunately most people do not have long lenses like photographers. Instead of enjoying the moment, they too would like to click with their PS or mobile or whatever they have, without realising the banality of it. If vehicles are parked sparsely, rather than crowding around the tiger, everyone will get a good view. I will love if one of the tiger of Ranthambhore turn charger. But then they may send him to zoo like Ustad.

T19 decided to excuse herself of the scene and went down a deep nullah. Meanwhile one of the cubs came out to a waterhole by the road. Vehicles started to converge there. One more cub joined in after some time. Despite of the crowd, I managed to get some pleasing frames. The overcast sky lent lovely diffused light for the scene.  As I had only half the gypsy, it was not easy to manoeuvre my heavy 400mm lens. My daughter would not allow me to use her 70-200. I missed my old warhorse 100-400. In Corbett, I generally use to hire a full gypsy. But in Ranthambhore, it is very costly @ 4500/- per gypsy. That too when you are doing 5-6 safaris. I was happy with the frames, given the limitations of sharing the gypsy with 6 persons. After full three hours of tiger sighting, we returned to hotel, all sporting smug smiles.

The good news for the evening safari was that the cubs decided stay back where we had left them in the morning. Therefore, we had another round of super sighting, but in different light conditions in the afternoon safari. After spending about an hour with the cubs, cooling off in the waterhole, our guide opined that we should go up and explore other areas and look for other tigers. We had enough of the cubs for the day. Two gypsy were ahead of us as we hit the road winding up a hill. On turning a bend, we saw the two vehicle ahead of us reversing. Our guide immediately realised that a tiger is coming straight at us on the road. When a tiger comes your way, you are supposed to reverse and give way. But then the inevitable occurred.

Another gypsy came behind us and its driver was shouting at us. He was telling our driver that ‘tera tanki phut gaya’. Your petrol tank had ruptured. As the tiger was about hundred meter away, our driver checked and found petrol leaking through a big crack. We all felt the vehicle hitting a rock while crossing a stream some 50 mtrs downstream. It is quite usual in safari. What is unusual is a ruptured tank. ‘There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.’ Driver had the means to stop the leak, but as the tiger was approaching us, he could not get down. Now he was worried that we might have no fuel left by the time tiger crosses us. As the vehicle ahead of us were shouting us to go back, our driver managed to bring the vehicle to a point where they could barely cross us. Then he positioned the vehicle in a downward position as the hole was towards the rear of the tank. Keeping it downward will drain the petrol slower.

Majestic T19

By now the tigress T19 had almost reached us. She was surprised that we have not moved back. She stopped about 15 feet from our gypsy. She looked at us and then stood up holding a tree by the road, picking up scent left by her kins. May be smell of petrol leaked was confusing her. Her behaviour was clearly indicating that she was expecting us to give way. But we were stuck. Could not tell her ‘tanki phut gaya’. Our gypsy was parked tightly by the hill, leaving barely 4-5 feet of space on the road. As we were not bulging, she explored the possibility of going down. But it was steep gorge on that side. Finally she decided to cross our gypsy, walking by almost the edge of the road. We were told to sit tight and not make any sound or movement. She should not feel threatened at all while crossing us. Trepidation in all six occupants of the gypsy were palpable. ‘Do not blame God for having created the tiger, but thank him for not having given it wings’. As she walked passed us, she kept an eye on our vehicle all the time.

As the tense moments passed, and the tiger had reached a safe distance, our driver to get down and managed to plug the leak with soap and cloth. However, almost all the fuel has drained by then. The driver and guide said that in their career spanning over 10-15 years, this is the first time that such an incident had occurred. What an experience for us too. We will never forget those minutes. I had couple of tyre punctures during safaris earlier. But never something like this. The driver decided that as we would be going mostly downhill, we would reach the Jhalra gate if we make a dash. There they could get some help or a replacement vehicle.

The driver managed to turn around in whatever space he had and then made a dash. Soon we faced the road block of vehicles still flocking the cubs by the waterhole. Our driver shouted at them to give way, else if he stops all might get blocked. We managed to wade our way through the crowd, and finally even out of the Sherpur gate. Thanks to very skilful driving by the driver. Even the last drop of fuel was consumed and the vehicle come to a halt. Our safari ended one hour earlier that day. But it was a safari we will never forget.

Day 4:

It has been an eventful trip till then. We were pretty happy with the sightings. Therefore we set out for our 6^th and the final safari to zone 3 on morning of day-4 without any expectations. And best things happens when you have no expectations. May be.

Within minutes of entering the gate, we noticed a couple of gypsy. The behaviour of the occupants clearly pointed to presence of a tiger. We reached the spot in no time. There she was, crouching behind a scrub, lying in wait for a herd of wild boar. One of the female cubs of T19 had moved into zone-3 overnight. The barren landscape provided a great viewing of the stalking. Due to her inexperience, the hunting attempt failed. The cubs are still learning. Then she went onto give us some wonderful sighting and photo opportunities that morning. She walked couple of kilometres around the Padam Talao, scent marking, chasing deer, before finally disappearing over the dhonk trees up in the hill. This female cub had grown very bold and have started to stay alone of late. She has the blood of Machli. May be another Machli is in the making.

With the lone tiger of zone-3 gone for the day, the activities had now shifted to Jhlara as news of other tigers attempting to cross over to zone-3 were pouring in. There is a nullah by choti chatri, where brethren from zone 2 and 3 exchange information. However we got to see only one more of the cubs before our time was over. A happy ending depends on where one decides to stop. It was time to end our journey this year, on happy note.

Closing report:

The controversy over Ustad aka T24 had not died down. T24 had gone to jail. With it went to dust the reputation of some well-known people or so called tiger ‘experts’. Everyone has an opinion in the matter. My 13 year old daughter also had her view against this jailing of T24. Keeping in mind the sensitivity of the issue, I told my family not to raise the topic to any driver or guide, as they may differ our point of view. However, each of the 12 different guides and drivers, I met in the 6 safaris, voluntarily offered their view, blaming these few people for the debacle. They were all against the shifting of Ustad. They were not scared to name these guys and shower few abuses on them.  Even if I do not name those few people, all familiar with the issue knows who they are. We missed you Ustad, in this trip, and in all the trips to come.

Nagzira : a sleeping gem

It was around 1030 one night when I had received an invite to visit Nagzira WLS. Nagzira? Where? While I continued to speak to Rajneesh Naidu of India Reconnoiterd, my mind was Googling to find this place on the map of India. Rajneesh was hosting an event named ‘Rendezvous at Nagzira’ where he had invited 20 guests from different spheres of life. I had a busy travel schedule for May, but the idea of meeting many photographer friends was enticing. Talking to some of them did not solve the mystery as all of them were clueless about the agenda of the event.  

11^th May, 2012. The Indigo flight from Delhi to Nagpur departed on time and arrived before time. I like travelling by Indigo for this reason. Udai, Shovna and Suez Akram (of Serai Tiger Resort, Tadoba) was in the same flight. We shared the vehicle provided by the organizers for the 120km road trip from thereon. It was peak of summer in May, and Nagpur happens to be one of the hottest places of India. We had the AC on for 100km, but switched it off for the last 20km of the journey to acclimatize. In two hours we were expected to be out on a safari under a blazing sun. As we left the highway at Sakoli and started moving through a sparsely wooded area, the warm breeze wafted in made me feel that it would not be hot as was expected. Green cover always helps to keep temperature couple of degrees lower.

Jai displaying Flehman's Response

Some guests had already arrived at the camp. The campsite is just inside the first level entrance gate to the park. Visitors to the park have to obtain entry permits at this gate. We joined the lunch party which doubled up as a familiarization session. Motley of crowd from various walks of life – conservations, tour operators, media, photographers, tourists, resort owners, formed the group. I was happy with my tag of tourist. The campsite is a socio-economic development initiative of Forest Deptt and is run with the help of the Pitzeri Village Eco Development Committee, a body of local villagers.  Most of these villagers are rehabilitee from the core area of the park. As a conservation initiative, Rajneesh’s group has provided financial assistance to the project. The 5 acre campuses have about 10 basic tents of different capacities, each equipped with a cooler. The campus has a rustic feel about it. A few more trees will make it cooler. Tents layout also needs to be re-worked. There are a few small shops outside the entry gates which stayed open quite late for the remoteness of the place.

Veeru making a majestic entry to the scene

Post lunch we setout for first safari. The core area of park is about 5-6 km from the entrance gate. You have to cross a second gate, which was the earlier boundary of the park. I shared the gypsy with good friend Udai and Shovna. Local lad Bhavesh Nirwan was the 4^th companion in our gypsy. The park is like his backyard where he comes almost every weekend. Having him as our companion was an added bonus as he had excellent knowledge of the jungle. The park was in news those days for regular sighting of A-mark female tigress with her two sub-adult cubs Jai and Veeru. This peace of news has ensured a heavy stream of tiger tourists. 99% of the tourists are day visitors who have single point agenda – tiger sighting. Tiger was low on priority on the first trip. We wanted to have a feel of the forest. Roads are fairly well defined and were in good condition, though dusty. Terrain is mixed, but generally plain with occasional hillocks to climb. The forest has only one natural water source, a lake by which the forest rest house Neelay is located. Till the camps came up, this was the only option to stay. Due to scarcity of natural water sources, the Forest deptt has built many artificial waterholes across the parks which are the lifeline of the park. In summer time, waiting near these waterholes provides rich dividends as animals will invariably come to these to quench thirst. Safari generally moves checking one after another of these numbered waterholes. ‘Pehle 2 no check kar lete hein, then we will go to 7no’… this is how Bhavesh and the guides decided our course of safaris. During the four safaris, we had many sighting of A-mark and the two cubs. After having covered most corners of the jungle, we decided to wait for them at a waterhole on our third safari. After locating Jai and Veeru, we choose our spot carefully by the nearest waterhole anticipating tiger’s route to the waterhole. During the hour long wait, Jai and Veeru were resting inside bushes, around 100 mtr off the waterhole. The tiger tourists, many in private AC cars, were crowding around that place trying to get a peek of the sleeping tigers. To many of them we looked stupid to sit out in the sun, but we knew what we were expecting. Jai and Veeru did not disappoint us. They came out one by one, walking majestically to the waterhole, along our anticipated path and provided us with one of the best photographic sightings of my life. The light was great for photography. Eventually we left our spot after 10 min of relentless shooting to let others enjoy it. The other fantastic sighting was of a flock of about 20 wild dogs. We missed a leopard sighting by a whisker. Despite our effort, we missed Dendu, the dominant male which is known to be temperamental and charges at vehicles.

Nagzira is yet to be declared as a tiger reserved. It is a Wild Life Sanctuary (WLS), an IUCN Category IV habitat. It was declared a WLS in 1970 and has an area of 152sq km. Both the core and the buffer area are being extended to expand the habitat. All the villages have been rehabilitated out of the core area. It has about 15 tigers, besides leopard and bears. The prey base appears to be small which is a cause of concern. Lack of natural water bodies will continue to hound the park. The lone lake is big enough and was having enough water. Tankers use to pump water from this lake and ferry it to the artificial water holes.

Tourist facilities at the park as of now are limited. Because of lack of infrastructure tourism is at nascent stage. The gypsies are too few and most of them are rickety. These are apparently 3^rd /4^th hand brought from other parks. Rajneesh apprised us of an initiative to finance new gypsy which are likely to come by October 2012. Once new vehicles arrive, entry of private vehicles, at least the diesel ones, will be banned. Authorities are forced to allow private vehicles which were a nuisance. The moment the tigers appeared in the scene, it was a melee. The guards had hard time controlling vehicles. This has come to be a common issue almost all tiger reserves. Nagzira is no different.  Accommodation as now is also limited. Besides the tents, there is a forest rest house. A luxury resort was seen coming up in the periphery of the park. Make sure to book your accommodation and safari before you reach. In my opinion, one should combine this visit with Tadoba.

On the final evening the group sat down to share their experiences and suggestions. The agenda of this event was to expose this motley crowd to this place called Nagzira and discuss on the dos and don’ts to make it a quality destination in future. Sustainable development with concern for conservation was the focus of discussion. Need of the hour is to find a sustainable alternative livelihood for the locals to keep them falling prey to lucrative poaching. Development is a two edged sword. Developing tourist infrastructure will bring in more tourists and hence more means of livelihood for locals. More tourists also mean more funds for forest to spend on conservation. On the other hand, development will destroy some its wilderness and pristine charm. Nobody wants Nagzira to be a la Tadoba or Ranthambhore. It will attract quality tourist only if it can stay untouched of mass commercialization like many other tiger reserves. The big positive for the park is that it has Tigers and they are regularly seen.

Veeru in a royal stance

A lively deliberation that evening enlightened us about initiatives being taken at different corners of India. It was heartening to know that trusts are being set up for each park where all gate fees collected will get parked and will be used only for conservation and socio-economic activities undertaken by the park management. Till now all gate fees collected used to go to the common state treasury, which is used by cash strapped state governments for all purposes – from paying salaries of government employees to build roads elsewhere. We all believe that fund generated from tourism of a wildlife park should be used only for conservation and maintaining the park.

Rajneesh played a perfect host. From cabs to safaris to food to meeting with forest officials – they took care of everything during those two days. Their hospitality had blown us over. They took care of even small details like, ensuring bottle of mineral water in the cabs. I made several new friends during those two days, some of whom I may not meet again. But Rajneesh is the one whom I will certainly be meeting again and again in future. Looking forward to my first trip to Tadoba.

Bandhavgarh Trip Report : April 2012

Let’s start with the stats of the trip - 12 tiger sightings and 1 leopard sighting in 4 safaris.

It was my second visit to the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in less than a year. I fell in love with the park on my first visit last year. Of the all parks I have visited, it provides the best possibility of seeing a tiger in wild. Despite the high possibility and a good tiger density, sighting of a tiger in wild is still a matter of luck. And if luck is with you, you are bound to see more than one tiger here. We saw 12 tigers in this trip. Two of my friends who were in a different gypsy saw 8 in 4 safaris. A minimum of 3 safaris is benchmark out of which at least 2 should be in Tala zone.

Despite large no of tiger sighting, the trip did not started off well for us. This time I took my mother to show her a tiger in the wild. Misfortune stuck us even before we landed at Umaria as my mother’s purse was stolen in the train (Jammu Tawi – Durg Express) where she lost her mobile and cash. With a bit of sadness we arrived at the Green Woods Resort. The resort is about 6 km from the Tala gate which turned out to be a bit too far for a small place like Tala. It is actually inside the Panpatha WLS. The other resort there was the Tiger Lagoon. These two resorts are the farthest located resort at Tala. For the 6am safari, you have to leave resort by 5:15am. If you leave by 5:30am, you are bound to get late. We had stayed there for we could bargain a nice package. Though located far away, its location is quite scenic.

We had planned and booked the safaris well in advance, in Feb itself. It is very important to get safaris for Tala booked in advance. Booking online is not easy as the web portal is problematic. After a couple of futile attempts to book tickets ourselves, we had got it booked through the resort and got the receipts mailed to be double sure that safaris are booked. On our arrival we had found that because of a long weekend, there was considerable rush at Bandhavgarh. So much so that even the Magadhi zone with 65 vehicles was also sold out. Under pressure, the resort staff did not handle the safaris well, even for other guests.

Magadhi madness

Our first safari was planned for Magadhi zone. It was on the afternoon of our arrival. Being a non-premium zone, a safari in this zone cost Rs.3100/-. There is only one area where you get to see tiger in this zone – the Mahaman dam. As it was quite early for tiger movement, we decided to take a round of that area. But finally returned to the Mahaman dam. There was lot activity those days around the dam with Mahaman female with 3 cubs and Mukunda male giving them company. But this being only point to have a tiger sighting, all of 65 vehicles would converge there creating a scene of chaos. Entire stretch of 100 meters or so was blocked by gypsies leaving no passage for tigers to cross. The result was that, in the late afternoon one tiger came out from the bushes and as there was no passage for it to move to the pond, it went back. Only a couple gypsies could see it, one of them being my friends. For my friend Sanjib, it was his first tiger sighting after 2 futile attempts at Corbett. He was the happiest man that night. The no of vehicles allowed – 65 had scared me even before I had booked a Magadhi trip. Even half that no would have been too much. This scare actually turned into a nightmare with 65 vehciles in that evening. It is always better to pay 1000 bucks more for a Tala trip. In fact this Mahaman dam area falls under A-C route of Tala. If you do 3-4 safaris in Tala, then you are bound to get at least one A-C route trip, which would mean you not only have access to Tala zone tigers, but also to the only tiger sighting point of Magadhi zone.

Next morning we set out for Tala. We had booked our both Tala trips in the morning half. Second half safaris are not good for photography as light falls off very fast once it is past 4:30pm or so. The resort staff created another mess by changing my gyspy. The driver had to revalidate the pass. We lost almost 20 min of prime morning time. Later I realized that we lost that time more for the driver then the resort staff. The driver had actually killed time at the counter. In order to save fuel, some drivers tend to waste time at every possible opportunity and uses short cuts in connivance with the guide. With such a driver in tow, I had another bad trip. Though the route was A-C, we did not see any tiger. My friends again saw a tiger that trip, that too in A-C.

While returning we had started to feel a bit depressed. Misfortune and bad luck was refusing to leave us. Before coming to Bandhavgarh, I had a feeling that one would not see a tiger here only if he carries extreme bad luck. Was that happening to us! I felt bad for my mother who at almost 63 had taken all the pain to come this far to see a tiger in wild. She wanted to go to Jaipur, instead I took her to Bandhavgarh. Even my wife and daughter had started showing signs of stress, despite having seen tigers earlier. During the noon break, we tried to keep us upbeat by shooting birds and butterflies at a stream flowing near our resort. I know that with 8 more safaris lined up in next two months at Ranthambhore and TATR, I will get to see tigers. But time was running out for my mother.

The safari that evening was for Khitauli zone. My friend and mentor Shivang Mehta who was leading a photo tour had told me previous evening that there is only one place in Khitauli to spot tiger – Damdama water hole. He saw a tigress there once out of five safaris he took. So he suggested waiting there. After entering Khitauli gate, we came across human settlement. It was more of a buffer zone then a core zone. We wondered as to how to how those village children were playing in an area which is frequented by Mukunda male. Given the human habitation around, the chance of seeing a tiger appeared further remote. But this time my both my driver and guide were good. God sent them to lighten our misery. The guide suggested that a new male is getting sighted regularly at Mazhargarh River. While most gypsies were seen returning for a wait at Damdama (which also helps them saves fuel) ours decided to press further. One need to make an entry at a gate at the end of the road, then cross the main road to Borohi to enter into the Mazargarh area. When we had reached Mazargarh, there was no tiger, but around 6-7 vehicles were waiting. Just imagine that out of 25-30 odd vehicles that had entered the zone that day, only 6-7 had come this deep. This is where the importance of a good driver and guide lies in a safari. Thought the spot looked ideal for tiger spotting, no tiger ventured out that evening. No luck. As was time was running out eventually all vehicles left, we being the penultimate ones. Only a gypsy with couple of photographers with bazookas stayed back. While returning there were no vehicles in sight for long. We were comfortably seated as not even a deer was in sight. Then the vehicle braked suddenly. A leopard had jumped onto the road barley 50 feet in front of us. The braking of the vehicle also startled it. What a moment. I had seen many tigers in wild, but not a leopard. Honestly speaking, I had told my wife before departing that I wanted to see a leopard this time. And it had just happened. By the time I pulled my camera out it leaped into the bushes. I got a couple of docu shots of my first leopard sighting. Being almost evening with very low light did not give me a good shot. But I was happy. So do all of us – my daughter, wife, and more importantly my mother. Even the guide and driver were ecstatic. They are used to tiger sighting, but leopard sighting is very rare and hence it was special even for them.

