White, Black & Golden Tigers

[Rishi]

Wild 'pale tiger' photographed in the Nilgiri hills
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/j...n-the-wild

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

The animal was spotted last week by wildlife photographer Nilanjan Ray while driving in Nilgiri biosphere reserve in Tamil Nadu state.

Photographers own account:

Quote:Disclaimer: This is a 'censored' writeup, I can't disclose certain details. And not all photos were taken during this trip. The pale fella got a lot of attention, and there were rumors of poacher gangs. So am mixing up photos from a few trips. Some people do know or can guess the location, but I would request them to stay silent. 
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I must have visited Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve 50 times over the last few years. This was yet another trip. Had a quick lunch. Finished packing in 15 minutes. Fuel, air checked and filled. Cameras, laptop, mobile etc. were charged in the morning. Took NH209/Kanakpura – Chamrajnagar – Gundlupet route.

Reached the resort around 5.30 pm. It was an overcast day, but there was still a little light, so spent some time enjoying the evening sights and sounds. Sambars came visiting late in the evening.

Spent the next day shooting swallows, and a few mammals. Note: not all photos were taken during that trip. The pale fella got a lot of attention, and there were rumors of poacher gangs. Some people do know or can guess the location, but I would request them to stay silent.

Nights were spent around a campfire. Crackling fire, alarm calls from outside the fence, the cold breeze, woodsmoke. Deers all around, inside the fence. Deers try to stay close to humans when there are predators roaming outside.

After a couple of days, I checked out and started driving to a different place. I was supposed to stay in a forest rest house that day. Plan was to use the FRH as a base, and explore the surrounding country, including a few trails. s. I wasn’t sure what to expect, so stopped at a small shop and bought Maggi, biscuits, candles, matchbox and plenty of water.
Waited for a while, walking around in the rain, as the guide had lunch and got ready. I had a waterproof windcheater with a hoodie, so preferred to enjoy the weather instead of staying inside.

The road was broken and slushy. And it was raining hard. After a while it became a drizzle. Went on a few tracks, had to use 4HL and 4LL in some places. There were many broken trees and branches blocking the trails.

The rain has stopped for a few minutes. Great!

(I turn a corner) What is that?!! Looks like a tiger!!! Urgh, it ran away before I could raise the camera!

I drive forward very slowly, and then stop the engine.

Wow! The tiger is peeping at us from time to time. But it looks rather different! Wish it would come out in the open and give me a clear shot. (I had to wait for a few minutes to get a clear view for a couple of seconds. This went on for a while. Had to change the AF settings on my camera to deal with the undergrowth.)

There is another tiger! And the second tiger is quite aggressive. Sibling or mom? It wants to shoo us away. It has started snarling. I can see the top half of its face from time to time. Now it is making mock charges. Best to move away. These tigers are not used to humans, let’s not stay where we are unwanted.

(I moved 500m away, and was hoping that the tigers would come down on the road. But they didn’t oblige. They went cross country through dense forest and vanished).

The pale tigers companion.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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Update: The first ‘white’ tiger found here a few months ago has a brother who’s also white

The rare, pale-skinned ‘white’ tiger was spotted for the first time in the Nilgiris earlier this year by a wildlife photographer. It now turns out that this animal was not a adult. It is still part of a family, and its brother is also ‘white’, though its mother & sister have normal coats.

*This image is copyright of its original author

The family of four was sighted spending some quality time together in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve by M. Santhanaraman, additional government pleader for Forest departm-ent at the Madras High Court and Dr. C.P. Rajkumar, a member of the Tamil Nadu State Wildlife Board. Reply