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| A cub making its way to mother |
Imagine a heavily wooded valley with you on one side and a
family of tigers, feeding on a kill, on the other. This was the scene which greeted us on our
first safari into Bandhavgarh. A few
minutes later, the mother tigress’s call reverberated through the jungle,
making the cubs – which had wandered off – to move back towards the kill and
reminding us of where we were. We were
in Tiger Country.
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| A statue of God Vishnu in the middle of Bandhavgarh |
Bandhavgarh is quite different from the rain forests of our
Home to such legendary tigers as Sita, the park has played host to many wildlife documentaries. Even during our visit, a BBC team was shooting a documentary.
As we had chosen to visit during high summer, the
temperature was in the high forties. The
few remaining waterholes, scattered across the park, were a haven for parched
animals.
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| One of the last remaining water holes |
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| Chital and langurs | quenching their thirst |
The second day proved to be an anti climax. A family of tigers was resting in a water
hole, next to but not visible from the road.
Strong alarm calls from chitals kept us rooted to the spot. But after
more than an hour of waiting under the scorching sun we didn’t see even the
hair of a tiger. During all this time
the antics of a family of white breasted king fishers kept us entertained. Finally, we headed back to the resort
slightly dejected, but happy to know that there were at least two tigresses
with cubs in the park.
The days quickly rolled by with a lot of birding – lesser
adjutant storks, king vultures, shikras, shamas, tree pies, woolly necked
storks, ibis… - but no tigers.
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| Black ibis | King vulture |
Alas, it was now time for the penultimate safari in Bandhavgarh, but what a safari it was to be! The cubs of the tiger family which had welcomed us to the park were now resting in the open. We spent more than an hour with the frisky cubs.
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The last safari was comparatively uneventful.
As all the parks in Madhya Pradesh are closed on Wednesday afternoon, we decided to utilise this time in travelling to Kanha.
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| Chital fawn |
There is but one word to describe Kanha – beautiful. As you move on safari paths you are surrounded by lush green forests dominated by saal trees and populated by woodland birds like wood owls, wood peckers, shamas and pittas. As you move further, the forests give way to grasslands inhabited by grassland birds such as francolins, pipits, and prinias. Further along the grasslands are replaced by scrub lands dominated by bamboo.
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| Kanha landscapes |
The one bird which is abundant and found in all these
habitats is the Indian peafowl. These
magnificent birds are quite bold here and willing to pose for the camera.
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On our first safari, we were greeted by a pack of dhole,
which seemed content to rest on a far off mound, and by a herd of
barasingha. Hard ground barasingha (Cervus duvauceli duvauceli), a subspecies of
barasingha, are unique to Kanha. These
endangered ungulates tend to stay and feed near water bodies, living up to
their other name – swamp deer. Breeding
and relocation program for these deer is currently ongoing in Kanha [1].
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| Barasingha stag | Grazing barasingha | Barasingha grazing on underwater vegetation |
The drivers and guides in Kanha are knowledgeable and
dedicated, spouting information about the wild denizens and also stopping to
pick up any litter. On one occasion,
both our driver and guide were so engrossed in trying to locate a chital -
which was giving an alarm call - that they failed to notice that the jeep in
front of us had stopped. Since, by the
laws of physics, no two objects can occupy the same place at the same time
there resulted a bone jarring crash and a bent fender. It was all we could do to hold on to our
cameras and lenses.
Though the tiger sightings in Kanha were not as good as in
Bandhavgarh – we did see a male and a female tiger on separate occasions, both
of which left in a hurry – the scenic beauty and abundant bird life more than
made up for it.
As I wind up this post, I can still see, in my mind’s eye, the vast grasslands with herds of gaur and chital, beautifully lit by the setting sun as we drove out of Kanha.
Children of a Lesser God
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| A tigress crossing the road |
As I wind up this post, I can still see, in my mind’s eye, the vast grasslands with herds of gaur and chital, beautifully lit by the setting sun as we drove out of Kanha.
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| Gaur bulls relaxing at the end of day | A spotted deer stag lit by the setting sun |
- The not so glamorous denizens of tiger country
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| Female white rumped shama | Male white rumped shama | Indian pitta |
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| Chital doe | Spotted owlet | Painted francolin | Female shikra |
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| Blue jay | Langurs | Common kukri snake |
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| Sambar | Orange headed thrush | Black-rumped flameback woodpecker |
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| Ashy prinia | Wild boar | Red wattled lapwing |
A short video clip regarding the wild inhabitants of central India:
Acknowledgement:
I wish to thank Janardhan and Vijay of Embark photography (www.embarkphotography.in)
for organizing this trip, others who joined this trip for their good company,
drivers and guides of Bandhavgarh and Kanha for the great safaris and the flora
and fauna of both the parks for the joy which they gave us.
Reference:
[1] http://www.andbeyond.com/carlisle_on_conservation/62/reintroduction-of-barasingha-kanha-national-park-satpura-tiger-reserve/
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