How intelligent is the tiger?

Well, we human beings think that we are the most intelligent among all the living species on earth. We take a certain amount of pride in that as well. However, do the other animals have a lower level of intellect? Some scientists refuse to acknowledge that animals possess intelligence; rather they attribute some of the actions to intuition.

However, I have a healthy regard for the intelligence level of a tiger. I have never seen them attack their prey at the first sight. I have seen the tiger virtually crawling in the ground where there is insufficient cover and deciding to move back to the shelter of the bush when it realises that the distance is not enough for it to succeed in bringing down the prey. Once I saw the Jhurjhura tigress in Bandhavgarh stalk four times to return back without its prey even noticing her. Compare this to foolhardy actions of some of the armies who have unsuccessfully tried to storm the bastion and have paid with huge number of human lives. One such example that readily comes to my mind is the Charge of the Light Brigade of the British army in the Crimean war where a hundred odd soldiers were felled at the first few minutes of the open charge. Do you still think that the tiger has lesser intellect?

I am sure your doubts regarding the tiger’s intelligence will vanish when the tiger outwits you and slips away. Many a hunter will vouch for that. And if you are a wildlife photographer or researcher tracking and studying a tiger for a long time, then you may have such an experience as well.

A few years back, I was in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve. It was raining in most of the days. In one afternoon, dark clouds were hovering over the sky. We ventured into the forest and despite signs of tiger, we didn’t see one. We saw a big herd of gaur with a huge dominant male. I think it is the biggest gaur that I have seen till date. It was ensuring that a small calf was physically shielded and after all the members of the herd crossed the road and moved into deeper jungle did the leader move.

After an hour or so we took a right turn and suddenly ahead of us at a distance we could see a tigress with cubs walking on the dirt track. It was an interesting sight. A few poodles had formed in the dirt track due to rain and leading our eye to the tiger. I clicked a couple of image and then asked the driver to move closer.

The cubs turned to their left and entered the forest where as the tigress kept on moving ahead. We reached the spot where the cubs had entered into the forest and stopped to spot them. Since we couldn’t find them and the tigress was moving on the road in front of us, the driver and the forest department appointed guide were interested in following her.

No sooner had we started the jeep, we could see that one of the cubs was just peeping from behind a bamboo bush. It was watching whether we have left the place or not. The cub then sharpened its claws on a dead tree and then moved back into the forest. We immediately, started following the tigress.

The tigress walked for a few minutes and then turned to her right and entered into the forest. Remember, that the cubs had entered the forest on our left, where as the mother enters the forest some distance ahead and to the right.

When we reached the spot, we could not locate her. We stood there for a few minutes to ponder our next course of action. The driver and guide were unanimous in their decision that the tigress had moved ahead and we should also move ahead. I was not sure that the tigress had moved ahead. If it wanted to do so, then why did it leave the dirt track and enter into the bush? I had a niggling suspicion that the tigress might have gone back towards her cubs. Nevertheless, we moved ahead for a few minutes and I was thinking all the time. I suddenly asked them to stop. The driver and guide thought that I had spotted the tigress. I told them to turn back and reach the place where we had left the cubs. The driver and guide started telling me that they know for sure where the tigress has gone; they have so much of experience etc. I was insistent because I realised that the tigress have fooled us.

I forced the driver to turn back and drive back to the place where we left the cubs. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I could see the tigress and cub sitting on a bund towards our left, about 15-18 feet high. This bund, due to its higher elevation, was obviously not visible to the people sitting in a vehicle. I had somehow managed to sight them. We then reversed the vehicle and came back to the spot.

The tigress was obviously smart. The cubs went into the forest on our left and she moved ahead and entered into the forest towards her right. She has then retraced her steps back to the spot, crossed the road and met her cubs. She has then taken them to the top of a bund which is about 15-18 feet high and not readily visible from the ground level. She was intelligent enough to fool us for some time. If I didn’t have an idea about the good level of intelligence a tiger possesses, then I would not have realised that it was a deliberate ploy of the tigress to lead us away from her cubs.

We photographed them for some time, and one of the cubs who were shy immediately moved into the bush and out of sight. So I photographed the tigress and one cub. Soon other tourist vehicles appeared in the sight and were unable to notice the tiger and moving away. Only after our guide pointed at the tigress and cub, the other tourist vehicles could see it and came back for a closer look. Such was the advantage of the elevation of the bund.

She was obviously not too happy at the presence of noisy tourists in four tourist vehicles that had lined up at the spot within 15 minutes. She gave vent to a snarl and soon disappeared into the bush. The light was pretty low. I clicked a few images solely for black and white purpose. We then moved back to the forest rest house, with a much better appreciation of the intelligence level of a tiger.

Post Script: Perhaps no one could have described the intelligence level of tiger vis-a-vis man much better than the late Kailash Sankhala, the founder director of Project Tiger. He had made a comment on the practice of people wearing a mask at the back of their head while entering into the Sundarban forests, in the belief that tiger will think people are looking at him and will not attack. In Kailash Sankhala‘s own words:

“My study of the tigers behaviour rules out any role for masks or dummies. The tiger never attacks at first sight. A lot of verification, re-verification, focus and refocus is practised, sometimes for hours before an attack is launched.

Too much of dependence on statistics to prove the predetermined result is dangerous. But who fools whom? Nobody is quiet sure. My guess is the joke is on us rather than the tiger“.

I can still remember that warm summer morning. It was the month of May, and as usual I was the first one to reach the forest gates much before it opened. It was an uninteresting start as for a long time we didn’t see anything. Then we came across a Eurasian thick knee. I clicked a few images and then we moved ahead. A solitary wild boar (Sus scrofa) was approaching towards us and as usual I was in no mood to click a wild boar. Suddenly it stopped in its tracks about twenty feet away from us. I could see that a cobra had raised its hood. The wild boar looked at it and then stepped aside and continued in its movement. We took a cue from the wild boar and moved ahead.

