The enthusiasm was pondering and, the cameras were ready to be in action! Over the next three days, we would be trying to follow the tracks of some of the legendary tigers here, as well as, the other dwellers, especially, the iconic barashingas. A young and slim guy came to us asking for the necessary identity proofs. Kailash Khaiwar is the young naturalist in Kanha and we were going to have our rides on his jeep. We four were on his jeep by 6'o clock in the morning for our desired safari at Mukki.
Sagnik Da and Swastik, on the other hand, were going to have their safari at Kanha Zone. Expanding over the 940 sq. km. the core area, adjoined by 1,949 sq. km of buffer area, Kanha National Park is the treasure of Indian wildlife, constituting a significant habitat for its wild denizens. In 1879, it was designated as a reserve forest and subsequently, in 1933, it turned out to be a wildlife sanctuary. In 1955, Kanha was declared as a national park and with the launching of Project Tiger in 1973, it came under its corpus and, became a tiger reserve.
Although the Kisli Gate used to be the main entrance of the park erstwhile, now the Khatia Gate is the main entrance. We entered the Mukki Zone. Nowadays Chhota Munna (KTR T-29), the son of legendary Munna (KTR T-17) has covered a wide range as his territory. Although he is a frequent sighting provider of the park, we did not find the big boy during any of our rides. However, it had been reported that Dhawajhandi Female (KTR T-27), the mate of Chhota Munna could be found here in Mukki along with her four 6-month-old cubs. We did not have to wait a lot because hardly after 15 minutes of our commencement, we spotted two glittering patterns of yellow and black in the bushes. Two of the cubs of Dhawajhandi were play-fighting with each other and enjoying the warmth of golden sunshine. But it was tricky to get their shots through the bushes. We waited for them expecting they would be in an open way but they were not at all in a mood to be exposed in the open. The rest of the cubs were not on the block to be seen. After waiting for a long time, we left the place and, met many of the other dwellers. There are as many as 22,000 spotted deer here in Kanha and that is why, when I felt bore after waiting for a prolonged time for the tigress and, insisted our guide, Prem Yadav, to find some places where Chitals could be found, he answered that I would be bored after watching huge herds of tens and thousands of them over the next days.
After spending a past time session with these slinky deer, we came back to the same place where the cubs were playing but their absence provided the notion that perhaps they went further deep in the bushes. Still, there was no sign of the mother. A few minutes later, the gathering of the vehicles and the alarm calls from the deer suggested that a big predator is nearby. And, the waiting was over. Dhawajhandi came from the left side of the bushes and walked straightly in front of our cars for a few seconds. The first-ever successful tiger sighting in my life! The adrenaline flow was on its top when I first saw the bold lady on the track!
Although my hands were shivering because of excitement, I managed to grab some of the shots of her. She came out and walked, and before vanishing into the other side of the thickets, offered her royal look, filled with indifference towards the entire mankind. I don't know whether the words suffice or not to describe the queer working of the excited mind. Our guide told us that earlier in the dawn, she had made a kill of a young spotted deer and, after putting that to a comparatively safe place, she had been on the trail for her cubs to share the kill. Dhawajhandi is approximately 6-year-old and reported to be the first time mother. What a great start we had! We just wished her great luck in raising those cubs and came back.
Returning to the resort at about 11'o clock in the morning, we received the news from Sagnik Da that the sighting in the Kanha zone too was quite promising. They had got to see Neelam (KTR T-65), a young tigress along with her three cubs. Neelam is a short-tempered one, who use to charge at the vehicle with grumpy snarling. But that time, she remained in a relaxed mood. We were sharing each other's experience and in the meantime, our lunch was ready to be served. Everything was very much touching here in the resort. The preparations were good. Accommodation of everything too was very much commendable. Of course, there was no scope to have a power nap during the daytime because you have to be in an utmost hurry for the next safari of the afternoon shift and especially, you can feel the cause of the rush if you are in a mode of regular documentation of something.
The Restful Afternoon: Barashinga pair near Kisli Guest House
Photo: Pratik Mahapatra
By half-past two in the afternoon, we were on our jeep with Kailash Ji. This time, we were going to be guided by Mallu Singh Yadav, endowed with one of the keenest pair of eyes. The wider smile that he expressed, has a grand essence of cordiality. Again, we set out.
Entering the gate of Kisli Zone, we were welcomed by the jungle's fashion. A jungle owl inquisitively stared at us. We had got to see a female barking deer. Mallu Ji explained that, unlike spotted deer and sambars, barking deer do not make false alarm calls. He went on to say that we had been entering Bajrang's territory. Bajrang, otherwise known as KTR T-64, rules a considerable patch of ground here in Kanha Zone.
But wait! Who crossed the path with sparkling agility? We just could not believe our luck when we saw the female leopard running across the root. She came out of the right side of the woods and went to the opposite side. Assuming the path where she could have been seen once again after crossing, we set out. But got nothing except some alarm calls from Chitals and langur monkeys. Mallu Ji introduced us to this leopard- a young adult cat with three cubs. Oh! Had we got at least a momentary sighting of them! However, we were lucky enough as we found leopards in two trips, one after another. Let us come back to the aspect of Bajrang. He killed an adult gaur just two days ago. On that day, it was reported that Bajrang had stayed with the kill in the early morning, but when we reached the carcass, we found nothing but a few wild boars scavenging on the rotten meat. Besides being herbivorous, wild boars are widely known to be proficient scavengers.
The radiance of the hope of seeing at least any of the tigers of this area, however, was not out. We had been listening to the murmurs of the guides regarding the probability of sighting and reaching Manglu Tirrah, we felt a grand surprise. "Kailash, garhi rok dey, yenhi see niklegi." - such was the bold assertion, made by Mallu Ji! After a few minutes, someone was prowling on the far horizon.
I managed to track down the tigress through my binoculars from a great distance of approximately half a kilometre. She was coming out with such ease, as if, nothing on earth could break down her royalty! Indeed, the confidence should be saluted. She is known as Naina (in Hindi, her name means "the beautiful eyes") or KTR T-76. From the archives, we came to know that Naina is one of the daughters of Mundi Dadar Female or Link-7 Female, born in the monsoon of 2013. As she was first found in Route-8, the guides and drivers frequently her Link-8 Female. And she is quite a great character. She was born along with a male sibling but after a few weeks of their birth, her brother went missing. Now, Naina has turned out to be a great mother of four cubs. She is about four and half years old, so, this is could well be her first-ever litter. Bajrang might have fathered these cubs.
Naina came out of the meadows avoiding the watchful eyes and chaotic alarm calls of a small herd of spotted deer, proclaimed the patch of ground to be her own with her pungent scent-marking and came to the meadows of our right side. The real twist was to be felt here. No sooner had she crossed the path and came into the other side, a group of barashingas sharply raised their alarms. I had never heard the alarm calls of barashingas! To me, recording the clip of both the alarm calls of spotted deer and barashinga in one frame, was a real treat. Naina had a look on them, snarled a little bit and went on her way. As she again came into the path circling our vehicle, she mildly growled, showing her irritation towards the mob of both the human beings and deer. A group of peacocks started to scream from a little distance. The entire jungle-scape shivered. Now one can understand what it means to witness a tiger's presence - truly majestic!
Returning to our resort, we quickly had our tea. It was wonderful to ruminate our trip not only as an agenda to reveal wildlife only but also as a great chance to peep into the inner self of the Baiga tribes located at Khatia. Earlier on that day, we met Mr Asish Kachwaha, a man from the sphere of fine arts, who dedicated his life to closely observing the lives of Baigas. Witnessing his aptness in his creations was something to be shared. He invited us to the communal dance, performed by the local tribes on a definite day.
However, I was engrossed in the sightings of the day and engaged myself in the required progress of our book. But could not hold my attention for a long time. How could I? The chilli night was relevantly ornated with the fireplace and we, after having our dinner, desired to have a sitting rounding it. Sagnik Da went on to tell his vast experience in Pench. We came to be acquainted with various sides of service for wildlife. Swastik too has a keen quest for wildlife like his Daddy. Meeting a blooming heart like him is always a pleasurable experience. We exchanged our thoughts in several ways. It was their final night in Kanha.
Needless to say, we were going to miss them very much. How great would it have been if we had shared at least one ride! Meanwhile, our other guide friend Ramkumar Yadav, the only one whom I knew for so many years before our trip, reported that he managed to track down Bajrang in a different route. What a mysterious cat he is! Balaji Sir was in rapt attention for the next day's trip. There was, however, a dark turn of event. Budbudi Female, the oldest matriarch of Kanha had been killed on the day of our arrival in a territorial fight with Sangam Male. She attempted to protect her three small cubs from the intruding male. We have been acquainted with so many tigers during the last two decades, still, any loss of an individual is very much painful. We went to our beds expecting a better tomorrow.
Truly, you have voiced your heart in a glorious and pure way which reminds the first touch of rays when the journey begins and the last song of adieu at the horizon of twilight! Enjoyed reading. ��
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely overwhelming! Thanks a lot. Indeed, those days will be remaining to be the beholder of special significance. I hope you will be enjoying the next two episodes on Kanha too. Regards!
ReplyDeleteWonderful ideology
ReplyDeleteExcellent.
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