B2 and Other Great Tiger Pics from India

[Roflcopters]

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Ode to an old warrior.
Those who follow the ways of the Indian tigers must have heard the tales of the ghost of Mukki. Umarpani male, when in his prime probably one of the biggest tigers of Central India, the ruler of a massive territory spreading over different zones of Kanha.
If you’ve visited the park in the last few years, you might have seen him walking, patrolling his realm in an austere and almost solemn way. His personality so different from his half brother Chota Munna, this offspring of the legendary Munna never took his role of dominant male lightly. 
A difficult tiger to track, he used to appear almost from nowhere, often unannounced by calls. You had to be ready with your camera then, for once Umarpani crossed the road, he never turned back for a last glance.
Many battles he won, and few he lost. His sightings have now become sparse, his age forcing him to succumb to newer, more youthful and ambitious individuals.
This is the last time I saw him, last March, in the heart of his original territory, a few months after a bloody fight with M1, which had left both of them severely injured.
Will the old warrior be seen again? I am eagerly waiting for the parks to open, perhaps to chance upon him one more time.

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Mr. Perseverance
Chota Matka is a very special tiger to me. Have watched him since he was a cub. Play fights with Tarachand, snatching kill from CT, walking head-on like he owes everything, pushing himself into Matka and maya's territory, not sharing his kill with Matka, Making Navegaon school area his logde..blah blah blah..
It was after he moved into the buffers that I stopped seeing him for sometime. Covid put a break on everything and CM almost had become a memory in my head.
When we planned the summer trip in 2022, we again booked Alizanza. One drive and we had to take our chances. 
The moment we entered Aliz that morning, Pranay with his sharp skills successfully tracked Babli...When the sighting was on, we got the news from another Gypsy that CM was resting inside the bush.
We waited for Babli to show up in another place and then decided to move towards CM.

When we reached, CM was in deep sleep inside the bush and the waiting game began. 
When we just had few mins left, there were very strong alarm calls nearby and we theorized there must be leopard around. 
CM woke up and was very unhappy with whatever was lurking inside..Gave some snarls till the disturbance was out of his sight. 
He then stood up, walked and sat right next to where we were waiting, all in few secs. 
He definitely needs a lesson or 2 in social distancing!!
Saw him after a long time and boy, What a villan he has become!!

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Chota Matka in the outskirt - May/2022

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young male from Panna caught in a camera trap photo - photo courtesy of Panna Forest Department.

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camera trap photo by wildlife conservation trust.

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camera trap photo of a tiger feeding on his gaur kill

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Shiva (Waghdoh’s son) from Pangdi buffer last year.

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Ridhi tigress (T124) - May/2022

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T101 aka Badal/Hades from last year in May.

post by Nihar Gawand - July/2022

Well this is gonna be long post probably quite boring for a lot of you, but I'd really appreciate you reading this.
And thanks a lot to Devendra Shekhawat (Bittu Bhaiya)
Govind Dada and Rajesh Ji for helping me understand so much about these beautiful creatures the various facets of their life, the struggles between humans and tigers, the issues surrounding tiger conservation, I hope this information can be passed on ahead so people can understand these creatures better.

First before diving into the details I'd like to mention Tigers and other such apex predators are keystone species they keep the food chain and the various populations of the other creatures in balance.

The tigers of Ranthambore...
I might have mentioned earlier about my beliefs regarding what a soul is it's impact these tigers leave behind as a keystone species and the memories in the minds who witnessed their stories play out whoever they maybe Guides, Rangers, Researchers, Photographer or just another tourist.
Some of the cast of the current play taking place in Ranthambore.
Each with varying personality and behaviours.

I'll start with the Youngest among these T-120, Ganesh, the current occupant of most attractive area of the park the lakes of Zone-3 and some neighbouring area extending in zone 2 (though this has caused some issues which I'll get to later)
He has been making a lot of headlines recently with his antics recently having killed some unusual prey like a Sloth Bear, a croc, a leopard and most recently a feral dog and all of it has been well documented either while doing the deed or feeding on the prey. Seems like his brimming with the fires of youth which has made him reckless too, chasing around 3 females even out of his own territory.

