Leopard on the Hills
An early morning purely meant to pay visit to Lord Krishna, my camera too was packed in the bag. It was the 31st December 2009, I and a few friends visited Gopalaswamy Betta considering huge crowds that are bound to visit temple on 1st January for the New Year. There is no doubt that anyone who visits this place will fall in love with it instantly. For those who aren't aware of this place, Himavad Gop
alaswamy Betta is covered with mist for most parts of the year and hence the first part of the name is “Himavad” meaning mist and the presence of the ascetic ancient temple on top dedicated to “Gopalaswamy/Lord Krishna” forms the second part of the name and the third part is contributed by the fact that it is a hill/Betta, which is ~4575 feet above sea level. This hill is the highest in this region and is part of Bandipur National Park, South of Karnataka state. This region is under Project Tiger funded by World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and is part of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.
We reached the forest entry gate at 6:30am and obviously we were the first ones to enter, as we drove up the hill and as rightly said "Animals make their appearance when they are least expected". A huge male leopard was seen basking in the open on the slopes, he knew that the sun was just rising and what a time to bask during the wintery morning. On seeing the leopard I pulled out my bag to crab the camera, but these cats are known to be so shy and in no time he hid himself behind the lantana bushes. We remained silent for few minutes and the leopard as expected peeped out to check our presence and I managed to make few images. I wish I would have got him in full, he was really huge.
A sight to behold, perfect settings and a great start to the New Year. After a while the leopard disappeared into the bushes and we drove up and to seek blessings of Lord Krishna. On our return journey we spotted a herd of 14 Elephants climbing up the hill.
Camera - Canon EOS 40D Canon 100-400mm Lens
EXIF - ISO 400 Av 5.6 Tv 1/250 sec, Cropped
Location - Himavad Gopalswamy Betta
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