Surprisingly enough, my friends saw another tiger that evening. That too in Khitauli  zone. It was not one of the generally seen tiger there. This made 3 out of 3 for them. That evening everyone was happy. The moods have changed. So did our luck. The resort organized a folk dance program that night. Sipping beer we discussed events of the last two days. We decided to start off early next morning and try for route B-D.

Next morning, we set out for our final safari with elated mood. It was again Tala. By tipping the driver of last trip I had ensured that he remains with us for this final trip. While my friends got route B-D, we were again assigned route A-C. While misfortune followed us, everything was going right for them. My wife was not happy with it. She tried to get the route changed to B-D, but eventually gave up and resigned to fate. The drivers counseled her as it is not route, but luck which matters for tigers. However by starting early we could enter the park as soon as the gates opened. Every min of prime time in morning is very crucial. Losing 15-20 min might be a disaster.

Vijaya aka Kankati

Barely 10 min into our trip, we had our first tiger sighting. The Kankati female (Vijaya) was sitting majestically just 20-25 feet from the track. It was an ideal sighting. I mean the way one dreams of sighting a tiger. The next best is a tiger walking straight at you, as if looking into your camera. The elusive tiger had finally appeared in a grand way. There were just 6 vehicles. It is not a melee seen on Magadhi. Only 8 vehicles allowed into each route at Tala out of which 2 misfortunate vehicles went different way. Everyone had enjoyed those 20 min when Vijaya gave us a majestic darshan. She has 3 cubs around 6 months old which were playing at the hill nearby. After sometime she stood up and started walking towards the hill where cubs were playing. But then changed her track midway and vanished into the bushes. We decided to follow the cubs. Forest deptt elephants were chasing the cubs in the hills, probably to manage one of those notorious tiger shows. Forest deptt mahouts have become notorious to chase away tigers from areas closer to road, to deprive tourist from an easy and free sighting. If tiger remains inside bushes, then it is a tiger show, meaning lot of tips to the mahouts. Please for god shake; do not tip the mahouts after tiger shows. They are actually fleecing tourist. The cubs of Vijaya were running up and down the hills. They did not provide a good sighting.

The guide decided to move on and instructed the driver to go to Mahaman. The guide Tej Pratap aka TP turned out to be a jolly good fellow. His sense of humor kept us entertained. The collusion of driver and guide previous day had deprived us a take at Mahaman. On arrival at Mahaman, we found another melee. It was pure chaos. There were at least 3 tigers in the bushes about 100mtrs away. It was the Mahaman family. Vehicles have left no passage for them to come out. Later I came to know from Shivang that Mukunda male was also there, but it was chased away by the greedy mahouts. Though tigers were visible, it was not a good sighting. We decided to move on.

After arriving at centre point, we were offered the option of either trying to spot the Vijaya cubs or go for tiger show which was happening with Banbai (Wakeeta) family in route B-D. On enquiring I came to know that even majestic Bamera male (now Sashi) is also there. The thought of seeing Bamera again made me decide in favour of the tiger show. When we had arrived there was a queue of about 7-8 vehicles. We had to wait for about 20 min for our turn. The Banbai female with 3 sub-adult cubs were cooling off in the bushes by a stream. Bamera, the father of the cubs, were paying them a visit. A 2 day old sambhar kill had kept the family there. One of the cubs was seen trying to finish off whatever is left of the carcass. It was nice to see 5 tigers together up so close. It was my third sighting of majestic Bamera.

As it was well past 10am, we headed out of the park. We were more than happy. We were ecstatic. The count of tiger sighting of the trip that morning is 12. Unbelievable, but true! Luck had finally smiled on us. Thus we had 2 trips with no sighting, 1 trip had the leopard sighting, and 1 trip had 12 tiger sightings.

Bandhavgarh is rocking with so many cubs. Vijaya, Banbai (Wakeeta) and Mahaman – all are having 3 cubs each (as of April 2012). Now my friend Sanjib vouches that if there is any place which almost guarantees a tiger sighting, it is Bandhavgarh. I wish there was little less crowd. Next time I will plan my visit when there are no holidays around. I will certainly skip Magadhi and instead will do Tala and Khitauli.