There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
--- Peter Broekhuijsen ---

  • 4 Vote(s) - 4.5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
B2 and Other Great Tiger Pics from India

United Kingdom Sully Offline
Ecology & Rewilding
*****

(Too many pics for 1 post so I'll split it into multiple posts)
Wild date with Prince, the Royal Bengal Tiger of Bandipur

I just came back from the wild jungles of Bandipur, Karnataka after a majestic sighting of Prince, the Royal Bengal Tiger of Bandipur. Its hard to put the experience in words but I'll try my best to narrate the story, the story of my magical moments spent in the jungle with Prince, the majestic Royal Bengal Indian Tiger.

The Majestic Sighting of the Prince of the Wild


*This image is copyright of its original author



It was a good beautiful morning and as it was our 6th and last safari of the trip we were too curious to spot a wild cat today and specially, a Tiger. Even though we believed that we will see a Tiger today but deep inside there was a bit of a fear that we might not get a sitting even today as our last 5 safaris did not prove to be successful. We were all ready at 6:30AM to rush to the jungle and make our way into the wild. We loaded all our stuff into the jeep and got rolling with our fellow riders. It was a good cold morning but with clear skies as it had rained the day before.



*This image is copyright of its original author


Sunrise shot at Bandipur Tiger Reserve


After a 10mins drive from the resort, we got ourselves registered at the Forest office and then we got into the Jungle to hunt for our subjects - of course expecting to see a Tiger today :)


*This image is copyright of its original author


Bandipur Forest office

It was a cold start and after about 20mins into the jungle, we heard a predator call and our adrenaline was running high. We stopped the engines of our jeep and started waiting for the predator to appear.

The place was a perfect setting for the Tiger, Leopard sitting with a Waterhole in our front and deep Jungle all over - our expectation was high and wait was soon turning into anxiety. We spotted our first sitting of the day, a Kingfisher !!



*This image is copyright of its original author



Our first sitting of the day, Kingfisher




*This image is copyright of its original author


Sambar deer ..



*This image is copyright of its original author





*This image is copyright of its original author





*This image is copyright of its original author




*This image is copyright of its original author


A pair of peacock



*This image is copyright of its original author


A pair of peacock



*This image is copyright of its original author


As we stayed there for a while, one of the peacock was teaching the other on how to dance. It was a good show of the talent.. a teacher teaching and the student learning the art of dancing...



*This image is copyright of its original author




*This image is copyright of its original author



As we were  waiting for about 10mins, our driver got a call from another fellow colleague, that they have seen a Tiger somewhere in the jungle and asked us to come over to that place. It was a tough call for us to make as there was a chance at this place 'coz of the "call" we heard but were not sure and the other jeep location was too far for us to make it in time. So collectively we took a decision to drive anyway to the other place where the tiger had been spotted few minutes back.



*This image is copyright of its original author


One of the water bodies at Bandipur Forest


So, our driver drove madly to reach the place where tiger was last seen and in about 15mins, we could make it to the place. We met the folks who spotted the Tiger and they re-assured us of the presence of Tiger in the vicinity. We also saw some pictures take by those folks and started hoping for  luck to see the majestic Tiger today. And the wait started ... we moved around for some time and then halted at a dry waterhole, expecting the tiger/leopard to appear from somewhere and make our day. So, it was a looooooooong wait with lot of anxiety, restlessness and hope that we WILL see the majestic animal.

The wait was getting long and long but we did not loose the hope. We waited at that spot for almost about 80~90mins expecting the sighting but no luck and suddenly my friend spotted the tiger in the bushes that appeared for close to 3~4 seconds, looked at the waterhole and then moved back into the bushes.

We saw the beautiful, majestic Predator in its full glory for those moments before it moved back in. It was pretty hard to take any good shots in that small window, but this is what I could manage to get.

It seemed like it gave us a signal that I'm around and follow me now ..


*This image is copyright of its original author


The first sight of the majestic cat, Prince



*This image is copyright of its original author


Prince saw that the waterhole was dry and moved on forward through the bushes



*This image is copyright of its original author


Prince saw that the waterhole was dry and moved on forward through the bushes



*This image is copyright of its original author



This sighting left us in surprise and wanting for more. After the magical moments, we were all in a flux that whether we should wait there or move around expecting the Tiger to appear from somewhere else. We took a collective decision to move a bit further and told the driver to slowly move ahead. The jeep started rolling at a slow speed and everybody was trying hard to spot the tiger in the bushes to just get a glimpse of it. But I guess, the tiger was too deep into the bushes for us to spot him.

