In the Jungle!! The Mighty Jungle!!
Updated: Mar 22, 2023
When a tiger roars, people listen!
This magnificent creature is a favorite among naturalists because of its black stripes and awe-inspiring camouflage. It truly lives up to its title as the king of the jungle, doing what it wants and being least affected by the noises of the world beyond the forests. We find motivation from the very essence of its presence as a dominant beast.
We went on three safaris in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve - one in the morning, one at night, and one in the afternoon.
The first safari was in the morning and took us to the area of Choti Rani, a tigress that had recently given birth to two cubs. It was a cold morning with little sunlight, which gradually changed to full daylight. We saw a group of spotted deer and sambars, which are the tigress's favorite prey. However, the tigress was nowhere to be seen. We were in a gypsy with five people, plus a guide and a driver who took us to a nearby pond that they assured us was Choti Rani's resting place. However, she was not there. So, we took a detour to see other animals on the way. We saw a group of monkeys, a wild boar, and peafowls and stopped at the checkpoint to have breakfast in a basket. We were anticipating some sort of call or communication about a sighting.
Finally, our guide received a call from another guide. He told us to hold the vehicle fast because they were about to drive like crazy. Why? Because Choti Rani had come to the very spot with her cubs. We saw the tigress and her two playful cubs in their natural habitat. It was a first for me personally, and I felt astonished and excited.
On our way back, our guide spotted a bear, but it was so far away that we could not see it clearly. After that, a herd of sambars and nilgais stared at us like paparazzi. This safari ended on a high note, with a lot of curiosity to see more of the wild animals in upcoming safaris.
The second safari was at night in Palasgaon, which was a first for many in our group. The essence of a night safari is to look for the animal's glittering eyes in the moonlight or the spotlight rather than the animal itself. Our guide had seven years of experience in the jungle and told us that he could identify the animal with the color of its eye reflection. He told us that tigers' eyes made tricolored concentric reflections that were unique to the beast. This time, we were looking for Charger, a tiger.
The first place we went was a huge lake that was like a boundary between the buffer area (our area) and the core area (central area). For people who know less about safaris, buffer areas are the areas around the dense core area, the latter having denser fauna and, as such, a greater probability of an animal sighting. Our guide told us that a black leopard and Charger had been spotted on the opposite end of the lake a few days back, and we set our eyes on it. On our way, we learned about a variety of birds that sounded unique to their own species, like the paradise flycatcher that feeds on flying insects and a blue flycatcher with its unique and shrill voice that gets louder if the tigress is nearby. Unfortunately, there was no such call that day.
We ventured further into the forest and spotted wild boars, spotted deer, and nilgais. Suddenly, our gypsy came to a halt. We saw a huge Indian gaur grazing in the middle of the road. This wild buffalo was fiercer, heavier, and more beastly than its domestic counterpart. Our guide informed us that it probably weighed around a ton. He also shared an incident where a gaur had started chasing their gypsy, and they had to speed away to outpace it. Although it looked peaceful to me, we never know when a wild animal may turn aggressive.
Next, we reached a village in the heart of the jungle, and I asked our guide why people would risk their lives living here. He explained that it was their ancestral home, and they had been living in harmony with the forest even before it was declared a tiger reserve. The government had built a bitumen road for their ease of connectivity through the reserve, based on their convincing reasoning.
On our way back to the lake, we caught a glimpse of a small Indian civet. This animal resembled half-cat and half-mongoose. We also saw a 'pet' civet at our stay that came for dinner every night (see video). Although we did not see the tigress, it was a heavenly experience to witness the forest's beauty and wildlife in the twilight of the moon. The spooky thrills I felt that night would be unforgettable, even though I had a sense of safety.
The day came for our final safari in the afternoon, and our new guide, Mangesh, was 100% confident that we would sight the tigress, Junabai, with her two cubs. She had been spotted the day before, and all the guides were confident she would be sighted again. The forest department ensures a year-round supply of water to the reserve animals through a solar energy-based pumping mechanism that fetches underground water as soon as sunlight falls on the panels and transfers it into big ditches made as reservoirs. One of these reservoirs was the current drinking place for the tigress. We had seven gypsys, with some tourists having brought cameras with 'bazooka' lenses to capture the moment if it came.
We waited for nearly an hour and a half, taking photographs of various birds that came to drink water from the pump with their beaks. We saw a rufous treepie, a red-vented bulbul, two malachite kingfishers, a tawny-bellied babbler, and a Tickell's blue flycatcher. It is amazing how wildlife photographers spend days, and sometimes nights, with so much patience and perseverance to take astonishing pictures of wildlife.
As the wait was long, our driver decided to take a round around the area to spot other animals. As usual, we saw a group of sambars on our way and looked for another place where a tiger could be found according to another guide, but we had no luck and were retracing our path when our guide received a message - the tigress had come to the ditch with her cubs. The gypsy took a U-turn, and we were about to go roller-coaster when a forest department jeep came behind us. The typical rule for a gypsy is to drive slowly through the forest, and our driver and guide dared not break it in front of forest personnel. But at one point, the jeep took a turn, and we returned roller-coaster.
We were able to witness Junabai, a tigress, and her two female cubs playing, dancing, and bathing in a ditch, thanks to the speed of our transportation. Junabai carefully entered the pond back first, so as not to get muddy water on her face, while her young and naive cubs did not seem to mind. The older-looking cub mostly stayed outside of the pond and played with the younger cub, attempting to pull it out. We were amazed at how calm and motherly Junabai was towards her cubs, as she began licking the younger one.
Our gypsy provided a great view, and we were thankful to the resort in-charge for lending us his DSLR camera to capture the precious moments. We were able to take several photos and document the mother-daughter and sibling bonds that are similar to those experienced by humans. It was evident how simple it is to understand nature.
A small kingfisher approached the cubs, but the older cub fended it off. When one of the gypsys started its engine, Junabai turned her head in response. We felt a tinge of fear, but we knew we were safe inside our vehicle. We also understood that neither Junabai nor the observers were interested in disturbing each other's harmony.
After approximately an hour of watching the tigers, Junabai and her cubs left. It was the greatest natural sight we had ever seen, and we bid adieu to the experience. Although there were some issues, like rodent attacks and a minor theft at our resort, overall, seeing these chivalrous beasts was the highlight of our journey, and we will cherish it as a part of our adventure memories.
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