Bandhavgarh:the alert mother

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

Praktica LTL,Lens:IMAGE 200mm,Kodak 200ASA,Scanned from Nagative Print,Handheld

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Good to hear that these were shot close to MPTDC White Tiger Lodge. I have stayed there and it used to be a good place in terms of ambience. Last year the tigress killed a cow just behind the resort and guests were watching it from the resort for nearly the entire day without going into the forest.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

[Saktipada Panigrahi]

The Tigress was resting on a May,1984 Morning at the foot of a small Ridge close to Tala( MPTDC Lodge)on a piece of flat land,left of which was mixed deciduous forest and on the right were scrubs and a patch of tall Grassland.One cub was very obedient and never leaving the Mother(seen in the foreground,kept out of focus) and the other ADVENTUROUS CUB( uploaded on 14.09.2011 Morning) was staying away from the Mother, now and then entering Tall Grass.(MALE Cub does like this, I have read,but I cannot confirm as Age was about 10 months or so)
The Mother was seriously concerned about safety and security of this Cub.But the adventurous cub was curious of the Riding Elephant(may be the creatures on the back,we were only Two)!
The Mother got alarmed and the Photograph depicts Her looking at the Adventurous Cub and calling it Back in a voice INAUDIABLE in Human Ears (INFRASONIC Sound).The cub rushed back and after sometime All Three left.
In the vast Chakradhara Grassland on another day we saw a good number of Gaurs,Chitals etc.on Jeep.
The Habitat seen In this Photograph and that in the earlier Photograph(ADVENTUROUS CUB) are different but the distance was not more than 50 Yards or so.

[Mrudul Godbole]

Thanks for sharing the information in detail. Observing the animal surely helps to know their behaviour better. Would like to know more. Keep posting.