Stripes of Wild India

[graceland]

All I can say is WOW

and this had to be fun

 

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

As Galago stated Kanha visitors must make a choice - Kisli or Mukki? Kanha zone (in the core of the park) can be accessed from both (but it would be a hurried affair during the shorter afternoon drives). However, it isn´t really feasible to visit Mukki from Kisi and vice versa. (That´s why we did Kisli on our first afternoon. We didn´t go to Sarhi zone to the East, a drier area with fewer mammals there as we were told.)

Kanha is a big park, the core zone is 940 sq km, the buffer zone another 1,135 sq km. (The Mara, for example, is about 1,500 sq km.)

So ways are long:

So where to stay? Kisli vs. Mukki is an old debate, both have their fans and detractors. For quite some time Kisli was reputed to have more regular Tiger sightings, but as of late (say the last two, three years) Mukki has caught up big time and for the moment, according to Rajan, seems to be the slightly better place for higher chances. That apparently changes again later in the season when it becomes hotter and the smaller waterbodies dry out - Kisli has fewer water then and therefore Tigers have fewer cooling places. And then, Kisli wins again.

[michael-ibk]

@@TonyQ

 

How about a "historic" TR then? And we´re still eagerly awaiting Borneo, btw!

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Few more birds from the afternoon:



Little Cormorant



Little Grebe



Red-Naped Ibis



The waiting part. When a Tiger is believed to be close the cars are strategically breaking up and try to cover as much of the road (where the Tiger would hopefully cross) as possible. Not this time however. The only animal that passed was an Indian Muntjac. (This car had a female park guide which still is very much an exception. We had a woman too this afternoon, Rumati, but I think these two were the only ones we saw in Kanha.)



New day new luck:

Kanha 2nd Morning

Ready to go?



Sometimes searching Tigers is really hard work - looking out for pugmarks, listen into the forest - hear that, are there alarm calls somewhere? And then there´s the waiting part, waiting waiting waiting, will the Tiger come out or not?

But sometimes, like this morning at Mukki at exactly 07:00 a.m. all it took was to cross a corner - and there he was:



Not only a big Male, THE "Big Male" - that´s his name actually (or "BadaMale", if you prefer a more Indian touch to it). Eight or nine years old we were told. He was just checking his territory, probing if his tree tasted right. A wonderful sighting, it was just us and one other car. Tiger heaven!



Then he came out onto the road. Luckily for Big Cat loving-tourists Tigers like to walk on the soft, sandy underground here - much nicer than the shrubby forest undergrowth.



This was such an awesome sighting, it looked a bit like the Big One was acting as a vanguard for the gypsy behind him which was slowly following him, like he was leading them along as we were slowly retreating.



Unlike Umarpani yesterday he was generous and granted us frontal view of him.



The last time in Kanha Andrew and me had not seen any Tigers at all - so we were thrilled to see our second already, and in such a nice, undisturbed setting. No yelling, no jostling of cars, no fights for positions - we and the other car were amicably "sharing" the privilege of seeing him.



One of the select few moments of all the trips when a Tiger seemed to take notice of us at all and looked our way. Normally it always feels like we are so far beneath them, not worth noticing at all, they never bother to eye up their human admirers. A good thing IMO, they are totally relaxed about tourists. If they were bothered by it would be so easy for them to avoid beeing seen - they could just stay hidden in the forest. But sometimes they almost seem to enjoy giving a good show.



The Tiger Ban in 2012 was quite a big change for tiger viewings. For some months the Supreme Court had suspended all tourism into the parks, which sent the tourism and wildlife sector into an uproar. Luckily the ban was lifted, but some new regulations were enforced. The elephant back shows were done away with completely. (A tiger was tracked by mahouts, then tourists were brought to the animal into the jungle on elephant back, with every elephant allowed only a few minutes there.) I think that was a good decision. These "Tiger shows" left the animal no space to retreat, no "privacy" so to speak. Not a good situation for mothers with cubs especially, and it´s for the best IMO that the forest is all theirs again. Now they can choose if they want to be seen. The animals seem to behave very differently in that regard - some are very bold and are often parading around on the roads, others are almost never seen.



One other thing that was changed was accessibility. Only 20 % of the park´s core zones are now allowed for tourist entry, and so a lot of roads were closed. As was the number of vehicles allowed inside, that has been brought down from 300 to 140. Sounds like a good thing at first glance but I´m not so sure about that. A park like Kanha, and basically all wildlife hotspots in India can only survive if it not resented, better yet supported by the local communities around. Those restrictions have meant a loss of jobs for the villagers, less park rangers are needed, less staff in lodges. (The park is a very important employer, not only for guides and rangers, also for fencing areas off, controlled burnings, taking care of the roads, weeding and lots of other stuff 100s of people find work here.)



But we were told, despite all difficulties, people here ARE very proud of "their" Kanha, and support it. Apparently the management here does a very good job, and tries to reach out to the locals, to support them and to make th National Park valuable to them. Also, if livestock is killed, farmers are compensated without having to go through too much red tape.



I´ve always wondered how those 20 % were calculated, what would count as "tourist area" and what not. Only the roads, or everything seen from those roads? I found out that management of the park has thought about that too a lot, and so they have done a "re-count" with the effect that probably at the start of the next season (October) they will we able to re-open a lot of the roads, and then later probably also slightly increase the number of cars again.





Too late for us, for "Big Male" walked down a forbidden road, we were not allowed to follow him here. Had it been a few months later we would have accompanied this magnificent animal through all of Kanha Park, had he chosen to stay on the road.

Well, no better way to start a morning than with a sighting like this indeed - couldn´t have asked for more.



That langur photo is still perplexing me a bit - can anybody please tell me where that third hand is coming from? Or have I photographed a mutant here?





Monkey Road Block. This is the Northern Plains Langur, the most widely spread langur in India. Probably bachelors here. Dominant male langurs possess a harem and do not tolerate subadults or even very young males in the troop. As Galago already alluded to, another animal Kipling obviously was not very fond of - the Bandar-Log as he called them are incredibly stupid megalomaniacs - no self-respecting animal of the jungle would ever speak to them. (Only if they steal a certain hairless ape, that is.)

Indians are more fond of them since they personify the god Hanuman. According to the epos "Ramayana" monkey king Sugrava sent Rama a whole army to help him fight a demon - from that battle the Langur got his black face, because he sticked his burning tail into his mouth to extinguish the flames.

The rest of the morning was beautiful and enjoyable with deer, monkeys and birds but tigerless. One alarm with a bit of waiting but this cat remained hidden. (We had very much hoped to find a female with 4 cubs who were known to be around this area, or even the pack of four Dholes also seen just this morning, but no luck. But no complaints this morning.)



Beautiful meadows of Kanha.





Shikra, a common small bird of prey. The shikra was a favourite among falconers in India and Pakistan due to the ease with it could be trained and was frequently used to procure food for the more prized falcons. They were noted for their pluck and ability to take much larger birds including partrigdes, crows and even young peafowl. The word shikra or shikara means hunter in the Hindi language



Wooly-Necked Stork





A very relaxed Black Stork



The Sandhar Tank dam in Mukki zone, one of my favourite places in Kanha.





Cotton Pygmy Goose

[TonyQ]

@@michael-ibk

What a great sighting of a very beautiful tiger - and very special to have it just for you and the one other car!

(Borneo trip report on its way!)

[graceland]

What a fabulous sighting! My heart pounded just thinking of how you three must have felt following that magnificent tiger.

 

Never seen one; probably never will, so thanks for all the beautiful photos and commentary. Totally captivating just seeing ALL the photos. The birds are also quite exquisite and colorful!

[Atravelynn]

I too got a photo of the 3-armed Langur! This one is looking less 3-armed on the right.

 

After seeing mostly the backside of Tigress Umarpani the day before, it was thrilling to have nice views of the other end.

 

Though I never told the gentlemen, I know where this "New day new luck" of the tiger came from. It was Red (Indian) Muntjak, that darted across our path the evening before, as captured in this photo from the previous post:

A muntjak sighting has always been good tiger luck for me in India.

Muntjak precedes the tiger.

 

Here's a good reason to hand your spare camera over to Naturalist Rajan, who enjoys taking both stills and videos for clients. He performed the same favor for me on the first trip with excellent results as well.

The above shot is Rajan's handiwork.

"(We had very much hoped to find a female with 4 cubs who were known to be around this area, or even the pack of four Dholes also seen just this morning, but no luck. But no complaints this morning.)"

If we could just have peered into through these thick grasses, I believe we might have found those tiger cubs or dholes.

 

"Only 20 % of the park´s core zones are now allowed for tourist entry, and so a lot of roads were closed." One other reason, in addition to employment opportunities, that I am pleased additional park access will be restored in the months ahead, is that where tourists go poachers fear to tread. Tourism presence discourages poachers.

 

To compare my Kanha tiger sightings in 2012 when there was no tiger ban in effect and elephant-back tiger shows were in full swing to the Kanha tiger sightings on this trip, I did a

 

A wee bit 'o number crunching:

 

In 2012

12 drives in Kanha resulted in 11 tiger sightings from the vehicle when 40% of the park was available for tourism.

 

In 2015

Cut the 12 in half because now there is only 20% of the park available for tourism, half of 40%. That gives you 12/2 = 6 drive area.

 

This trip we had 7 drive times vs. the 12 I had 2012, but the 3 tiger shows I did in 2012 took up probably the time of 1 full drive so that is 12-1 = 11 drive times in 2012

 

So the drive time ratio in 2015 vs 2012 is 7:11 or 64%. What is 64% of 6 drive area? It is about 3.8 tigers.

 

How many tigers did we see in Kanha? 4, and 1 of the tigers was a brief and distant glimpse, bringing the tiger sightings in 2015 to about 3.8, just as expected based on reduced areas and no tiger shows.

 

The above wee bit 'o number crunching is open to a lot of second guessing on assumptions and would not hold up under rigorous peer review procedures, but I was surprised it came out about what I'd expect.

 

The good news is the 20% access is going to be increased so future number crunching and actual tiger sightings should produce even more favorable results.

 

Math class dismissed!

 

And I hope that revealing the 3.8 does not kill the suspense of the rest of the Kanha section. But I am remaining mum on whether we see a little frog in the pond of Chitvan Jungle Lodge or not. Nope, not telling. Not even a clue!

Edited May 15, 2015 by Atravelynn

[Atravelynn]

Never seen one; probably never will, so thanks for all the beautiful photos and commentary. Totally captivating just seeing ALL the photos. The birds are also quite exquisite and colorful!

If you can do walking safaris in Mana Pools, you can get to India! I'm sure you could take the front seat for your back.

[Treepol]

@@Atravelynn I am loving this report and when I logged in at lunchtime here was another lengthy instalment - beautiful photos and text to while away the lunch hour.

 

I am indeed working on a 6 week itinerary and will post details in the 2016 planning thread soon.

[jeremie]

In the afternoon it was back to the Western zone (Baguri) again. This is the most popular one, and since it was Sunday it was very crowded that day. It had been fine the days before, and the morning in Eastern zone (which is less visited) as well, but now it was a bit much, the roads were almost congested with jeeps in the beginning.

 

When we entered the gate the elephants used here for riding (for Indians only) enjoyed their daily bath and got a good wash from their mahouts, a lovely scene with the grey giants almost submerged.

 

 

 

We drove to a watchtower overseeing the Donga beel and had a magnificent view from here, the plains on the other shore were unbelievably full, hundreds of mammals were peacefully munching away over there.

 

 

Too far away for good pictures, but a stunning sight with the binocs, this was Serengeti/Mara-like, don´t think there are other places with so many big grazers to be found together in one place in India. Only in Kaziranga.

 

 

I tried to count the Rhinos and came up with well over fourty, a park guide next to me in the tower said he had counted 54!

 

 

Lots of Buffalos.

 

 

Eastern Barasinga and Hog Deer.

 

 

 

Two of us immensely enjoyed this, one was .... otherwise occupied. I´ll leave it to Lynn to cover the details here.

 

When more and more tourists arrived we left, I think at least 20 cars or more had arrived by now. The rest of the afternoon went pretty quiet.

 

 

 

Emerald Dove

 

Out in the open areas again we heard alarm calls and were hoping for Tiger. While the Big Striped One very probably was nearby, he of course remained invisible inside the high grass.

 

 

A Rhino was grazing close to us, giving us a pretty unfriendly look as it came closer.

 

 

As it turned out this guy really didn´t like us:

 

 

He charged!

 

 

Not too fast, but his intentions were clear - ram that ugly green thing with the annoying gawking creatures.

 

 

As I was behind the viewfinder it didn´t even ocur to me that we were in a potentially dangerous situation, I just though "Great, very cool shots I´m getting here."

 

 

As a matter of fact I was so "in" photography mode that I was honestly annoyed when the car suddenly moved - of course Tarun had made sure we got away in time. I laughed at my annoyance, my "viewfinder mode" -induced stupidity. Good to have a guide who knows when it´s time to go.

 

 

These guys who we bypassed were cutting it a bit closer.

 

 

Rhino chargings are no laughing matter, accidents do happen as Tarun told us. They are feared by the rangers, especially when they happen upon one in the tall elephant grass. Naturally, mothers with calves are the most dangerous ones. Their speed should not be underestimated, despite their bulky and lethargic appearance - they can clock 55 km/h when chasing someone. Indian Rhins do not use their horns to gore victims btw. But that´s little consolation - they rather use their sharp teeth to bite off chunks of flesh instead. Ouch!

 

No rhinos tomorrow morning - now we would try to find Apes!

 

 

 

The number of rhinos on these images is just unbelievable! Densities of animals seem to be really high in the grasslands.

I have been in Chitwan in 2011 for a 10 days trekking and have been sufficiently lucky to see 48 rhinos!

It is there common to be charged by rhinos, very few incident occur even in the over-crowded areas. But accidents with sloth bears seem to be common, and elephants are completely avoided.

 

I have once been lucky enough to get at only 6 meters from one rhino bathing in a small pond, an amazing sighting!

[Atravelynn]

@@Atravelynn I am loving this report and when I logged in at lunchtime here was another lengthy instalment - beautiful photos and text to while away the lunch hour.

 

I am indeed working on a 6 week itinerary and will post details in the 2016 planning thread soon.

You could easily do several 6-weekers and still not see it all!

[Atravelynn]

You mention Chitwan @@jeremie. Along with the devastation to the people of Nepal, I have been wondering about parks and potential poaching in the chaos.

 

You are the only person I know who had a rhino as a bathtub toy!

[madaboutcheetah]

I have no idea what the logic was behind closure of half the routes(IMHO more eyes and ears keeps the poachers out) ........ Curbing the vehicle numbers is a fantastic idea. That said, Bandhavgarh have started safaris in the buffer zone (perhaps wave of the future) - hopefully the locals benefit and see that tourism helps!!!

[Zim Girl]

Beautiful pictures of Kanha - it is just the most stunning Park.

It was my favourite when we visited in 2009, Bandhavgarh and Pench being the others.

I thought it was the most scenic and also the most relaxed to be in. Tourist/guide/vehicle behaviour was much better and it was very easy to go off and find your own space (and tigers!)

 

Wonderful photographs of all the wildlife.

[Treepol]

@@TonyQ looking forward to hearing all about your Borneo trip!

[Atravelynn]

@@TonyQ looking forward to hearing all about your Borneo trip!

@@TonyQ, you could do a "trailer" for Borneo on this Stripes report. Suspense is building for the debut!

[TonyQ]

@@Atravelynn

I have finally started it !

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@michael-ibk

 

Having never seen a tiger in the wild, your images are fascinating.

The aspect which makes the most powerful impression is the sheer scale of the tigers.

Relative to the trees and undergrowth, they appear to be such massive animals.

Walking down the track in filtered light, such a majestic cat.

I admire the fine color balance and luminosity of your photos.

Many, many thanks for sharing these lovely photographs.

Tom K.

[Atravelynn]

In a previous post I credited Naturalist Rajan with some nice work behind the camera. Here is another of his contributions to my portfolio. He had a knack for catching interesting activities, like this langur eating leaves, which are in very sharp focus, I must add.

 

Definitely hand over your spare camera to Rajan when traveling with him as your guide/naturalist.

 

Kanha 3^rd Afternoon

Rajan told us that generally afternoons were better for finding tigers than mornings because the tigers are seeking water after the heat of the day. That theory had not held true the previous afternoon, nor from 3:00 pm until 5:00pm on our third afternoon in the Mukki section. So we focused on other things.

 

3 species of egret: Little, Intermediate, Great

Oriental Turtle Dove

Browsing Gaur attracting many flying insects

It was the brightly colored leaves and not the commonly seen Jungle Babbler that beckoned us to snap this shot.

Mr. Elephant in the Meadow with the Hatchet – for fans of the board game Clue.

 

Rajan did enquire with the mahut for clues as to the whereabouts of any interesting species. Having a good relationship with the forestry workers--whether mounted, setting controlled burns, or patrolling on foot—increases the odds of good sightings. Rajan often made a point of consulting with these “scouts in the field.”

There goes the roller!

At 5:00 pm we came upon a rocky area where several vehicles had stopped. They had heard alarm calls and believed a leopard was present in the cliffs above, so we stopped to look and listen too. Within 5 seconds of stopping, Rajan stated, “I hear a tiger growl” so off we drove in that direction.

 

After several minutes of swift and skillful driving that took us closer to where the growl originated, we came to an abrupt halt. We all thought we had arrived at the source of the growl and were now looking for the growler. Not exactly. We had arrived at the dividing line between Mukki, where we had permits, and the Kanha Core Zone, where we did not have permits. So we had to halt because we could not cross into the Kanha Core Zone. Not only were we at the border, we were near a little pool of water at the base of a sloping hill. Rajan surmised that the pool would be the destination of the growling tiger; and he was right.

 

After 10 minutes a tiger could be seen strolling along the road from the Core Zone into Mukki Zone, heading straight for that little pool of water. This was “New Male” a 4-5 year old tiger entering his prime and staking out his territory with those growls that had alerted not only other males, but us, to his presence.

New Male approaching Mukki Zone from the Kanha Core Zone

He's got plunge pool on his mind.

With no steps and a railing or no springy diving board to enter the water, tigers seem to prefer backing in.

Rajan had us perfectly positioned to see the tiger relax in the little pond for half an hour, down the hill from the road.

 

In 30 minutes, a lot of photos are possible and we took full advantage of the situation. That is why one million tiger pictures will follow.

Edited May 16, 2015 by Atravelynn

[Atravelynn]

All New Male in a small pond in the Mukki Zone, near the border with the Kanha Core Zone.

[graceland]

 

Never seen one; probably never will, so thanks for all the beautiful photos and commentary. Totally captivating just seeing ALL the photos. The birds are also quite exquisite and colorful!

If you can do walking safaris in Mana Pools, you can get to India! I'm sure you could take the front seat for your back.

 

Quite right @@Atravelynn, I must see those tigers- so logistically -- now must go to Zakouma, then on to India and Borneo. WoBeGone the TA that attempts all that for me in one trip so I only cross the Atlantic ONCE. She-He will earn her stripes for sure. And at a great price LOL....

 

I told OH we must go spend 12 months (dreaming) living in the south of

France, so we could train throughout Europe-- and fly to Afica without spending those gobs of airline fees crossing the

Atlantic

 

I personally think it is a good plan

[Atravelynn]

Everybody out of the pool, now.

Off goes New Male.

Rajan made several videos of New Male in the pond. This one shows him batting flying insects.

As we headed back with that “yes I have seen the tiger and it`s the most beautiful animal in the world. I´m so happy!" look, we were informed of another young male that was sighted. After a glimpse of him retreating at a distance, we backed off so that others who had not spent the afternoon poolside with a tiger might have a look.

 

Fourth tiger sighted in Kanha, Mukki section.

 

Even the naturalists can have that "yes I have seen the tiger and it`s the most beautiful animal in the world. I´m so happy!" look.

It had been an eventful day in Kanha’s Mukki Zone!

Edited May 16, 2015 by Atravelynn

[Tom Kellie]

I told OH we must go spend 12 months (dreaming) living in the south of

France, so we could train throughout Europe-- and fly to Afica without spending those gobs of airline fees crossing the

Atlantic

 

I personally think it is a good plan

 

~ @@graceland

 

It's a splendid plan!

Now naturally, you'll require the services of a bag and camera carrier on such a magnificent trek.

I happen to know a wizened chap in Beijing who has substantial experience schlepping luggage around, and who would certainly have no issues with holding umbrellas, opening doors, lifting suitcases and the like for you and your honored husband.

Just call me Tom-the-bellboy!

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@Atravelynn

 

Seeing such a photo on my computer screen after returning home from a Saturday morning of teaching ecology, there are only two options open to me.

• 1. Conclude that your Photoshop skills exceed those of any of my hyper-talented students.

• 2. Start saving and planning a visit to India.

While I admire understatement, it has no place when praising such an image.

I loved your ultra-sharp foliage shots. These tiger images are heart-stoppingly gorgeous.

Yet the image above is in a category all its own.

It was worth logging in just to see the sky reflected in those eyes, and the pinl nose.

More than thanks...heartfelt gratitude for such an image.

The India Travel Board owes you!

Tom K.

[michael-ibk]

My favourite video from this trip, especially when he licks his paws (00.30)!

Rajan really made the best call here, we were pretty much the only car with a decent angle because he had anticipated New Male´s moves so perfectly. In time, more and more cars arrived (10 was the maximum I think), but people were behaving well. No shouting, no yelling. (Once a driver accidentally honked, but that just happens.) Everybody was standing up in the car, trying to get a good view. One guy overdid it, and he then backwards fell down from the car! Luckily he didn´t hurt himself, he just felt a bit akward. New Male couldn´t have cared less about him - a good thing since he was only, what, 15 metres down there!





According to the latest census, New Male is one of about 89 - 96 tigers roaming Kanha acoording to the 2014 census. An encouraging census, because numbers jumped almost 30 % up from 2010. 2,226 were counted now, as opposed to just 1,706 last time. Of course I always wonder how accurate and sincere these calculations are, and there is competition between Tiger Parks to be the best and have the most. So as a skeptic I take these numbers with a grain of salt though I very much hope there really is an upwards trend. Rajan thinks the park could sustain about 130 tigers.

Leopards are harder to count, their number is estimated to be about 100 in the park. The count gets weird for Sloth Bears, apparently people are debating whether 72 or 172 were counted last time.

Edited May 16, 2015 by michael-ibk