After about 10mins of wandering, our wait paid off and here we see the Majestic Prince of Bandipur in its full Glory coming out of the bushes into the open without giving any attention to us or even bothered about the few jeeps and many people looking at him and shooting with the cameras.



*This image is copyright of its original author


Prince is the bold male Tiger of around 9yrs and have been known for his bold acts in the jungle. 

We learnt and saw the pictures of him killing another male tiger just few days back because of territorial fight. It was really a shocking realization on how the predators fight for their territory and can kill their fellow mates.



*This image is copyright of its original author


Prince came out in the open from the bushes and started walking towards the next waterhole



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur


So the majestic Prince started strolling alongside the mud tracks and then slowly walked forward passing through the trees and bushes for almost about 400mtrs giving us great opportunity to make great shots of him. Even though there were almost 12~14 vehicles now following him, he did not even budge to showed any signs of him noticing us. It was a great sight to see him walk freely and without any fear of humans in the vicinity.

From a photographers point of view, it was a little challenging shooting the cat as the angle of the vehicle wasn't too appropriate for a great shot, but really you can't expect more during a safari. We had to be prepared to shoot in any condition so we all (about 8people in a jeep) started shooting with out bazooka lenses getting whatever best we can get out of this sighting.


*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur crossing the mud track



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur crossing the mud track



*This image is copyright of its original author


Prince, walking towards the other side of the mud track



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur 



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince of Bandipur



*This image is copyright of its original author


Majestic Prince sniffing the tree, I guess looking for a place to spray


After a good walk it stopped to spray one of the trees and then moved forward after the act !

So why do Tigers spray on trees or rocks ? 

They do this for various reasons:
    • To mark the boundaries of their home ranges. The urine sends a clear signal that another tiger is in the locality and gives a visitor the opportunity to avoid conflict. A tiger coming across a scent mark  may sniff, leap back and snarl. One test carried out in captivity also showed the same reaction to human urine.
    • Females scent mark more frequently during oestrus and the chemical signals within the urine attract a mate. The male will, in turn, usually scent mark where the female has sprayed.
3 users Like Sully's post
Reply




Messages In This Thread
ST2 tigress of sariska - Rage2277 - 04-07-2014, 02:28 PM
Backwater male march 2014 - Rage2277 - 04-08-2014, 10:30 AM
big male from nepal - Rage2277 - 04-08-2014, 05:21 PM
Backwater male may 014 - Rage2277 - 05-17-2014, 11:56 AM
Mahaman subadult may 2014 - Rage2277 - 05-24-2014, 10:56 AM
Lyla T41 may 2014 - Rage2277 - 05-25-2014, 06:09 PM
RE: B2 and Other Great Tiger Pics from India - Sully - 04-23-2016, 08:19 PM
Big Kaziranga Tiger - sanjay - 04-05-2014, 10:32 PM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Apollo - 04-12-2014, 07:56 PM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Apollo - 04-13-2014, 10:30 PM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Wanderfalke - 04-13-2014, 11:13 PM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Pckts - 04-15-2014, 03:26 AM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Pckts - 10-05-2014, 01:57 AM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Roflcopters - 10-09-2014, 01:58 PM
RE: Big Kaziranga Tiger - Pckts - 10-11-2014, 01:15 AM
RE: Wagdoh - Pantherinae - 06-05-2015, 02:18 AM
RE: Bamera - Pantherinae - 06-05-2015, 03:26 AM
RE: Munna - Pantherinae - 06-05-2015, 03:29 AM
RE: Bamera - Tshokwane - 06-05-2015, 03:33 AM
RE: Bamera - Pantherinae - 06-05-2015, 03:54 AM
RE: Bamera - Pckts - 06-05-2015, 09:41 PM
RE: Bamera - Pantherinae - 06-05-2015, 11:00 PM
RE: Tigers of Central India - Ngala - 11-16-2017, 01:07 AM



Users browsing this thread:
4 Guest(s)

About Us
Go Social     Subscribe  

Welcome to WILDFACT forum, a website that focuses on sharing the joy that wildlife has on offer. We welcome all wildlife lovers to join us in sharing that joy. As a member you can share your research, knowledge and experience on animals with the community.
wildfact.com is intended to serve as an online resource for wildlife lovers of all skill levels from beginners to professionals and from all fields that belong to wildlife anyhow. Our focus area is wild animals from all over world. Content generated here will help showcase the work of wildlife experts and lovers to the world. We believe by the help of your informative article and content we will succeed to educate the world, how these beautiful animals are important to survival of all man kind.
Many thanks for visiting wildfact.com. We hope you will keep visiting wildfact regularly and will refer other members who have passion for wildlife.

Forum software by © MyBB