Black Panther, Part 2

In continuation to Black Panther - “Mission Impossible” series, after having sighted the 1st black beauty I am not even sure what was going in our minds, whom to share this news, oh boy there are thousands who would be thrilled to hear this, no network can’t send text messages, shall we check the images first, can’t see the images too while driving. Oh no we still have a 15 kms drive to reach our camp, let’s be focused on our return journey may be God has more in store for us.
Can’t express our feelings at that moment and believe me this does happen with a cat sighting be it a tiger or leopard but in this case it was a black panther our behavior and act reached the maximum heights. I am sure everyone does go through this. Finally we exited out of the park and first thing we did was to attend to nature’s call; smokers too had a quick relief. Now it was time to move on and we drove on the Kulgi road leading to Kulgi Nature Camp. Time was past 6:30pm, believe me it was pitch dark, our driver had to use high beam lights for better vision of the road and care for animals safety that are crossing the road after dusk.
As we drove approx 1-2 kms from Phansoli gate, our driver was very cautious and was driving at 20 km/hr and suddenly something crossed our way in a flash, it looked like a black ghost. Was it another black panther? The first sighting of Black Panther had made such an impact that all what we spotted was looking like a black panther; this is quite natural with wildlife lovers.
Yes it is a black panther, he ran across the road and hid behind a tree is what I said. By now our driver knew what was expected of him; he stopped the vehicle and put off the engine with lights on. But we had to maneuver our vehicle a bit to reconfirm if it was really the black beauty. I can still sense the heart beats and heavy breathing amongst us.
Finally we had a clear view of this black beauty taking cover behind a tree trunk, I fired my first shot using jeep head lights as primary source of light and it worked. This is another image I loved a lot during the second sighting of this beautiful cat. Typically elusive behavior peeping through a gap between the tree trunk and a twig, I was fortunate to have one eye in focus, I believe the true beauty of these cats clearly lies at night, they are God’s most beautiful creations that wander at night and attract attention even in pitch dark conditions, with their glittering eyes like gold.
Second panther in span of 45 mins, am I dreaming? But this time each one of us controlled their excitement, emotions and kept themselves calm and this cat too cooperated with us, he then gradually moved a bit and came out partially in the open and then provided us some excellent opportunity to make few wonderful images. He was seen cleaning his claws, yawning, sniffing and other typical behaviors of cats. We got what we never expected, made some amazing images and left the cat in peace and headed to our camp to celebrate…, I still remember I didn't sleep the whole night:)
More images will be shared shortly, stay tuned until then…

Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Canon f4 500mm
EXIF - ISO 3200 Av 4 Tv 1/20 sec EC 0.7, Cropped
Location - Dandeli

Unbelievable praveen....I can see in this image why you feel the true beauty of these cats is in the night. You have done really well to catch it peeping from behind the trunk with all the vegetation around, shows the enigmatic beauty of this rare cat. Look at those eyes.... a defining image

For the last 7 years I have been going regularly to mudumalai which has a reputation for black panther sightings. one of the best trackers there usually accompanies me and we had on many occasions gone out into some specific areas with this in mind. The closest I got is missing one by a whisker last july ( a friend with us saw it jump down from a tree and we saw the pugs later). Forget me, that tracker hasn't got a glimpse till now and he goes into this area every second day for a good 30 years. you are truly blessed to see this and am very happy for you...:thumbup1:

TFS
Roopak

Truly elusive character of the black panther, its glittering eyes beautifully documented. I agree with your view....' true beauty of these cats lies in the night'.........as I started wandering in the jungle long long ago during night only through night safaris when it was permitted. ' Black is beautiful '- Nice capture. Thanks for sharing.SaktiWild

Lovely game of hide and seek :). Another nice image of the elusive panther. Most times we never realize what's in store ahead. I am sure you would have had no idea whats going to come up after your break :).. Pleasant surprises are always welcome. Thanks for sharing.

Dear Praveen, this image is a real killer. May be you should see whether you would like to get your "that day luck" insured, or the camera that you carried or the Jeep you rode on or the cloths you were wearing.
This is simply not possible!! Did u check the sky that there were no flying saucers?

May be this is karma. I have been sitting in the open all night in hide, and once the leopard was sitting 2 feet away from me. I could hear it but couldn't see as it was between the two hide window openings. And here you could sight a black leopard staring at you! I love its eyes. The pose is nice. Wish the grass infront of it was not there, else it would have been one "killer" image. Nevertheless, this is very very nice. Many of us dream to see it. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi