Kanha Memories - Tiger tales

Continued from The graceful and handsome barasinghas.

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.

Footprints! Or should I call them pawprints?

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?)

My son did go on one more tiger ride and saw these tigers.
A radio-collared tiger
A tigress with a wound
One of the cubs I think

Mr Ramanan beats the laws of probability

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.  

A close-up of the tigress, courtesy Mr Ramanan

Sheila's sighting:

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?

Continued in Bahmnidadar

Kanha Memories - The graceful and handsome Barasinghas

Continued from Kanha Memories

18th April 2007:

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.

A young stag keeping an eye on us
The herd crosses the road, all the while keeping us in their sightsThat whole morning ride, was very satisfying.  First the barasinghas, then the vultures, and the excitement of a possible hidden tiger in the grass.  Our guide was one D P Patel, an older, paan-chewing veteran, while our driver Amandeep Singh was the opposite - a greenhorn in his first week of work!

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!

Continued in Tiger Tales.

Kanha Memories

So, here I am more than eighteen months later, revisiting our wonderful week-long MNS trip to the Kanha Tiger reserve.  It was a first visit for many of us in that group, and at the same time, we had a Kanha "veteran" - it was his 15th/16th visit I think!  

Many of my friends thought I was a bit nuts - who would visit central India in the height of summer?  It will be hot, and dusty we were warned.  " Oh ange thair kadikadhe", was another common concern of various Madrasis!  Yeah, right we were going to see tigers and wildlife and sal forests, not bother about what we ate, I said loftily.  Secretly though, I packed a suitcase full of food - Amul Masti, Tang packets, Mansukh snacks, and milk for my ten year old son!  As a result, I skimped on the clothes I took, which did not work out well, as you will see.

The route we took was Madras-Nagpur by overnight train.  Nagpur-Kanha by road. The road is good and though we took some six hours going, on the return it was less.

15 April 2007: 2pm in the afternoon and we set off for Central Station to catch the Jaipur Express for Nagpur. Madras in April (or for that matter all of India) is hot, and we hope that our AC waitlisted tickets will get confirmed. (We had confirmed sleeper class tickets, so there was no worry of us not making the trip, thankfully.) Just a hope that we could travel in cool comfort. Very not-green of us I had to admit - there were some more passionate members than us travelling in the regular sleeper.

We did get AC nevertheless, and sank in to our seats with a sigh of relief. Our smaller group consisted of my husband and son, plus two good friends Raji and Sheila. It was one of our first outings with MNS and the trip helped us get to know the other members and their families. All in all, I think we were some 25 members of various age groups, and each with our own idiosyncracies and interests.  We were a motley bunch!

The evening on the train passed by filled with games of Uno, gossip, excitement and puliyodarai and chips. A good night's sleep, and a railway breakfast arrived. As also the first "disaster". As I listened avidly to the conversation around, I contrived to spill the sambar all over my lap! Oh no, one of my only 3 pants taken for the trip!! At this point, my husband quickly got engrossed in his book, my son scooted to the upper berth muttering, "I'm out of here", and I burst into hysterical giggles. It was left to my good friends Raji and Sheila to retrieve the situation - some napkins were produced and water, and the mess was cleaned up as best as we could!

After this, it was almost time to get off, and disembark we did at Nagpur in the midday sun of central India, rudely welcomed to reality! Vijay very helpfully procured some lassis for us, and then we found three Qualises awaiting us. As also Rannu!

Rannu, the dada of Seoni!

Smiling face, colourful shirts, paan-stained teeth, unruffled by anything.  That was Rannu, the boss of our taxi service, constantly on his cell phone, organising his drivers and cars with his can-do attitude.  

We reach Gopalganj to find threatening clouds, lightning and thunder, and no tarpaulin for our luggage.  So we stop at the roadside, some more phone calls are made by Rannu - mysteriously, his phone works, but not ours! - tarps are brought from some house, and there you see himin the picture above,  fixing it.  Anyway, we wait for a little while, he makes another call and then informs us that the rain which was coming down in Pench, further down,  had stopped, and we could proceed!!

