During this year’s camera trapping exercise by Wild Conservation Trust and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Eurasian otter ( Lutra lutra ), one of the rarest Indian mammals, was discovered from Satpura Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh and Kanha-Pench Corridor. There are two more species of otters are known to be present in India — the smooth-coated otter ( Lutrogale perspicillata ) and Asian small-clawed otter ( Aonyx cinerea) — said officials. The Eurasian otter has a wide distribution covering Europe, Africa and Asia. The species is listed as Near Threatened as per the IUCN Red List (2004, 2008). Based on indirect evidences and ancient records, Eurasian otter is believed to be found in the Himalayas and in some parts of the Western Ghats. These records of the Eurasian otter from the Satpura Tiger Reserve and Kanha-Pench Corridor not only extends their geographical range to central India but also provides the first-ever photographic evidence of the species in India. The field work by the Wildlife Conservation Trust in Madhya Pradesh was supported by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, the H.T. Parekh Foundation, USAID and Panthera.
Great pictures of our national bird, from Mr Ramanan, taken at Kanha. Pavo cristatus.
I just read the peahen weighs about 4 kgs and the peacock in breeding plumage weighs six. So, those feathers probably weigh 2 kgs?!
I cant decide which is my favourite picture - the train of feathers or the fan of feathers! Tell me what you think!
Update - 11th November 2008
Here's one more picture that Mr Ramanan sent along, in order to complete the trilogy in a manner of speaking!
He comments wryly that when the photo-op comes along, its usually when the lighting is far from ideal. But this picture below is quite spectacular, is it not? Do click on the photo and enjoy a full-screen view.
Here, one strolled across the road, bringing traffic to a halt!
And Chitra clicked this beautiful picture of the peacock perched on a tree. It was my first experience with flying peacocks as well. Yes, they do fly and quite well. It would make for a spectacular sight, when one would suddenly swoosh up to a tree top.
One sunny morning we found this peacock skulking by the side of the road, with the sun bringing out all the colours of its feathers, even when they were not in display mode.... mmm... would be a lovely colour for a saree, isn't it? Now I know what the Nalli salesman means by peacock blue!
A changeable hawk eagle - picture from Arun - seen on our first outing, in the canter
A jungle owlet, which resided in a tree, just inside the gate. We would take a peek at it every day while leaving the park. This picture is once again from Arun.
Many more than this - plaintive cocukoo, alexandrine parakeets, scimitar babblers, a shama, black-headed oriole, an emerald dove, honey buzzards, vultures and an adjutant stork as well.
An account of our Kanha week will be incomplete without recounting the incident of Arun being locked into the dorm. The culprit was my husband, who finding the room empty, (Arun had gone to the loo at the back, but which could be exited only via the room), locked it, pocketed the key and we all set off in our jeep, blissfully unaware of the locked Arun.
That was the day we were going off to Bahminidadar, and so went off, and then re-united with the other jeeps up on the plateau. Chitra came hurrying up to us, and whisperingly (is there such a word?!) enquired whether we were the ones with the key to the dorm. Very innocently, we said yes.
It transpired that once we left, the jeep in which Arun was to go waited patiently, but Arun never came. So they went back to the dorm to hear frantic thumping and yelling, and there was one very angry MNS member. All the rooms open into the back verandah which houses the bath and toilets, so Arun could come out via the other rooms. But his camera was in the locked room, and anyone who knows Arun also knows that he wont leave without it! The netting on a window was ripped and he clambered in and out with his camera.
As a result of all this delay, Arun and his jeep mates saw this sloth bear. None of us did! I think that appeased him, and our "thousand apologies" was accepted in good humour!
The last night of our stay, it began to pour once again. It was post-dinner, and all of us had gathered into our small little groups to look at pictures, gup-shup and generally while away the time. A group of the men stood in a corner, tasting something from an unidentifiable bottle. Their conversation got louder and louder, and then suddenly there was a shout!
Vijay came rushing in and said come look there's a scorpion. So we all hurried to the back verandah and sure enough there was this black, shiny scorpion on the tiled floor, not getting a good hold and so scuttling along near the wall. Being MNS members, there had to be a prolonged discussion as to what was to be done with it. No, we cant kill it, lets just push it into the outdoors, no it will return, you know it is very dangerous, but we cant just kill it.... and so it went on and on, until one of the men (I forget who) went and brought the local attendant. That boy/man just freaked. I have never seen a look of such terror on anyone's face I tell you. He rushed out, came back armed with implements to chase it out, and took it out of our sight, where we were quite sure he killed it, though he did not say so.
All my romance with the forest quickly dried up, as the dangers of the jungle were driven home. I can cope with trying to cross a busy junction in T Nagar, board a bus at Central Station or take precautions against chain-sntaching. I am a city dweller, I have these skills, but what would I do when faced with a scorpion? I just shrieked and climbed on to the bed!!
And so ended a wonderful week and it was time to go home. Not before Dhruva went missing one night, and was hunted down in the Bagheera log huts chatting with the cook and not before the food bag was emptied.
Rannu came back to take us back to Nagpur, and was greeted by one and all like a long lost friend. But of course we had to have some flat tires along the way, which led to frayed tempers and loud words, through all of which are man from Seoni kept his cool, bought us breakfast at the neighbourhood eatery in Seoni and got us to the station well in time!
Young sal treesEvergreens, they provide the main greenery throughout the year. The fallen leaves a lovely brown contrast.
Spectacularly large!OK, its not a tree, but a grand enough sight, this anthill made! I wonder what happens when there is a thunderstorm... does it get washed away?
Locate to the south-east of the Kisli gate, Bahmnidadar was a relatively long way away, and not everybody wanted to go there. So, some of us, about four jeeps took the ride up, while the others continued with their tiger spotting.
It was a lovely ride, and as we rose up to the plateau, we had peeks of the view down below.
Arun photographed this jungle cat, almost at the top The plateau!The drive on the tabletop was an experience - on either side almost until the horizon stretched these grasslands, with the trees lining the edges. The grass was close to 6 feet in height and so we had to stand in the jeep to look over, and get a sense of perspective.
How can you go to Kanha, and not come away with a tiger tale - the tiger that got away, the one you missed, the one that crossed your path..... there are more stories than tigers!
We had our share of tiger encounters as well, a few of which were somewhat contrived via the "tiger show" - a Kanha special. More on that in a little bit.
The one that walked away
Let me rewind to the morning, when we had a glimpse of a tiger as it lazily walked away from us in the early morning light. Our guide this morning was Jai Singh. A young, alert and skilled spotter who had an electric air about him. Somehow, his positive attitude buzzed through our jeep and awoke the five of us from our early morning drowsiness. Like a deer with twitchy ears, he stood in the front of the jeep, looking left and right and barking terse commands to the driver, on the route to take.
As we drove along one road, the driver of a returning jeep gave us the thumbs down and said there was nothing to see in that path. Jai Singh nevertheless insisted we go that way, and I was quite happy to just dreamily watch the forest go by and listen to the bird calls and breathe in that crisp, nippy morning air.
Immediately we were all alert, but look as hard as I could into the forest, I saw nothing. Suddenly Jai Singh pointed to the left, and there in the dim light, close to the near edge of that watering hole in the picture below, I had my only tiger-in-the-wild glimpse. He looked at us briefly, turned around and then lazily sloped away into the forest at the back. It was all so sudden that by the time we pointed to each other and took our cameras out, all we captured was an empty watering hole!
A tracker on the elephant was keeping a watch on the tiger, tracking it actually, and Jai Singh seemed to feel if it wasn't for the tracker the tiger might have hung around a while longer. Who knows? The tiger may have wanted a solitary moment, and so it was not to be.
These trackers are an important part of the whole Kanha -tourist-tiger experience. The Kanha tiger show
At Kanha, every morning there are tiger "shows". The location of these shows are put up on the board located in the central camp that I mentioned in my first Kanha post. So, at around 9:30 in the morning, the jeep drivers would take you to the central camp, and if you wanted to go and see the tiger at these spots, you would be taken off the road and into the jungle on elephant back, for an additional payment - Rs 100 per head I think. This "show" was restricted to the tourism zone.
What happens is this. In the morning, elephant-backed trackers would set off through the jungle in search of tigers. Once they spotted them, they would follow the tigers to their resting spot. The reasoning is that once the sun is up around 10, the tigers will take to resting in a nullah, a ditch in the grassland or under some tree. Once it settled in this manner, the tracker would radio back his location to the HQ, where it would be put up on the board.
When we were there, there was one radio-collared tiger we saw, plus a tigress and its two grown male cubs. The tigress and cubs were seen even in the wild by some lucky members. By "in the wild", I mean not through a show but by being at the right place at the right time!
Our first show, was on the first day of our visit, when we were out in our canter ride. A male tiger was reported to be resting close to a kill. The Canter (bus) was taken close to the point of the show, and then four at a time, we went off to see the tiger.
Certain rules are strictly followed and enforced. While near the tiger, no loud conversations or sudden movements. The mahouts do not disturb the tiger, but just allow you to watch. If you are lucky, you will see it atleast sit up, like this picture below. Chitra's pictures. She was in the same "batch" that I was!Most often though, this is what you will see. These tigers in the tourism zone are probably so used to elephant loads coming and going that they couldn't care less. This particular gentleman was probably also on a full stomach, having partaken of a heavy meal. This was once a bisonThat evening, there were mixed reactions to the whole tiger show experience. post-dinner there was much back and forth arguing in the verandah of the dorm, as to whether this was good for the long term health of the park, and what difference was there between a tiger in a zoo and a tiger seen this way?
For me, personally, I resolved not to go on another tiger show. My prime problem was that first of all, I do not like to ride on an elephant. It bothers me to use these magnificent creatures of the jungle for such a mundane activity as taking a tourist to see a tiger. (I have this same problem with riding a horse as well, but that's a different story)
Secondly, I felt that if I did not chance to see a tiger in the normal course of the day, so be it. I would need to come back again. That's the whole point of a park is it not? To see and enjoy nature, naturally. This was all a bit too contrived.
It doesn't take away from the thrill of seeing a tiger, that I grant you. Just the sheer size of this cat, its powerful paws and the unfriendly, dont-mess-with-me countenance gave me goose bumps and sent shivers down my spine. But I just feel that we need to give it respect and space and not go and gawk at it in this fashion. Just think about it. You are ready to rest for the day, or put your feet up, and then you are surrounded by people looking at you, murmuring knowingly, clicking away with their cameras... enough to drive you into a rage dont you think? (I guess it could be argued that by just visiting the park, I am taking away from the privacy of the tiger and the other forest animals. So, if I was a conscientious and caring environmentalist, maybe I should not be visiting these parks at all?)
The senior member on the trip was Mr Ramanan, who saw a tiger in the wild almost every day we were there! It was truly amazing. As his reputation as a tiger mascot grew, people insisted on riding in his jeep! And it did help them. Ananth, one of the members who occasionaly rode in our jeep, decided that he did have to see the tiger before leaving Kanha, and so on the penultimate day hopped into Mr Ramanan's jeep, and presto came back with a good tiger sighting!
This series of pictures are from Mr Ramanan. Lets see if I can recount the story well. This was a tigress on the hunt for its two grown male cubs. Initially, it had its eye on a herd of gaur, but two large males guarded the herd, and the tigress failed to isolate any calf.
It then walked across the road, unmindful of the tourists, and then went into this stalking crouch seen below, its eye on a group of chital in the meadows. Mr Ramanan recalled that it had got pretty close to the chitals when a camp elephant, after a dip in the watering hole, came in-between the chitals and the tiger, driving the tiger away.
On our last evening, my son had had enough of the jeep rides, so he and I did not go for that last ride into the park. And yes, Murphy's Law did work, and yes they did see a tiger that evening!
It was dusk, the light was poor, but by the side of their jeep, this tiger walked by, and Sheila's hands shook with excitement and blurred this picture!! I had to put it in though, since I liked the mood and tone of this picture.
Kanha is arguably at the heart of India's tiger country, the inspiration for Kipling and a crucial cornerstone of the Project Tiger conservation efforts. Yet, in a way, I came away from Kanha mildly depressed and very concerned with the state of the tiger in India.
Just the following week, we read about the missing tigers of Ranthambore. And then about the Chinese resorting to tiger farms.
I wish I could sound more optimistic about the tiger and its future. Will my grandchildren ever see a tiger in the wild? Does it make a big difference if they don't? These are not theoretical anymore, they are very real possibilities.
Maybe by taking our son to Kanha, we have given him some appreciation of this predator? Maybe some respect for all creatures big and small? It certainly heightened my awareness and concern. Maybe, just maybe then, something has been achieved through those jeep rides into the forest. Maybe, the tiger show will help to spread this appreciation to more people?
This was the sight that awaited us on our morning ride. The early morning light shone off their skins and their noses glittered black as they stood, the two male stags, fully alert to the danger that we may pose.
Our jeep was the only one on this route, and I think on the entire trip we were the only ones lucky enough to have seen this magnificent herd.
These hard-hoofed swamp deer are found only in Kanha. Imagine, at one point they roamed the entire northern plains of India. Probably decimated for their majestic antlers which have 10-12 points. The tall grass is their favourite food, and they roam the meadows of Kanha. Their numbers are nowhere near as high as that of the ubiquitous chital, and in the seventies their numbers were down to below a 100. MP Government claims around 350-400 now, but if there were so many, they were not in evidence.
Their colour gives them an excellent camouflage in the tall grass, and when we passed them and looked back, we could not spot them, so well had they merged in to the grassland.
On the evening ride that day, the skies opened up, and we were all completely wet and soaked as the open jeeps provided no protection. The guides took us for temporary shelter to a forest camp. It was quite a awe-inspiring sight to see lightning streak all the way down to the horizon, lighting up a tree in a flash of light, before finishing in a murderous clap of thunder.
Once the rain slowed into a steady drizzle, we returned in the jeeps, wet, cold but in high spirits. One more pant down, wet and smelly. To add to the sambar-filled pant of the journey.
Only one left for another 3 days.... who wants to wash clothes in Kanha? I hoped it would not come to that!
During this year’s camera trapping exercise by Wild Conservation Trust and Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, Eurasian otter ( Lutra lutra ), one of the rarest Indian mammals, was discovered from Satpura Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh and Kanha-Pench Corridor.
Picture by Arun
Arun's picture
Picture from Chitra
From Arun