Next I'll talk about T-84, Arrowhead. Where do I start about Arrow... Her lineage at Ranthambore is essentially what Maldinis have been at A.C. Milan (ofcourse I snuck in a football reference) Her great great Grandmother, her grandmother, her Aunt and her Mother, she herself and now her daughter have ruled over the lake area of Zone-3 exclusively since the Early 90s passed down from Mother to Daughter/daughters. Arrow essentially is still in her prime but she just passed the territory to her daughter Riddhi (T-124) without a fight and now is living like a nomad a fate for Young tigers who are yet to establish their territories or old tigers who have lost theirs, something that has happened far too soon for the Tigress who essentially seemed like an immovable object till just a year ago. Although looking back her own Mother T-19 (Krishna) did something similar for Arrow and her sister T-83 (Lightning) back in around 2015 or 2016.

Moving on to T-101, Badal is arguably the most dominant and active male in the park. Usually out patrolling his area most of Zone 2, parts of 3 and 4 a territory that encompasses territories of 4-5 different Tigresses. He is in his prime now and there seems to be an air of maturity and responsibility around him unlike his territorial rival T-120. Badal too had an incident with a Leopard recently, while he naturally dominated and manhandled the leopard he just let it go when it submitted, not taking any chance with injuries no matter how minor they maybe, knowing full well the leopard won't be a threat to him even if left alive. As I mentioned while talking about Ganesh there has been some issues regarding his conquest of Zone 2. And this guy is the issue, being older and in his prime (120 is just entering his not quite there yet) and more experienced he has kicked Ganesh's rear multiple times when he has tried to sneak in chasing after Arrowhead. So far it seems Badal's lineage will be the most widespread in the park due to the aforementioned reasons.

Next up T-60, Indu Jr. Or Junior Indu is the daughter of T-31 also known as Indu, who was named after the Indala valley which was in turn named after the former prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi due to her efforts and reforms made for India's wildlife and forests. She is a fairly modest sized Tigress but she has kept control of her territory parts of Zone-4 and 5 for years now and raised multiple litters of her cubs there. Unlike Arrowhead or Krishna she hasn't readily given up her territory to her daughters (She herself fought her mother for this territory) but they got kicked out, although the one I associate with her the most seems to be doing quite well for herself. Indu seems to be near the end of her prime Wild Tigers liver around 15-16 years at 12 years of age it seems like a matter of time until she is replaced, though there's been a lot of Tigresses who have smashed through that average and did quite well for them even at the older ages.

Next I'll be talking about T-99 aka Aishwarya, the aforementioned daughter of T-60. She has her fair share of challenges since birth, her litter contained her and her 2 brothers who being males were naturally larger and dominated her during feeding as cubs, she also seems to have an eye issue (her right eye never fully opens) despite all of that she seems to be doing quite well for herself having established an area in Zone 10 and raising her cubs, I have been told she is quite a prolific hunter, seeing her brought a huge relief and I was really really happy to see her doing well as I had misread/misheard a report of a young tigress passing away and thought it was her. The star of my favourite shot that reflection shot of a yearling cub entering the water. The future seems bright for her with no tigress around to compete for her territory and her cubs seem to be healthy and well-fed, but with nature you never know.

 And Last but not the least T-58 aka Rocky. One of the largest males of the park his size and his beard are a sight to behold. Currently ruling Zone 10 where he is mate Aishwarya is raising their cubs, He is the son of T-26 (Sharmili) a shy female whose past is shrouded in mystery as she wandered in from Non-tourism zone. She had 3 cubs around 2011 or so all 3 of them were males, two of them include this guy Rocky and his equally imposing brother T-57 (Singhsth) two of the 7 active males of the park (others being the 2 brothers of T-120 and the   T-86 {Chirico} apart from the other 2 mentioned here).

PS Only the numbers are officially IDs, tigers can have multiple common names given based on their behaviour and relations or where they are from, for e.g. T-101 while I prefer the name Badal, he is also known as Hades. And T-120 also has 2 other names Charger based on his habit of charging at safari vehicles and Ennead. 

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T120 aka Ganesh/Yoda - March/2022 Reply