B2 - Grand Old Patriarch

[Sabyasachi Patra]

This is B2. The Grand old patriarch in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

To the uninitiated, B2 is the code name (given by a naturalist) and it got converted to Bittu and stuck as his nick name.

Perhaps in its last leg in its life's journey, his strength has waned a bit and range has shrunk. His son, the Mahaman Male whom I had photographed mating ( Mating Behaviour of Tigers - Indiawilds: Land of the Tiger. Conservation, Wildlife Photography, Communities )with the Siddhababa tigress (now dead) is dominating the tala and magdhi zones in bandhavgarh and has pushed Bittu to the Mirchahani area. Bittu no longer prefers to have his afternoon siesta in the ghoda daman area.

This image was created after he had his fill from a Sambar kill made by the Mirchahani female and offspring.

Canon EOS 1D Mark IV, Canon EF 70-200 f2.8 L IS II USM, EF 2xII TC, full frame image. Minor processing in Lightroom 3.3.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi