Spoting Wild Tigers at Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh, India

In the quiet before dawn, a pale moon still lit the sky above Kanha's (Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh) entrance gate. A group of us — 4 Canadians (including Terry and his wife Andy) and I — were en route to Kanha Meadows, a section of the park where we were most likely to see tigers. Upon my inquiry about our chances of spotting a tiger, our forest guard Sadan Yadav replied, “Every minute in the park counts—it only takes a second to see a tiger, so Positive Thinking!” Five hours later, it was almost closing time and still no sign of a tiger. All of a sudden, 3 jeeps roared past us, drivers motioning ahead, ahead! We raced after them and joined the 5 or 6 jeeps parked near a meadow of tall grass.

“There are two cubs in that grass” whispered Yadav. I squinted at the spot but could see nothing. Yadav began to make sharp "tiger" calls. After 5 minutes – a reply!

 

The grass parted magically and there it was — a 16- month old tiger cub!

 

“She thinks it's her mother calling and is replying.”

 

 

And then…another Call!! TWO tigers - the second cub still camouflaged in the grass (see if you can spot it in the left corner)

 

In a breathtaking moment, the cub (if that’s what you call an enormous 16-
month-old female tiger), walked purposefully out of the tall dry grass.

 

 

Sinews rippling gold, her sister dramatically followed her sibling.

 

 

They both vanished once more into the yellow and green grass. How an enormous cat can disappear in an instant (when common sense tells you that it’s still there), is one of nature’s great miracles. “See,” said Sadan Yadav, practically hopping with glee. “Positive Thinking.”

 

Tiger Update

Tiny cub abandoned by mother in Panna

•  The end of the summer and the beginning of the monsoon always heralds the birth of new tiger cubs. Amidst the flurry of new litters, a female tigress recently abandoned its 20-day old male cub. This tiny youngster was rescued by a highly concerned forest department and revived in an air-conditioned room. It was highly dehydrated at the time of rescue, but we are happy to report that it is now doing well! Since it is being hand reared, however, it will sadly not be able to return to the wild.

 Prominent male tiger passes away in Bandhavgarh

•  At the end of April, the dominant Bokha male was killed by his son in a ritual fight over territory in the park’s Magdhi zone. The cycle of life and death, however, is unending in the wild, and three females have had litters in the Tala zone, promising lots of action when the park re-opens in October. In June, our naturalists and guests were enchanted by sightings of the Jhurjhura female’s 2-month old cubs. It is extremely rare to see cubs this young, as tigresses tend to hide their cubs in thick undergrowth until they are older and less vulnerable.

 A handful of tigresses with cubs in Kanha

• Kanha too promises plenty of action next season as a few females have just had litters. Once cubs are older, they start venturing out & there is a good chance of spotting them.

CLICK! Pugdundee Photo Album

Karan Rana shares a few photographs he took last season in Kanha National Park Madhya Pradesh
Below Two tigers cool off in a waterhole in Kanha – Photo courtesy of Karan Rana, March 2012


News Courtesy:- Pugdundee News