Our Qualis had our little clique plus Vijay and Dhruva.  Further drama on the way,  We stop at Seoni because Dhruva needs money from the ATM.  (I thought to myself, he must be very brave and have great faith in ATM technology to be attempting this here!)  Sitting in the car, we could see him arguing with the guard outside.    I was quite sure his card had got stuck in the ATM!  Then Vijay gets down to go to his aid, we see him combing his air, twirling his moustache, putting his arm on the guard in a friendly manner.  More movements inside the ATM.  Vijay and Dhruva re-emerge - and guess what, they had the money and the card!!  The problem was that the security guard had put off the ATM, and was reluctant to put it on!  So, after testing the efficacies of the ATM system in far-off Seoni, we set off again.

Its a lovely drive, through Pench tiger reserve, and then the rolling plains of Madhya Pradesh.

 16th April, 7-15 pm:  We arrive finally at Kanha!

By this time, it was dark, and there was nothing to be seen.  Checked in to the MP Tourism dormitory - we had booked the whole dorm - and then trooped off for dinner at the mess next door.

In hindsight, staying at the dorm, pictured on the left is probably the best way to see Kanha.  It inexpensive at Rs 100 per bed per night (incl food!), was clean, with common bath and toilet facilities at the rear of the building which were in good shape.  

According to me, the nicest part was that it was within the park.  if you click on the Kanha map above, to the west, you will see the Kisli Gate, which is where this dorm is located.  So, at night, we could hear the calls of the jungle, we heard alarm calls of cheetal, and one night even a leopard call quite close to the dorm.  There was a water hole just across the road from the dorm - a lovely place to sit in the afternoons, just to watch the birds come and go.  One day there was a group of wild dogs frolicking here, another day some sambhar deer came to have a soak in the water, and there was always a flock of roller birds and storks to keep it lively, with brainfever birds in the trees around us.
April 17th:  5-45 am:  Joseph and his canter bus!

Another interesting character at Kanha was Joseph, the resident what - manager, fixer, administrator, driver?  I could never figure out.  But so helpful and friendly.  One thing he did unfailingly was drive this bus/Canter.  It took all 24 of us on a trip around the park.  After one such ride, we decided against it!  While it would work out decidely cheaper, it also made a hell of a racket, could not go on all the park roads and also offered limited visibility as compared to the open Gypsy jeeps that are available and seen below.

Anyway, Joseph took us in this canter to the local market one day where we were acquainted with mahua - the local intoxicant - , then he showed us the one spot next to the Mess, where a BSNL signal was available, for all those needing to make calls, even gave us his phone to make these calls,   helped coordinate our meals and was always available for a chat.

Early morning "q" awaiting entry into the park.I found Kanha a very well run park, the guides were well-trained, the drivers were disciplined, and rules were for the most part obeyed.  Morning ride times were 6-10 am and evenings 4-6.  If the drivers did not get out within this time, they were severely penalised.

There was a bit of mayhem if a tiger was spotted when everybody went a bit berserk, but for the most part it was an orderly and enjoyable experience.

Much to my surprise, the mornings were lovely.  At 6 am it was nippy and we all had some dupattas handy to use as shawls, but by 8 or so, it became warm, and by 10 it was hot.  We lucked out with the weather in that we had thunderstorms every other night, which kept the temperatures and the dust down and the nights were cool. 
Early morning lightThe sun falls on the lovely sal forests.  I could never get bored of these forests.  Each day they looked more beautiful, than the previous, with the morning light casting different "moods" almost on the forest.
... And the forests were filled with the chatter of tree pies, an occasional shama, pigeons and langurs.

A forest camp
And the facilities!
The central campsiteThis was where there was a little canteen where you could get samosas and tea, where the guides would get information about where the tiger shows were for the day.  there was also a good museum with lots of information on the flora and fauna of the region.

Tiger country... the meadows
Shravan Tal


Sunset views
Morning and evening, for six days we went on jeep rides in the forest.  Waking up at 5am, no TV, no newspaper, clean air, good company, sumptuous food.  Even my son managed to make all the morning rides.  The map below shows our regular routes - the brown Kanha area in the centre.  The "You are Here" reflects the Main camp location.

Circular road, Shravan Tal are all the flat lands, but some of the roads are hilly, and so provide a view of the forests below.  We travelled all the way to Bamnidadar - at the right hand bottom corner - one morning.

More on the tiger show, Bamnidadar, barasinghas, as I write!

Continued in Kanha Memories:The graceful and handsome barasinghas.

The vultures at Kanha

During our 2007 summer trip to Kanha, we saw these four vultures on the sal trees, as they sat and waited patiently for the tiger to leave its kill in the dry grassland below.

Through our binoculars, we could see the vultures very clearly, but our cameras were not powerful enough to get a better shot.  (Those little black specks in the photo on the left!)

We had heard how vultures have become a rare sight in India, and so we were all the more excited by our sighting.  There they sat looking like the Jungle Book crew, and I would not have been surprised if they had broken into a "So what are we going to do now?" conversation!

Our jeep was filled with greenhorns, and when we returned to the dorm to share our sighting, there was much disbelief, as other senior members were quite sure we had seen some storks and mistaken them for the vulture!  Our picture was not conclusive, but the profile - not a stork surely.  Our "honour" was restored when the Kanha guide who came with us confirmed to them that yes, they were vultures!

Sadly, we were the only ones on that trip to have spotted these birds.
These vultures could be extinct within a decade, because of the diclofenac... not a happy thought.

Vultures, Diclofenac, Rabies, and Ecological unravelling

Vultures, Diclofenac, Rabies, and Ecological unravelling

How absolutely depressing.....

We did see a few vultures in Kanha, you know. Sorry for this weak defense.

And the dogs in the cities are growing by the month... Istanbul had a dog problem in the seventies and eighties, it appears.... But they seem to have gotten rid of that problem (I wonder how?), since we didn't see a single stray dog when we went this year.

Corvus splendens - the splendid crow!

We - Indians I mean - have always held the crow in high esteem, and it seems that the Westerners' are now developing a new found admiration for these birds they consider a nuisance.

Take a look.

The only thing is that intelligent crows are likely to see through Joshua Klein's attempts to train them dont you think?

Another one is initiated...

... in to the pleasures of birding in Madras.

Vaishna Roy visited the Guindy National Park, Nanmangalam
and Pallikaranai.

Read her report below:

Outlooktraveller.com

Charlie finds a feeding black kite in Bangalore

It takes guts…a feeding Black Kite

Some gory and fascinating pictures of a black kite in Bangalore's Nandi Hills.

A bit of a ramble from Madras, but what the heck?!

Asian Openbills at Nelpattu

Lining a bund enroute to Nelappatu

I had written about the Pelicans at Nelapattu earlier, but had ignored the OBS, or Asian openbills for some reason... i was obviously more excited by the pelicans than the OBS.

I remember that early December morning when we saw these OBS sitting on a bund, looking rather morose and meditative.  They reminded me of old fishermen sitting by the pier, each lost in their thoughts and memories but drawing on the comfort of each other's silent company!

Around the corner in the fields, we had a closer encounter with these birds.  They were more busy than their bund counterparts, actively looking for snails - that's what they are fond of - in the marshy soil.  

The bills dont quite close, and it is obviously an adaptation to help their feeding.  Like  a set of pliers, the gap helps them to clamp on to their prey maybe?

The grey plumage of their upper body indicates that they are in non-breeding mode.  Those feather become whiter during breeding.

On reaching Nelapattu, we saw them nesting there, along with the pelicans.  They are rather prolific it appears, and they are classified as "birds of least concern" - not endangered by any means!

I hope that status doesn't change for these long-legged, serious birds!

Green.view | Staying the courser | Economist.com

Indian conservationists strive to convince politicians of a small bird’s existence

Green.view | Staying the courser | Economist.com

 AP Forest Dept picture

The article is about the Jerdon's Courser, a small, brown wader that comes out in the night, is very, very  rarely seen and every Indian birdwatcher of repute and age has a story to tell about trying to see one or having seen one!

Considered extinct for a while, then "rediscovered" in 2003,  by Bharat Bhushan, who is an MNS and BNHS member,  the little bird's cause has been taken up by the BNHS - kudos to them - who seem to have successfully changed the course of the planned Telegu-Ganga canal, to avoid this bird's territory.

The paragraph from the article which I like best is this -

With many troublesome conservationists—and righteous judges—India has guarded its magnificent wildlife perhaps surprisingly well. Though poor, densely populated and home to many threatened species, it has lost only a handful of animals in recent decades: for example, the Asiatic cheetah, Javanese rhinoceros and Sikkim stag. And it has lost only two species of bird: the pink-headed duck and Himalayan mountain quail. Like the Jerdon’s courser, the forest owlet was also ruled extinct before it was rediscovered. A fish, the Ladakh snow trout, may have similarly have re-emerged from the abyss.

This gives India a better record in conservation than many countries. Yet its wildlife is nonetheless in dreadful jeopardy: from a poor and fast-growing population, eating into India’s remaining forests and marshes; and also, increasingly, from infrastructure projects, fuelled by strong economic growth. The IUCN now groups India with China, Brazil and Indonesia, as countries with the highest number of species facing extinction. Many will no doubt slip more quietly into that long night than the Jerdon’s courser.

A pat on the back for all the hardworking  environmentalists?  

Listen to the call of the courser

The Pulicat Flamingoes

The Pulicat dance troupe!

Yes, there are flamingoes, thousands of them, just north of Madras, and I am quite ashamed to say that I saw them in a New York zoo before seeing them at Pulicat.  I have lived for more than twenty years in this city, blissfully unaware that these lovely birds lived and bred in our backyard.

Strange looking birds.  Light pink, long graceful legs, huge flocks, a sinuous movement as they walk across the shallow waters, so ballerina-like.  But that beak...... there's nothing graceful about it, according to me anyway.  Its large and bulky, and seems to be just added on, like one of those Photoshopped oddities!

They are useful to them, though, the beaks I mean.  Since they feed on saltwater shrimp and such like and use their beaks to filter-feed.  They will be in the "pink" of health the more shrimp they eat.  That's what they get the beta-carotene from, which keeps them pink!  So if you think the ones in the zoo are always pinker, you're probably right - they get more pink food in their diet.

Dec 2007.  We took a boat from SHAR road to get a closer look, but the closer we got, the faster they edged away from us, making sure that we couldn't get any closer.  At first they walked away, in a slow deliberate fashion, then some nervous ones spread their wings. At one point, they decided enough was enough and took to the skies, and what a lovely sight it was!

My husband clicked away, and came up with these lovely pictures.  It was a dull day with the sun well hidden, the water a bleak grey, but dont these birds really stand out in the dullness?

(You can click on any of these pictures to get a full-page view.)

Dont come any Closer!
OK, we're off!My mother opined that a flying flamingo is much more beautiful than a walking one, and I have to agree.  Where are those colours of dark pink and black when they just stand? Their long necks and legs form a lovely line in the sky, and even their beaks kind of fit in, giving a curve to their silhouettes!

An early flier is high up in the sky.  Take a look at the beauty of the airborne trio in the right foreground
The flying flamingoes bump into a flock of duck

Balaji by some coincidence seems to have also visited the flamingoes in December, though he and his friends were lucky with a  bright, sunny day.  There are some lovely pictures on his blog as well!

My son filmed the flamingoes on our handycam, and if you are willing to take a look at some footage that shakes and kind of goes off in all sorts of directions, see the video below!  You will also get an idea of what lots of flamingoes means really.  The whirr you hear is the sound of the strong wind that day, and if you have sharp ears you will also pick up the calls of the flamingoes.  They make quite a racket - well there are a lot of them.

Why do I like to go and see these and other birds in their habitat I wonder.  My brother (as a typical older brother), thinks I am a touch insane.  Why dont you just go to a zoo, or better still watch them on Nat Geo or Discovery, he grumbles.  

Is it the uncertainty of not knowing what I am likely to see?  Or the joy at seeing them free and unrestricted?

Another visit to SHAR road  and Annamalaicheri is overdue I think...  What say?  I should also write about Annamalaicheri, that fishing village on Pulicat, from where we took many a sortie and even had a Delhi birder traipse across the flatlands holding the hands of one of the fishermen, much to the latter's delight I'm sure, since the birder in question was a lovely lady!!