At 6.11 am in the morning I reached rajbehera grasslands. Two cheetal deer (axis axis) stags were sparring. The light was lovely. I immediately started clicking. The 1.4x converter was attached to my lens, and I removed it and started clicking. Hardly had I clicked a few images, we could hear growling of tigers. My driver started urging and partially blaming me that we missed tigers fighting just because I was busy shooting deers. Later after checking the time recorded in the images, I saw that I had spent a single minute in clicking deers. So I didn’t curse myself much.

We raced ahead to see two tigers growling and hitting at each other with their claws barred. However, the moment we reached the spot they separated and moved in different directions. It was not a full bloodied conflict. I could make out that both were tigresses. The smaller of the two was our Jhurjhura tigress. She moved ahead in the rajbehera dam direction and the other tigress moved in the opposite direction.

Soon the cheetal herd (Axis axis) saw the tiger and started marching ahead like an army towards the tiger. It was an interesting sight. Normally, one expects the deer to be scared of the tiger and run away. However, in this case it shows that the deers do have intelligence level as opposed to what we think of them to possess. The deers were keeping a close watch on the movements of the tigress and turned back when they were sure that the tigress moved away from that patch of forest. They then resumed feeding on grass.

I followed the tigress and could create images of her scent marking and defecating. She kept on checking the scent markes left on the trees and bushes and then finally crossed the dirt track infront of me and disappeared into the tall grass.

On any day, this would have been the highpoint for a wildlife photographer or tourist. However, there was much in store for us that day.

We turned back and proceeded towards climbers point to reach the waterhole, as the Jhurjhura tigress had gone in that direction. There we met one of the cubs of the Jhurjhura tigress. A couple of other tourist vehicles had reached there and the cub got disturbed as the vehicles started chasing her.

I don’t understand what fun people get by following behind a tiger walking in the road. Soon the cub moved into the grassland. It was an unfortunate incident, as this cub was separated from its mother and we didn’t even see this cub in the evening. Tourists should be careful of their impact on the tigers and other wildlife. We saw that the jhurjhura tigress and her other cub were on the other side of climbers point. I had agreed to carry a forest department officer in my vehicle and he informed the forest ranger about the tigers by wireless.

Within an hour the forest department ranger and the elephants arrived at the spot to conduct Tiger Show. At that time the Tiger Show had not earned its notoriety. I climbed on one elephant to go over the hill and have a look. I then realised that the jhurjhura tigress had killed a Sambar and hence she was fighting with the other tigress to protect her kill. The mahout wanted to go closer to the tigress; however, I always prefer photographing from a distance when I am on top of an elephant, giving the tiger sufficient space. The light was not good, so I just clicked a few images and then watched the tigress.

After sometime, the tigress and her cub went to the other side to climbers point and started feeding on the Sambar carcass. It was a delight watching the tigers use their rasping tongue to feed. Tiger is a fastidious in its habits. It starts feeding on a kill by first puncturing below the tail portion and pulling out the intestine. You will often find the intestine lying a few feet away from the kill. A leopard however, eats the intestine as well.

In the Sambar kill, the neck was neatly dislocated, the way an adult tiger kills. Its technique is completely unique. Other big cats kill by suffocating. At times, large leopards are reported to have killed in this manner, however I haven’t experienced it.

The climbers point was much more dense at that time, than it is today. There was a cave like ledge there and the tigress took rest after some time. The cub was busy gorging on the sambar kill with short rest inbetween.

After an hour or so, the tigress urged the cub to leave the carcass, but the cub was not willing. Soon a tug of war started. The cub had inserted its leg inside the carcass to get a better grip and was resisting the mother. Finally, the Jhurjhura tigress gave a mighty pull and the cub had to listen. They moved to the other side and into water.

By the time, around ten or eleven tourist jeeps had reached the spot. A group of excited school kids were also there and one can imagine the din created. The Jhurjhura tigress gave vent to a snarl and then entered into the water. I have seen this snarl getting stronger over the years. It was an irony that she used to resent the presence of noisy tourists and ultimately, she laid down her life under the wheels of a vehicle.

The tigress and her cubs were cooling off and the cub was swimming in the waters. Every ten minutes or so, the cub used to come near the mother and rub cheeks showing affection. It was nice watching unalloyed love and affection among species, whom we consider inferior to us. We call them beasts, animals etc, however anyone who has watched these supposedly ferocious animals, would concur that that they are more humane than us.

There were hardly anyone willing to get onto the elephants for the tiger show, as the tigers were infront of us in the open. The ranger got irritated and started driving away the tourists from the spot. A few moved away from the spot fearing the wrath of the ranger, and the ensuing din caused the tigress and her cub to get out of water and leave the spot too.

I too left the spot feeling happy having seen several facets of the Jhurjhura tigresses personality. She had defended her Sambar kill from a larger tigress, ensured that her cub is well fed and drinks water and cools off at the right time. She has resented the intrusion into her privacy by snarling and had moved her cub away from noisy crowd. The afternoon Safari brought another memorable experience with her family which I have already described here http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/when-a-tiger-cub-seeks-your-protection .

Today I am going to relate an incredible experience that I had in 2006 in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. While looking back at my old images I came across this black and white image of a tigress and cub in water and the memories came flooding back.

It was an eventful day. In the morning I had a good sighting of a tigress and her cubs on kill and in water in the climbers point and suaribah area. In the afternoon we reached the spot again but the tigers were sleeping on the hill and were not visible.

I moved ahead and then later around 6 pm we could sight a tiger in the stream opposite climbers point. It was the Sukhipatiha male, neck deep in water. There were a few trees in front of us and the tiger was hardly visible. The guide deserves praise for spotting the tiger. The light was very poor. I used my flash to get his eyes shining so that people can locate the tiger. We then left the tiger at peace with itself and moved to the other side of climbers point, to the suaribah area. The tigress and her cub had come back to water and there were a few other tourist vehicles there.

My vehicle was not in the right position, and I didn’t click beyond a record images as I was not getting the right images. We waited for some time and the tourist jeeps started leaving the place around 6.10 or so as the forest department gate closes at 6.45 pm and the vehicles have to be out of the forest by that time. It was 6.19 pm when the tigress and the cub got up and went up the hill. All the vehicles immediately left the spot. My driver commented that the tiger is irritated with the vehicles and hence left. I told him that definitely, the tigress and cub will come back to water after we left the place. So we moved ahead slowly and no sooner had we reached the corner, the tigress and cub started coming back to water. They had a heavy meal as they had finished a Sambar within a day and definitely wanted to be in water to cool off as well as to drink.

We immediately reversed and came back to the waterfront. The tigress and cub watched us and didn’t react. So we realized that they were comfortable. I started creating a few images. My driver, resourceful that he is, suggested that I can click till 6.30 pm and then leave by the other gate. However that meant a drive of about 15 kilometers more. The light was very low and the shutter speed in my Canon EOS 10D digital SLR camera was pretty low. I hardly used to shoot beyond ISO 100 in that camera. So I slowly opened my tripod and placed it on the ground and started creating images.

There were a few deers (Axis axis) grazing in the meadows. Suddenly there was an alarm call from them. I was surprised as the alarm call was in the rajbehera grasslands direction. I was told that it might be Sukhipatiha male. It was likely, as we had sighted the Sukhipatiha male on the other side of the hill in the stream. This male tiger is yet to establish its territory. So it was staying in caves on the hills opposite the climber point area and used to surreptitiously hunt and fend for itself taking enough care to hide from other male tigers.

I could see different reactions in the tigress and the cub. We could not see the Sukhipatiha tiger, but the tigress got up and started moving in that direction as if to confront him. Fear was writ large over the face of the cub. It would be pertinent to mention that a wild tiger can cause harm to a tiger cub from another litter in cases where the intraspecific competition is immense. In such cases, it can even kill a cub.

The tiger cub immediately got up and started coming straight towards me. I was worried, because I had placed the tripod on the ground and had placed my camera and lens on it. Even at the tender age of 8-10 months an adolescent tiger has enough power to twist the tripod like a plastic wire. However, my driver remarked that the cub wants to hide near us. I then realized that the cub is seeking protection from the male tiger. I still couldn’t believe it. A wild tiger cub trusts a human being to hide from a male tiger! I felt as if a kid is coming close towards me for shelter. In a world where other fellow human beings don’t trust you, a tiger reposing faith was an emotional moment for me.

It’s been three long years, since I had this amazing experience. It was the summer of 2005. Surjit called me to ask if I would be able to join him on a trip to Malani in Corbett National Park. I had not been to this part of Corbett National Park before and readily agreed. Sambit and Balu also joined us to make it a big party.

 The Malani forest rest house is located on a cliff overlooking a stream flowing below. As is the nature of these streams, the monsoon season sees it at its ferocious best and at other times of the year, the flow reduces to a trickle making pools of water here and there for the kingfisher to hunt or the langurs, deers and elephants to drink. When all these animals are there, how can be the king of the jungle be far behind? The tiger is seen cooling off in a small pool in this stream in the summer months.

Coming back to the story, we bought some fresh eggs, bread etc to add to the provisions we had procured from Delhi. The forest rest house doesn’t have a canteen, so visitors have to carry their own provisions if they expect to eat. We reached the rest house and handed over the groceries. We were hungry but rather than waiting for the meals to be prepared, we had some light snacks and moved on for the afternoon safari.

Sambit was in a jungle for the first time, and was pretty excited. We found deers and Sambars grazing or resting in the shade. Surjit was photographing them. I was on the look out for any signs of the tiger. We found lot of pugmarks in the dry river bed and then at a distance we found some tourists in a jeep. It took us some time to make out the outline of the sleeping tiger. The tiger rolled over and yawned. After a few yawns, the tiger got up and started walking and we could see that it was an adolescent one. It seemed to have had little success in hunting in the last few days as it appeared to be famished. The tiger soon crossed the dry stream and vanished into the undergrowth.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful. We returned back to the forest rest house happy sighting a tiger. I was feeling good thinking that on every trip to Corbett National Park, I have sighted a tiger. Our tired but excited spirits soon got a boost with hot cups of tea.

Within half an hour the dinner was ready. Though it was hardly seven in the evening, we were pretty hungry and devoured the food. Surjit and I came out of the forest rest house to feel the evening air. The forest rest house is located at the base of the hill in a clearing of about a football field and half in length and breadth. The stream flowing in front of it, has carved a steep drop of fifteen to twenty meters at places. The forest department staff has made a gradual slope to approach the stream in front of the forest rest house. About fifteen feet in front of the forest rest house there was a tree, which is no longer there, and the base of it was cemented to create a rectangular platform of about fifteen feet by ten feet. We pulled two chairs and placed it below the tree in the compound. The edge of the forest is about a further thirty feet away sloping down into the stream. Towards the left the forest starts hundred feet away from the tree. Towards the right is the approach road and the clearing is about the length of a football field. Soon Sambit joined us by pulling a chair and placing it after me and closer to the edge of the forest. We were seated in a semi circular manner facing the approach road.

It was a moonless night and for the first hour it was pitch dark. We were enjoying the chill breeze and listening to the soft murmur of the flowing stream. We were happy having sighted the tiger and were discussing its emancipated state. Sambit was very happy on having sighted his first tiger on his first visit to the jungle. It is natural to be excited to watch God’s most magnificent creation in the wild. Sambit was telling us that he would definitely come back to this place with his wife. The deers were grazing in the compound. We could make out their blurred shapes at times and could here the sound of their grazing or occasional movement.

The playful banter came to an abrupt halt when we heard the sound of a twig cracking from the direction of the stream about 40 feet away. We were staring intently into the darkness towards the source of the sound, knowing fully well that it was done either by a tiger or a leopard. Sambit till that moment was blissfully unaware about our sudden alertness. The crickets had stopped chirping – there was an oppressive silence as if the entire jungle is watching with bated breath. Several minutes passed by and then suddenly the silence was pierced by a sharp alarm call about 30-40 feet in front of us. Even though we were alert, the sharp call, its proximity and the silent jungle gave it a sinister meaning. Till that moment, Sambit had never heard an alarm call in his life. He had no inkling about it and was so startled that he would have fallen from his chair had I not caught hold of him. A man with a weaker heart could have got a heart attack in such a situation. For Sambit it was too much to handle. He got up and shifted his chair to a position behind Surjit and closer to the Forest Rest house.

Clearly, the tiger was trying to hunt the deer barely few meters in front of us. Surjit suggested that it was too dangerous to be out in the open in the midst of the hunt and got up to move the chair closer to the wall of the Forest Rest House. We did so and realized that Sambit had vanished. He had got inside the Forest Rest house and had locked the door. We were straining our eyes to see any signs of the predator. At times we could see the white portion of the belly when the light of few stars could shine through the clouds. At times we could make out the outline of the deers. They had come closer to us. It seems the deers thought that coming closer to us might save from getting killed.

We kept on listening to the sounds as hardly anything was visible, breathing slowly through our mouth without making any sound. All our senses were in high alert mode. Minutes kept on ticking. After about half an hour or so, suddenly there was a sound of a charge. We could hear an animal abruptly run from left to right from a point about 30 feet straight in front of us. We knew the tiger is charging. However, we were shaken up when within a couple of seconds, there was another charge from right to left from the same point. All along, we were under the impression that there was one tiger. But it was physically impossible for a tiger to start a charge from the same point within a couple of seconds. We kept on straining our eyes to see any signs. And then soon the crickets started chirping again and the jungle came back to normal. We knew the predators are not there any more in the compound. I looked at the watch, and this experience had lasted forty five minutes.

After some time we got up and asked Sambit to open the door and we retired for the night. I was again woken up from sleep at the sound of an alarm call. It was 1.30 am in the night and the tiger was near the forest rest house again. I tried to listen for further sounds but didn’t know when I fell asleep. The next day we got up before dawn. Two tigers were roaring and answering each other at a distance from the forest rest house.

We had not taken a single photograph that night, but it was one of our most memorable tiger experiences. It gave a huge jolt to my ego. Despite several decades of tiger watching and studying, I could not know that there were two tigers in front of the forest rest house barely 30 feet away. It was a humbling experience as well. It teaches us that how ever experienced you might be, we are still scratching at the surface. Learning a single paragraph in a lifetime from the enormous book of nature, would be a big achievement.  

Couple of years back, I was in Masinagudi for the first time. I was driving on the segur road. Dusk was fast approaching and I was looking for a cup of hot tea to beat the December cold. I saw a board on the right and it appeared to be a small restaurant. Without thinking much, I drove in.

Ofcourse, I could get my cup of tea and some munches as well. But someone else was waiting me there. I noticed the outline of a huge black animal, much larger than a buffalo. I strained my eyes, and could see a gaur (Bos gaurus) come out of the bush. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but the restaurant manager calmly told me that Gaur’s regularly visit this place. After some time, I was sipping another cup of tea when I heard alarm calls from about 50 meters away. Initially, I thought that it might be a false alarm call. But the alarm calls were repeated and I realized that a carnivore, probably a leopard might be on its prowl. There was a small building in the compound and I thought it would be an outhouse for guarding the property. I hesitatingly asked, whether I could stay in that building. My joy knew no bounds, when the manager told me that it is part of a resort that they are building, and I was welcome there. I immediately confirmed that I am checking in.And thus began my experiences with the wildlife of Masinagudi and Segur area.This resort, with basic amenities had one cottage. A small stream was passing by its side. I was told that the owner stays in Ooty, and has about 200 acres of land. They had fenced off only a couple of acres and the rest lies contiguous to the Mudumalai Tiger reserve, without any boundaries. The wildife were passing through the resort and crossing the segur road. Next day, I was sitting by the stream in the afternoon. On my left was the resort. The opposite bank of the stream slopes up to a hillock full of bamboo, lantana and other bushes. There were lot of birds chirping. A groupd of langurs were jumping from branch to branch. It was a very peaceful atmosphere, and I was soaking every minute of it, until it was broken by the sound of “Elephant”. My friends have spotted a herd of elephants, grazing upstream, about 200 meters away. I had my Canon 1D Mark II and the Canon EF 300mm F4 L IS lens. I removed my shoes and started crawling on my hands and belly. The elephant herd were feeding in small groups. A group of 4 elephants saw me and immediately turned to the right, and disappeared into the bamboo and scrub forest. I had by now crossed the stream and was moving forward in my hands and knees. The sudden disappearance of the 4 elephants to the right, made me feel edgy. From experience, I knew that elephants can remain very silent. After waiting for about 10 minutes, I started my crawl forward, shooting intermittently. The elephant herd had a small calf. The antics of the calf was worth watching. It was at times suckling from the mother. I wanted to get closer and capture it. I had moved pretty close to the elephants and was about to shoot the small calf when some one screamed from behind and urged me to come back. I turned around to see that the restaurant boy and another well dressed person were running towards me. Needless to say, the elephants simply vanished.

On asking why they were screaming, I was told that elephants are dangerous and I should not be going close to them. The well dressed gentleman told me that he is the owners son and stays abroad. They were calmed when they came to know about my credentials. But alas, by that time, the elephants had vanished, and I suddenly noticed that the scars and bruishes that I had received while crawling had started hurting.

The next day morning, I got up and came out of the cottage. The sun was about to rise. I could see a gaur and calf outside the compound wall. The calf was suckling its mother. I had the Canon EOS 1D Mark II camera and the 28-135 mm attached with it. I rushed and clicked. Unfortunately, the shots were not sharp due to the low light.

In the evening, I was again waiting near the stream. I could see the Indian Giant Squirrel (Ratufa indica) jumping high in the branches. It was a nice sight to watch. There were some parakeets feeding on the opposite bank. A solitary small kingfisher was perched on a branch at a distance. It was an idyllic atmosphere, a far cry from the mad hustle and bustle of the city. I was relaxed and soaking it up and was lost in my thoughts. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of hoofs, as a herd of gaur (Bos Gaurus) appeared on the other bank further upstream. There were a number of small calves and they were sliding and jumping on the steep bank. It was evening, and light was fading fast. However, I could see a calf with a very light colouration. There were some reports of albino gaur and some photographs were published in Sanctuary Asia and other places. I moved closer and closer. It was difficult to approach through the thick lantana bush on the left side of the bank without making any noise. The stream bed was barren, with some boulders here and there. I crawled on my hands, knees and belly. I knew I would not go unnoticed, but nevertheless tried my best hiding behind the boulders. The calf was from a normal coloured mother. However, its colour was totally different from the others. The light levels were low, and the photographs were not sharp to my liking. After observing this calf for sometime, I retreated back.

Masinagudi area was originally a tribal hamlet. Construction of dams in Moyar and Singara hamlets, brought labourers who stayed back after the dam construction was over. With passage of time, more and more people migrated to this area. Today wildlife tourism has picked up in the area. The locals are earning a lot by renting Jeeps to tourists for use in Safari. The small hamlet is now converting into a town. It is estimated that today, the population of the original tribal inhabitants of the area is 600, but the overall population is about 15000.

As a consequence the pressure on the forest has increased. It is estimated that about one lakh (0.1 million) cattle enter into the forest everyday for grazing. When so many cattle, goats and sheep graze, the impact on the forest is easy to guess. The forest has been virtually devoid of grass, bushes, and small shrubs. Such biotic pressures force the herbivores to move into deeper forests. The trees are hacked by villagers looking for fuel wood. And ultimately, the forest is transformed into a barren land. This also makes it easier for species like lantana camara to occupy the forest land.

Wildlife tourism is having its impact on the forest as well. A number of resorts have sprung up in the area. Wildlife tourism is seen as the “in thing” these days. Accordingly, number of tourists have increased manifold. I found liquour bottles lying in the forests, as tourists are having fun all around at the expense of wildife. Polythene bags, gutka/ pan masala sachets are found all around the place. Some of those are inadvertenly swallowed by the wildlife. Their deaths would go unnoticed. I have photographed a polythene bag that had come out with the elephant dung. I could find the hand of man raping this once pristine landscape. If something is not done soon, then this area will also be lost to wildife forever.

The traffic in the Segur road has increased. Earlier only petrol driven vehicles were able to negotiate this steep ghat road. So a major portion of the traffic to Ooty used the other route. Today, with the advent of vehicles with powerful engines, Segur road is the preferred road. Even late in the night there is traffic in the road. There have been demands to restrict the hours in this road. I was told that vehicles are not allowed to ply on this road after six. This move was started not due to love of wildlife, but due to an accident that took place where a bus overturned and lot of local people including the forest ranger died. However, I could see vehicles even in the late night.

I understand that the Tamil Nadu Government is taking steps to declare this as a buffer area. Predictably, there is lot of opposition to this from vested interests. I hope that the Tamil Nadu Govt. shows will and is able to convince the people to relocate from the area and restore this landscape to its pristine state.

 On two occasions I had been charged by a tiger. When people hear this, the immediate reaction is “Wow”. Immediately, they feel jealous. Unfortunately, that is the reaction of people.

 People don’t realise that as a rule, a tiger or for that matter any wild animal will not charge, unless and until it is forced to. There is a fight to flight distance for the wild animals. The wildlife would maintain a minimum distance from people. They are likely to runaway when this distance is breached. Mostly, they flee towards deeper forests. If you happen to startle a wild animal by somehow managing to suddenly approach very close to them, and if they perceive you to be blocking their path, then you are most likely to be attacked. Most of the times, it is a mock charge. The intention is to scare you. Last year, I bumped into a wild tusker before dawn in a narrow winding road in BR Hills. It showed its irritation by trumpeting and then came charging towards me. I had to reverse for about 15-20 meters before the elephant decided that it was enough.

Most of the times when a wild animal attacks a human being, the incident can be explained. I had been charged once by an adult male tiger and on another occasion by a tigress. And I must confess that on both the occasions I will give a clean chit to the tiger and tigress involved.

 It was a warm morning in Bandhavgarh National Park, in the summer of 2005. I was tracking the Rajbehera Male, the predominant male tiger in the Rajbehera area through pug marks and alarm calls. The tiger was aware of my presence. It was using a game trail, and I had prefocussed my camera to that point. However, the tiger emerged from the game trail and bounded into the bushes on the opposite side of the road. It happened within a fraction of a second, and I knew that perhaps there is a reason for this tiger to avoid human beings. My driver – Ram Shankar, told me that it was the Rajbehera male and it generally avoids people. We then quickly reached the Rajbehera grasslands, as the tiger had to cross the hill and pass through the Rajbehera grasslands.

 When I reached the Rajbehera grasslands, I found another jeep with two French tourists. I was waiting for about twenty minutes before the tiger appeared at a distance on my left. The other jeep was in front of my jeep. When the tiger tried to cross the road, the other jeep driver moved the jeep ahead and positioned it in front of the tiger. The tiger was about forty to fifty feet away, but sat down near a bush when it realized that the jeep is trying to block its path.

I told the other jeep driver and guide that we should not be blocking the path. My driver, Rama Shankar, infact warned them that this tiger gets very annoyed with people and attacks the jeep if some one blocks its path. So we decided to move about fifty meters ahead and leave a space between the two jeeps, so that the tiger can pass.

 When the tiger saw the gap, it got up and growled at the other jeep. However, instead of crossing the road through the gap, it tried to move ahead of us, while all the time turning its head back to growl at the people on the other jeep.  

After some time, I realised that though the tiger was trying to cross in front of my jeep, it was coming straight in our direction. I had rested my lens on the side seat of the open jeep and was shooting. Rama Shankar – my driver – was afraid of this tiger, due to its past reputation and also the manner in which it was growling. He suddenly decided to move the vehicle ahead, when the tiger was about twenty feet away from us. The moment he started the engine, the tiger charged. I lost my balance and fell on the jeep floor. I could just see that the tiger and our vehicle were running parallel to each other with the tiger’s head turned towards us and he was continually growling. And suddenly our vehicle slowed down and the tiger crossed in front of us. The charge happened at a split second and was over perhaps within a minute. The guide was shaking, and Rama Shankar was speechless. I was really annoyed with him, as he started the vehicle without my instructions. However, it was not the fault of the tiger. People try to block the path of the tiger – and tiger being a gentleman – sits down and waits for people to pass. This helps people to click a few shots. Most of the drivers do this to impress their foreign clients as they get substantial tips after such an incident.

 The second incident happened exactly after a year in 2006. It was summer again in Bandhavgarh National Park. However, this time the aggrieved party was a tigress.

