Mother Tigress with Chital Hind Kill - Crossing Thandi Sadak of CTR

[Debasis Bose]

There is a saying 100% perspiration and 100% luck along with tons of patience brings about a good sighting. It was a foggy morning, visibilty was about 50 m, we went for a joy ride safari driving at about 10 to 15 km per hour through the dense sal forest of kamarpatta road, breathing in the fresh forest air, enjoying the breathtaking surroundings, admiring virgin beauty. Returned back refreshed to dhikala chaur through thandi sadak. To our surprise at that very moment not a single jeep was in sight, as it was breakfast time. We decided to wait for five minutes on thandi sadak near water hole no.3 knowing the the tigress and cubs are located somewhere around from the previous evening movement and then go for breakfast at dhikala, time was about 9.20 am.

On the thandi sadak, we could hear rustling at the edge of the patch of long grass, less than twenty or twenty five feet away and then all of a sudden, without warning, the cosy hum was disturbed by the strident alarm call of a sambar – a loud "Dphonnnkk" only once and the sambar dashed from our right to left side. Definite a predator was lurking. Then a succession of shrill alarm calls, and the chital at the base of the palash tree dashed out on the thandi sadak and vanished into the shrubs towards waterhole no. 3. The jungle went completely silent – all noise had stopped.

Then came out the tigress about 60-70 m ahead of us, with the chital hind in her mouth, moving towards the dense lantana shrubs to our left.

Nikon D700, Nikor 300mm f2.8, fstop 1/10, exposure 1/400s, ISO 640

[Mrudul Godbole]

Quite lucky you could witness the tigress carrying away the kill and capture the moment. I liked the composition. The fog in the background adds to the habitat. Maybe due to the fog, the tigress is appearing hazy. I like your narration :-). Thanks for sharing.

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Eternal Corbett National Park. I first read 'Maneaters of Kumaon' in my childhood, then one by one the entire series, both in Bengali and English; how many times I can not count, and yet this land of 'Roar, trumpet and song' evokes the same nostalgia even today. I first visited Corbett in February, 1973 before it was declared as the first T.R. by Smt. Indira Gandhi on 01.04.1973.

Wonderful composition. Live image recording the enacted jungle drama with predator carrying the kill. Good depth of field, nice play of light and shade and the fog mystifying. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Great to see a predator with prey. Sighting it is bliss. Any photography is a bonus.

The tiger population in Corbett and elsewhere had gone down drastically by the time the Project Tiger was launched. They used to tie baits for people to sight a tiger.

Where did you stay? Dhikala or in any other FRH?

The image looks to have a bit more saturation. Also the tiger is in the shade. So the focus has locked ahead of the tiger in the sunlit areas. The shadow of the bushes create a pattern and depth to the image. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Debasis Bose]

Hi Sabyasachi, Thanks for your lovely comments and I am impressed with your command with camera image quality. As usual we stayed in Malani and Dhikala. Cheers Debasis

[Roopak Gangadharan]

Nice moment.well captured

TFS
Roopak

[Sucheth Lingachar]

Beautiful Moment Captured.... i agree with Sabyasachi Patra... i also felt that the focus is locked on the greens in the sun light a head of the tiger. TFS

[Murugan Anantharaman]

Kamarpatta road is always full of surprises. My first tiger sighting was in this road, your image brings back those memories. Great moment captured, predator and prey in a single frame, a lovely post action shot. The moment itself must have been so electrifying that taking a picture must have been secondary, I am sure. Thanks for sharing.