Kankatti @ Bandhavgarh

Kankatti who has made siddh baba her home after taking on the resident female and killing her. In the battle for siddh baba she lost an eye and a part of her ear. After making Siddh baba her own she gave birth to three cubs with Bamera male being the father. What I am going to be describing started on Monday the 16th of April. We were informed that the cubs were seen on the hillock at siddh baba. We waited for oven an hour that evening but could only see the tail of a cub. There was no sign of the mother. On Tuesday we had a glimpse of kankatti resting on the river bed. Wednesday the park is closed in the afternoon and when it opened on Thursday morning the cubs were still on the hillock and the mother still not  to be seen. We changed zones on Thursday evening and lo and behold the cubs came out and gave all those who were there a great treat. They were at their playful best and were even seen climbing a tree and not knowing how to get down. I saw the video and it were great. On Friday we went into the park for our last ride with fingers crossed as we had not seen much in our previous 6 rides. We first saw the other family of Bamera sleeping inside the bamboo bushes this family consists of 3 cubs and mother . The father arrived with his usual swagger and the cubs got up and followed their father deeper into the bushes. We waited for about half an hour more hoping to see more of this family. A picture of the king arriving                        

the waiting cost us the sight of Kankatti hunting down a spotted deer and dragging it to where her cubs were. We arrived after she had taken the kill inside the shrubs. The people who were waiting told us we had missed the action by a few minutes. We waited as only one of the three cubs had joined the mother and we knew that she would come out to call the other two. A family of boars arrived and it took them sometime to smell the tiger by that time kankatti was stalking them. The sequence was that she came out and started moving slowly trying not to make her presence felt. But the wind shifted and the boars smelt her and were on the alert. She charged but missed. Then she started calling out to her cubs. The one who was already with her  followed  and he mimicked her stalking. The second  cub was in the elephant grass and he too joined her. She kept calling out for the third cub who had crossed over to the other side of the track. After a few more minutes he dashed across to join the family for a well deserved lunch after three days. The link gives the sequence of events from kankatti stalking the boars to the last cub joining her. We had a great time watching the family.

https://picasaweb.google.com/110157136104457911875/KannKatti?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNT4-sK2idWYswE&feat=directlink

TADOBA the road to ecstasy

 

I have been travelling to wildlife sanctuaries for the past 5 years both to get away from the city as well photograph. Even though never been specific about seeing the tiger some part of my heart always wanted to see it and photograph it. My first sighting of a tiger was at kanha in December 2009 when a tigress crossed our path.  I was too enthralled with my first sighting of a wild tiger to get a good shot of it.  When the thrill of seeing the tiger waned it dawned that I did not have a good shot of the tiger so the pursuit to get one continued. The next four safaris at Kanha yielded nothing and then I paid a visit to pench and Ranthambore and still could not get what I wanted.

I read a well written article about Tadoba in the second issue of the lonely planet and landed up at Tadoba.  Special mention has to be made of the resort at Tadoba called Tiger Trails .I was the only guest at the resort and got the best treatment.the owners originally from Nagpur were simply great there are not enough words to describe their hospitality. Speaking to them before my first trip in to the jungle I found that they were talking of spotting a tiger as if it was a walk in the park.  I thought that it was part of their usual marketing strategy, but then I found that it was the truth. I spotted 6 tigers, sloth bear, dhole, bisons and also lots of deer and crocodiles in the course of my four trips into the jungle.

Some of the photos of my trip are there for you to see. The sheer variety of mammals astounded me and to have it at such close proximity to Mumbai is even more surprising.

A Tiger Cub looking at us humans with utter disdain

Shift from the normal eagle eye view it is a Tiger eye view

 A pair of Gaur (Indian bison) having their afternoon drink

A male sambar along with its Fawn waiting for us to pass so that they can have a much needed drink

A stern looking Barking deer (Reminds me of my Hindi teacher)

The colorful Indian Roller (ask my Daughter she believes that if you spot a roller before entering a park the chances of seeing a Tiger are slim)

Bison & Sloth Bear sharing space

The sad part is that not many people know Tadoba, everyone thinks Ranthambore or bandhavghar when we say tiger (if I were to be selfish I would love it to be like that as it does not have lots of noisy tourists throwing plastic all over the park) I Feel Tadoba has a Substantial Tiger population and add to it the other mammals that can be sighted here it is a must visit for any wildlife enthusiast.

I Appeal to every parent to inculcate the value of living in peace with these wild animals and the need to the environment in their children. The last photo of the sloth bear and a bison at close proximity should be learning for us humans, animals kill for need not greed they do not horde so that there is enough for all.

People have to realize that the stripped beauty needs protection. Saving the tiger saves the environment. Let us all pledge to protect the tiger and hope our grand children enjoy the sight of the tiger crossing their path in the wild with its arrogant swagger. Let us all do our little bit towards tiger protection and environment conservation. Let our national animal be a living one rather than a stuffed specimen in a museum.Link to photos are below

https://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramsubramaniam/UploadTadoba?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJGfpb6Nhd2HgQE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramsubramaniam/Birds?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMSUpNPW-JGgnAE&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramsubramaniam/Raptors?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJH04OnUlKr0dA&feat=directlink

Annual trip to Tiger land

This year for our annual trip me and Gayathri (daughter) visited the famous tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh Bandavghar and Kanha.  On the first leg of our trip we visited Bandavghar which is supposed to have the highest tiger density in India. We reached Bandavghar on Christmas Eve after an 18 hr train journey. We stayed at king’s lodge and the naturalist assigned to us was Girish who was a graduate in environmental science from Bangalore. He was working in these forests for only about 3 months. What he lacked in experience he made up with his enthusiasm and eagerness to please his clients. We had a total of six safaris in the Tala range which was known for its tiger density. But unfortunately all the action was happening in the Magdi range. After 4 safaris and no sight of sher khan we decided to shift to the Magdi range there too we were disappointed. We did see a good variety of birds’ .but the mammal sighting was restricted to a lone jackal which too gave us only a fleeting glimpse and preferred not to be photographed.

The highlight of the trip to bandavghar was new friends and meeting interesting people. I met an old English lady who was an ardent bhakt of lord Ganesha. She believed that he could do everything for her from helping her aircraft take off from a snow covered Heathrow airport to even showing her the elusive sher khan.

After 6 disappointing rides into the jungle at Bandavghar we moved to kanha. Kanha is about 6 hours drive from Bandavghar and the drive is very scenic and beautiful. Reached kanha with high hopes as me and Gayathri had our first ever tiger sighting here three years back. At kanha we stayed at the kanha earth lodge and here we were assigned Rana Karan a veteran naturalist to help us to sight the invisible sher khan. After hearing that we were tiger starved even after six safaris in Bandavghar he took upon himself the task of finding one for us. But unfortunately even he could not find one in four attempts.

On the last day of our stay at kanha which also happened to be the last day of the year we went into the jungle determined to sight the elusive tiger.karan could not accompany us as another group of guests wanted an English speaking naturalist with them. Santosh the driver fondly called santu by everyone was alone with us he requested one of his friends to park his jeep ahead in the line overnight so that we would have the advantage of entering the park first. We got up at 4am and reached the park gate at 4.45am. It was a long and anxious wait for the park to open. The park opens at 6.30 sharp this time we managed to get an experienced guide named Gyan to whom Santu explained that we needed to see the tiger as Karan had promised Gayathri that she would see one before she left.

We entered the park with our fingers crossed and a prayer on our lips. Gyan being experienced and clever decided to track the elephants as the mahouts were trying to find a tiger for the tiger show. This ploy paid rich dividends as we were blessed with the big cat crossing our path. She was the same tigress whom we had seen three years back. But this time her radio collar had been removed to enable her to reach a wound which she had picked up during a territory fight.

NOW

Then

 

After that wonderful moment the forest Gods had more delights in store for us. We saw a sloth bear which is very rare during this period as they go into hibernation during winters. We had another near sighting of the tiger as we were very close to it. We heard it growl but could not stay put because we had to return early so as to catch our return flight from Nagpur thanks to king fisher airlines.

The story our return journey was that king fisher airlines which had proudly announced the commencement of direct flights from Jabalpur to Mumbai sadly forgot to inform their guests of its cancellation. But thanks to improved connectivity in India I was able to book tickets from Nagpur on the net from my resort in kanha which was in the middle of nowhere. Also I got the taxi which was taking us to Jabalpur to take us to Nagpur instead.

We reached Mumbai at around 11pm.Thus ending an enjoyable and memorable 7 day trip to the tiger land of india.Thanks to Santu and Gyan it became memorable otherwise it would have been just enjoyable.

But as every trip does this trip also taught us a lesson of never visiting national parks during Christmas   as it is too crowded and the animals are disturbed and avoid coming out.

The link below is of some of the photos that I managed to click on this trip.

https://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramsubramaniam/Annual?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCL7r8Nry4tzyMw&feat=directlink

Another reason for me to remember this trip would be that Gayathri took her first photo using my old Nikon D80 and the sigma 150-500 lens in manual mode. There is a bit of shake in the image because she shot it hand held. For me it is one of the best pictures as she was brave enough to try out the manual mode when she was shooting the tiger. The settings used by her with no guidance from anyone were shutter 1/125s, Apperture f/8 & ISO 1600.I have pasted the image below.

Velavadhar is 55km from bahavnagar in Gujarat. The place is a combination of vast tracts of grasslands and wetland. It is a treasure trove of wildlife which still remains unspoilt by tourists. The forest lodge is delight to stay in. It has a small kitchen and the rooms are basic and clean. The   rooms are  located inside the park and you start your wildlife spotting right at your doorstep.
At the entrance to the park there is a board which says welcome to the biggest roosting place of harriers in the world. In the three days which we were there we found out how true it was. Probably the place has more harriers then people in a peak time virar local.
velavadar had a unannounced bonus for us. The place is an ideal getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city to find peace and quiet. You can begin the day with a wonderful sight of the rising sun and end it sitting in the open staring at the star studded sky listening to the sounds of the jungle.

This travelogue would be incomplete without the mention of the caretaker of the lodge Gopal he was an absolute believer of the Sanskrit saying “Atithi devo Bhava” .he would be there from 5.30am in the morning till 9pm in the night seeing to all our needs.

List of what we spotted
Mammals
Black buck
Jackal
Fox
Wolf

Raptors
Harriers (pallid, hen, marsh and Montagu’s)
spotted eagle
Short toed snake eagle
Shikra
Common kestrel

Water birds

Great white pelican
Glossy ibis
Black headed ibis
Eurasian spoonbill
Painted stork
Woolly necked stork
Purple herons
Common crane
Little crane
Spot billed duck
Ruddy shelduck
Common coot
Little grebe

People interested in seeing some of the photos I clicked during the trip can click the link

https://picasaweb.google.com/shivaramsubramaniam/AmazingVelavadar?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPLS8o6b0KeupwE&feat=directlink

the location of velavadar can be seen on the google link

http://maps.google.co.in/maps?q=Velavadar+National+Park,+Gujarat&hl=en&ll=22.09073,72.070313&spn=2.000213,2.504883&sll=21.125498,81.914063&sspn=33.752286,40.078125&vpsrc=0&hq=Velavadar+National+Park,&hnear=Gujarat&t=m&z=8

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