B2 and Other Great Tiger Pics from India

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Sully

Ecology & Rewilding

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Joined: Nov 2015

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#1,554

04-19-2016, 09:31 PM

1st safari, 2.45 - 6.45 pm

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I was sharing the Gypsy with 3 other people. We left the resort at 2.30pm, and went to Kolara gate, which is 200m from the resort. Tadoba has a random guide allotment system, and we got a guide whose name was Pancham. Decent guy. The gate opened at 2.45pm, and we were inside! Everything was brown and red, with some splashes of green. For the first few kms the track leads to a village. The Government is trying to relocate 4 villages inside Tadoba.This particular village is one of the four. Cats regularly lift cattle from the village, but don't attack humans.

I know that regular human killings happen in Tadoba-Andhari, but when I asked the guide and the driver, they didn't give clear answers. In any case, it was apparent that most human attacks happen in the buffer zone. In the core area, due to relative abundance of prey, cats seldom attack humans. Though there have been 4 deaths from Kolara village when people went inside the forest to collect firewood etc. This I came to know later.

After crossing the village the track takes a right turn. I was initially surprised at the lack of herbivores. For the first 15 mins we didn't see anything except a solitary langoor. Then we saw a few Sambhars. I was hoping that my luck would be as good as the folks' who have visited Tadoba in May. One of my fellow passengers carrying a D7000 with a 70-200mm f/2.8 Sigma with a 1.4X TC. The rest were carrying P&S cameras. The two DSLR guys were sitting at the back. We made sure that we familiarized ourselves with the layout - the stepney was lying on the floor, and was wobbly. Made sure that we knew where to place our feet and how to turn in a split second.

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After 30 mins we came to a tar road leading to Moharli. Didn't seem like core area - it seemed like the usual jungle roads I drive through. However, I knew that this was a high propensity road for tiger sightings. After some kms, saw a few vehicles lined up on the road. So double checked the camera, and got ready. In fact, everytime we sensed that a big cat was nearby, it was like 'soldiers, ready arms...' - rifles cocked/ safety removed, ready to snapshoot.

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A huge male was lying in a waterhole. The Wagdow male, quite a stud - he is supposed to have fathered multiple litters in one season. During 2012 summer, he ends up spending a few days with the Telia family (tigress + 4 cubs) , and the next few days with his Wagdow family (tigress + 3 cubs). My fellow passenger - who is from a well known rock band in India, and passionate about wildlife - named him Vicky Donor.

So this guy looked at us, got up, again lay down, yawned, and finally went near a clump of bamboos to take a nap. We knew that the cibs were likely to be around. Now especially on this road, the forest guards don't allow a vehicle to stdn in front of a tiger for more than a few minutes - that is, if the guard is around. So we would have sighting for a few minutes, go ahead, reverse, and then join the tiger sighting queue at the back. Innstead of doing this a few times, we decided to check out a nearby waterhole and come back.

When we came back, I could see a lot of commotion and excitement among the vehicles. When we were in position, we saw the Telia cubs - 4 of them!!

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The next 30 mins were spent in jockeying for position, taking photos and standing in queue for direct sightings. When we again got to opposite the waterhole, we were blessed for 5 mins. The cubs came out of the waterhole, and started playing - stalking, mock fighting, charging, clawing the trees....

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This was the first time that I have seen tiger cubs playing in the wild, so it was a special moment for me. Incidentally, I have held a lion cub in my hands in Orissa Nandankanan (and a cobra and a python) - this was when I was less than 10 years old

[img]http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/attachments/travelogues/942193d1339849143t-tadoba-14-tigers-bison-dsc_4575.jpg" class="lozad max-img-size" alt="" title="">

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I liked this particular sequence of 4 shots: managed to capture a tiger (cub) in motion:

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On the way back, we saw some wild dogs. A pup came pretty close, so got some snaps. Saw a nice sunset as we were coming out of the gate. Came back to the resort happy and tired, after having ingested some 500gms of dust. I chatted with the other folks for a while, and then went inside to take a nap before dinner - I was exhausted after having driven throughout the previous night.

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Always try to stay in a resort that has good AC and power back-up when going to Central India in the summer!

And finally, a photo of the Bison.

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Btw folks, this was probably my best safari - in terms of photo opps - in the entire trip, so keep your expectations in check for the subsequent safaris :-)

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