 It was early in the morning. My vehicle was the first to enter as soon as the forest gates opened. At Siddha Baba, I found a jungle cat and stopped to shoot.

Couple of vehicles following me, passed comments that “Ohhh! It’s only a cat” and moved ahead. Within a few meters they found the Chakradhara female and her four cubs. The jungle cat had by that time vanished and I had reached the Chakradhara trifurcation. The tigress and the cubs were crossing over from the Siddhababa side to the chakradhara grasslands. On my right was the hillock and on the left was the grassland.

 By the time I reached the place, several jeeps had crowded the place. The tigress had crossed and was hiding behind the tall grass. The cubs about 13-14 months old were crossing over one by one but were being disturbed by the vehicles.

 I asked the driver to leave the cubs and move the vehicle back to the spot where the tigress was hiding. Since, I arrived late on the scene; I had no idea as to whether it was the tigress or one of her cubs. I was standing on the seat of the open Gypsy, and was trying to see through the tall elephant grass. The bush where the tigress was hiding was about twenty feet away from me. Within minutes, the tigress charged with a series of short roars. The moment the grass parted to make way for the tigress, I tried to focus my camera. However, within a split second the tigress stopped in front of me, growled and turned back into the tall grass. All the noise from the other vehicles had stopped. A business man was with me along with his wife and kid. They were shaken to the core. I heaved a sigh of relief and when I looked down at the bottom of my trousers, it was moist with the spit of the tigress. I touched it with my left hand and then settled down in the seat. I knew I won’t be closer than this to a tiger.

 Later on when I looked at the shots closely I could see the faint outline of the curled up upper lips indicating that the tigress was snarling before it charged. Normally, the tail of the tiger twitches rapidly when it is about to charge. In this incident, I could neither see the tail, nor see the tiger snarling. Infact, had I known that it was the mother, I would not have moved close to it. If you come between the mother and child, of any species, there are bound to be repercussions. Hence forth, I always take time to ascertain whether I have inadvertently separated a tigress and cubs or elephant from its cubs etc.

 I have seen people shaken up, drop their binocular, camera or whatever they were holding and even have found people who could not sleep for couple of days after an wildlife encounter. This year in Bandhavgarh, in the Rajbehera Grasslands, a tigress mock charged at one of the open jeeps lined up on the road to catch a glimpse of the tigress. The gentleman was cowering under the seat of the gypsy and was screaming that he has died and that the driver should inform his family etc. However, we should remember that these encounters are not only stressful for us, but it is very stressful for the animal as well.

 In such situations, the adrenalin flow increases and some species like deers are known to die. In one of the incidents, in Keoladeo-Ghana bird sanctuary in Bharatpur, the wall had broken and the deers had come out and were grazing in the surrounding fields. This bird sanctuary is small, about 26 acres and concrete walls have been erected to separate it from the surrounding fields. The forest department officials rounded up all the deers, caught them and transported them back to the sanctuary. About forty deers (Axis axis) were reported to have died due to shock.

 I am writing this to say that tiger won’t charge or growl without provocation. Most of the photographers try to incite the tiger to get a growling shot. Please remember that no shot is more important than the welfare of the subject. We should not induce stress on them. And a word of caution as well. These wildlife encounters have the potential to turn fatal very easily.

 Remember, we human beings don’t have any physical defences against a 250-350 kg tiger or a 2 tonne gaur or a 5-6 tonne elephant. A cursory glance at the powerful forearms of a tiger cub will make you realize the power they possess. In one of the incidents in Ranthambhore National Park, a National Geographic photographer though he was seated on an open jeep, had placed his tripod on the road. Two tiger cubs about 10 to 11moths old- inquisitive by nature as they are – came closer to investigate. The photographer could remove the camera and lens from the tripod, just in time to see the cubs start playing with the heavy tripod. In no time, the tripod was twisted like a plastic wire.

 We should understand the behaviour of the species we are photographing. If an animal is going to charge at you, then you can get vital clues and those precious seconds to escape. At times, it can be the difference between life and death. And please understand that you are not only risking your life, but also leading to endangering the life of the animal. If a tiger mauls a reckless person or if a tusker tramples someone, the animal is more likely to be either shot or caught and imprisoned in our zoos for life.

 In one of the incidents, an adolescent tiger in Bandhavgarh National Park had killed a cow. Normally, adolescent tiger after separation from their mother has to establish a territory of its own. To avoid conflict with the established mature tigers, these young tigers are pushed to the periphery and frequently come into conflict with the villagers. In this instant, the tiger killed the cattle and was resting close to it, when a fifteen year old boy while searching for the cattle bumped into the tiger. Obviously, the poor kid was killed. The park authorities then declared the tiger as man-eater and then caught and sent it to Bhopal Zoo. Within four days the tiger was dead.

I hope that this tale would help our fellow photographers to realise the importance of understanding animal behaviour so that they exercise enough caution to avoid wildlife encounters.

If I have to account for my earliest experience with the Tiger, I would have to go back to Similipal National Park in the state of Orissa, India. Recalling the experience, I realise how fortunate I have been to have such an experience in the midst of a carefree, fun filled trip.

It was the month of January 1997. We had finished with our MBA course in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar. Much to our collective relief, the placements were over, and we were on our way to becoming responsible adults with good jobs. Ours was deemed the best batch of graduates ever by our own professors but the placement session was chilling, to say the least. It was with a sense of relief and new-found independence that we decided to go to Similipal national Park to just chill out. And what a chilling out experience it turned out for us.

We had booked for six of us in Chahala rest house. At the last moment the number went upto seven when Sambit joined us. The forest department rules permitted one driver and one helper to accompany a group of six. So it was decided that we would hire a jeep with a driver and one of us would pose as a helper. We joked that Sambit had to pose as a helper. In the morning when we started from Baripada, Sambit turned up immaculately dressed in a formal shirt, beard carefully shaven with a liberal dose of aftershave sprinkled on his face. We couldn’t stop laughing. Satyaswarup finally volunteered to pose as a helper. He wrapped a red gamuchha (thin hand woven towel) on his head like a daily wage earner with determination writ large on his face.

And the fun had just begun….

The rear right tire of our jeep punctured just as we were entering the forest from the Jashipur side. We discovered then that the driver didn’t have a jack with him. I came forward to help with the tyre change fully expecting the others to chip in by push and tilt to the jeep till the tyre was changed. Satyaswarup, the ‘helper’, had no idea of such technicalities and conveniently hid himself behind a tree. The forest officer was screaming as to why the helper was not around to do his duty.

The fun had just about begun….

Before embarking on our journey, one of the guys had been given charge of stocking up for the duration of our stay inside the Jungle. On reaching Chahala that evening, we started preparation for dinner and for the first time took stock of the provisions that we had for the trip. One kilo of rice, half a kilo of dal (lentils), two dozen eggs, two loaves of bread, half a kilo of onions, few green chillies, six or seven small packets of biscuits and a couple of packets of Haldiram’s bhujia. This was meant to keep seven fully grown men fully fed for 3 days and 2 nights, which was to be our duration of stay at Chahala. Heated arguments followed and there was unanimous decision to leave Chahala the next morning.

And we just could not see any fun in the situation…..

The forest guard provided us with utensils for our cooking. We had to use the earthern chulha, an apparatus used in India to cook on since the great sages wrote the Mahabharata around 5000 years ago. We knew that we could cook on it…. Once we had figured out a way to light it…!!!!  We tried to burn the wood in the chulha, but realized very soon, and to our utter dismay, that thick stocky pile wood just does not burn that easily. An axe was hard to find and we tried a blunt knife to cut the wood into small pieces so that they catch fire easily. We poured rum on it, we tried to fan the non existent flames, using a newspaper. We tried to blow on the thin pencil of fire by rolling a piece of newspaper into a pipe. But Agni, the Fire God, was hard to please. We almost gave up and started joking with each other that we would have to sleep hungry. Suddenly I noticed a couple of papaya trees near by and knew that I had the solution to our problems.

As children we used to blow air bubbles using the hollow stem of the papaya leaves. Lessons learnt then proved to be the savior of the day.  I got a big stem and soon we were taking turns to blow air into the fire. Years later, one of our friends reminded me that it was perhaps one of the finest pieces of knowledge which helped us survive in the jungle. Since then, I have been making all efforts to garner as much knowledge about jungle and wildlife as possible.

At about eleven pm, after gulping down rice and watery chicken curry that was barely cooked, I planned to sit at the salt lick adjoining the forest rest house. There were loud protests on hearing my plans. Not one of the sturdy young guns was prepared to open the door to let me in when I got back from the salt lick. They were also apprehensive, and rightly so, that if the door remained open, then wild animal might enter the room. Finally, I locked them in the room and then went to the saltlick all alone.  

For me the fun was about to begin…..  

The Chahala forest rest house complex is surrounded by a deep trench. The trench however does not deter the Cheetal, Sambar, Barking deer, Jackals etc from entering the compound. I could see the bright eyes flashing on my torch beam. The salt lick was created outside the compound. A room built below ground level allows wild life enthusiasts to observe the rich wild life around the salt lick without either disturbing the game or putting themselves at any kind of risk. A wooden platform on the floor, allows one to sit or sleep. Standing on the wooden platform, one can see the salt lick through a viewing window.  

It was a moonless night. An hour or more had passed without any sign of an animal, small or large, visiting the salt lick. The bone chilling January cold pierced my jacket and sweater and made me seriously contemplate going back to the rest house and sleep, as my other sensible friends were doing at that very moment. Sudden breaking of branches and trumpeting swept any such idea from my mind. This was a sure sign of the arrival of a herd of elephants. The dark moonless night did not allow any sighting of the elephants and manual focusing was difficult with my torch light. I gave up the thought of photographing them. The wild elephants trumpeted and cavorted in the mud, giving each other mud baths. After a thorough mud cleansing, they retreated into the jungle and silence prevailed. I had not been able to take pictures of the elephants. But the very thought that I had been within touching distance of these magnificient creatures made the effort worth every moment.

And I thought, this was all the fun for this trip…..  

I had been standing and watching through the viewing window for about three hours. My legs felt leaden and the biting cold forced me to sit down on the wooden platform and listen to the sounds of the jungle. Minutes dragged into hours. I felt sleepy and before long I was in deep slumber. I woke up all of a sudden without really knowing what woke me up. I looked at my watch, it was 3 am. Suddenly a small pebble came rolling down and fell near the saltlick. It happened all of a sudden and I was afraid, as I knew there was something big in very close proximity. My mouth was dry and I tried to take slow soft breaths and swallow the saliva to moisten my throat, and to stop my heart from thumping loud. The jungle was ominously silent. The crickets had stopped chirping, and all other night sounds of the Jungle had stopped.  Suddenly the oppressive silence was broken by the sound of urination. It was from very close quarters and the distinct smell of the tiger told me that the King of the jungle is on the prowl and is very close to where I was at the moment. I had been squatting on the wooden platform and tried to stand from my squatting position softly, without making any sound or creak. I tried to lift my frame inch by inch, making every effort not to rustle the jacket or make any sound. It seemed ages before my eyes were leveled to the viewing slot. At this moment my knuckles creaked bringing all my effort to naught. The tiger jumped away dislodging a few pebbles. I flashed my torch in the general direction but it was a wasted effort. The Tiger had vanished into the dense Jungle and the crickets started chirping again. The oppressive stillness of the jungle had vanished… The tiger had beaten a retreat. The pugmarks were silent proof of God’s most magnificient creation having visited the place.

And I knew nothing could possibly be more fun ever………

At around five thirty in the morning, I got back to the rest house, tired but happy, to get some well deserved sleep. I must have slept for barely half an hour, when I was shaken from my sleep by Satyadarshi. One of our friends had realised our precarious food position and had crept up to the kitchen and was helping himself to the boiled eggs. A lot of shouting and cursing followed and finally all of us were awake and helping ourselves to the remaining eggs and bread.

Who cares to brush the teeth when food is at such a premium? In any case, who ever heard of a Tiger brushing his teeth before a meal…….!!!!!

Spotting wildlife

IT MUST HAVE BEEN LUCK !!??

 I have often come across people, who after viewing my photographs or listening to my experiences of seeing the tiger in its true habitat, exclaim that I have been lucky. I believe that if you come across a tiger in a jungle, then you are lucky, but more often than not, you create your own luck i.e., learn to respect the jungle and its inhabitants, and most of all understand Mother Nature.  

Spotting wildlife is becoming increasingly difficult these days, due to the indiscriminate destruction of habitat and poaching of wild animals. In the days of the Raj, when herbivorous animals were in abundance, small patches of forests used to hold large number of carnivores, like the tiger and leopard. Today, even in National Parks, sighting carnivores is difficult and watching a tiger is becoming rare. In such circumstances, your patience and perseverance is tested to the core. I have heard tourists, roaming around in open jeeps in the jungle, complain that they didn’t get to see a single tiger, and the forest doesn’t seem to have tigers etc. The tourists invariably blame their own luck when they hear that some one else had seen a tiger somewhere in the jungle.  

Do we need to attribute our successes and blame our failures in spotting a tiger to lady luck? Or is there something else, beyond luck?  

In India, the forests are mostly dense, unlike Africa where you find vast tracts of grass lands. It is difficult to spot a tiger in such a scenario. Nature has given tiger such a beautiful camouflage, the black stripes help in breaking the outline of the body, and it merges with the fallen leaves and dense foliage very easily.  

Wild animals by nature remain very still when required. With evolution, the human sense of sight, smell and hearing have become very feeble, when compared to wild animals. Tiger has evolved so that it makes very little noise. The tiger has soft pads in its feet, which helps it in walking virtually noiselessly in the jungle. There may be an occasional twig that will crack under the weight of the tiger or a gentle rustle of the leaves when the tiger moves through the bush, but these are very few and too feeble to pick up when you are moving in a jeep. Added to it is the fact that the vehicles often creak and groan in the bumpy jungle roads. To make matters worse, most of us city dwellers have a tendency to engage in incessant chatter inside the jungle.  

I have often been amused, and irritated by the proclivity of people to talk loudly when they are in a jungle. I wonder whether the cause is their irrational fear of the animals, which stems from the stories of the so called ‘blood-curdling beasts’ of the jungle, or some other reason. The bright attire with liberal dose of perfumes, deodorants etc ensures that animals sense human presence much before the tourists senses the presence of the animal, and as a consequence either completely disappear or maintain respectable distance from us.  

In some of the National Parks like Ranthambhore National Park, tourists are allowed entry in a bus called ‘Canter’. These Canters, with tourists, who most often don’t understand that there is a difference between Zoo and a National Park, often disregard the requests of the driver and guide to maintain silence. It is futile to expect such a group of people to remain silent for a long time. No wonder, that these tourists most of the times fail to sight the tiger.  

In the jungle, the best way to track the tiger or other carnivores is to understand the language of denizens of the jungle and read the tell-tale signs that are there. A few basic rules, if followed precisely, could go a long way in sighting the animals:  

1) The footprints of animals can be found imprinted in the soft sand, mud etc. A sure sign that the animal has crossed this area. A keen eye, a little bit of knowledge about the jungle, and above all, real love for nature can help in predicting the time of the imprint. One can also gauge the relative speed at which the animal had been walking during that time. Knowledgeable jungle folk can predict the next movements of the animal based on experience.  

2) A number of animals and birds give an alarm call when they see or smell a carnivore. Following the alarm calls of deer, sambar, muntjac, monkeys and birds like drongo and Indian Cuckoo, one can tell the position of the tiger. If you are able to interpret these calls, then you would understand what the tiger is doing and then plan your move accordingly.  

Once, early in the morning, in Corbett National Park, several summers ago, I saw a solitary red-headed vulture, sitting on a tree near a stream. I asked my driver to park the vehicle and wait. The driver doubted whether there was a tiger near by. The presence of a vulture, which was looking down intently, made me sure that it was an indication of the presence of a kill and the possible presence of a carnivore. 

We were in an open jeep, the summer sun beating down on us, the intensity of the heat increasing every moment, sweat slowly trickling down our collars and flies bothering us, making the wait unbearable, and to the uninitiated, probably quite futile.  I knew for sure, that if there was a tiger hiding in the foliage, it would, sooner or later, come out or at least make a movement betraying its presence. Normally flies bother the tiger and it moves or shifts its position to ward of the nuisance of the flies. Suddenly, I could see the tip of the tail of the tiger as it shifted its position. My assessment proved to be correct, that the tiger had killed some animal and was resting there guarding its kill after a heavy meal.  

The tiger drinks water at regular intervals after a heavy meal. In the summer, the tiger also loves to cool off in water. So I knew sooner or later the tiger will definitely come out. We were on the banks of the Ramganga River and the April heat had dried the river considerable, leaving small ponds as watering holes scattered all over the place. Several tourist vehicles passed us, each enquiring about the reason behind our stoppage – some of them waited for a brief moment before deciding to move ahead. A couple of these tourist vehicles when they discovered that we have been waiting for a long time, cynically commented whether they would order lunch to be sent for us.  

The minutes dragged by, stretching into hours, till finally, after more than three hours the tiger decided to get up. The intense heat made the wait seem far longer, except for the fact that I had checked my watch.  The tiger got up from the bush behind the nullah and walked about fifty yards to enter a pool of water. The bulging stomach of the tiger and blood on the face and leisurely walk to the pool suggested a heavy meal.

Had I not read the tell-tale signs of the tigers presence -the  king vulture, the  two crows on branches of a tree, an approaching peacock suddenly getting alarmed and taking to flight near the tree – I would not have spent three hours waiting for the tiger and definitely would have missed him when he came out and entered the pool. 

Watching wildlife has more to do with reading the signs of the jungle and perseverance and to a lesser degree on luck. You must remember that though you are in the jungle to watch the tiger, actually you are the one who is watched. The elusive king of the jungle will only make an appearance at its own sweet will. So watching a tiger in the Jungle is an extremely fortunate occasion. However, you can increase your chances of sighting the majestic tiger if you make an effort to interpret the signs and language of nature and persevere in your efforts.