Lionscape Wildlife Tours News January 2006

The park appears to be thriving. Chital and sambar deer seem in plentiful supply. The monsoon has been particularly good, with the main rivers carrying plenty of water. It was pleasantly warm for January. The local belief is that winter ends with the full moon, and sure enough the temperatures began to rise on the appointed day. By the end of the tour we were wearing T-shirts around the campfire in the evening, listening to a leopard calling from inside the park, which borders the camp. Early morning proved good for wild dog sightings, in groups of three and four, at very close quarters. One morning we were rewarded with two wild dogs play boxing in front of us. Eagles and other birds seemed quite content to perch on nearby branches, and we had three good sightings of jungle cat within the first few days of our visit. The elephant camp has a new arrival, who we were lucky to see and photograph when only three days old. We were bowled over (almost literally!) by Suleyman, the camp dog, a two-year-old Great Dane who is a really soft character. We had to be careful not to trip over him when he takes his frequent sleep breaks!

As for the tigers, Chakradhara’s four twelve-month-old cubs turned out to be the stars of the show. On my last visit in April 2005, they were only four months old and ran for cover at the first sign of an approaching elephant. Now they have become totally shock proof, and seem to have developed a liking for posing on rocky ledges. With the help of the elephants, we were able to get to within 6 metres of them at eye level, and they just sat there and smiled. So did we !!

They were our first sightings on the first full day in the park. In the morning we saw all four cubs, Chakradhara, and the father Sundar (B2). We got a surprise whilst having a cup of coffee as we waited near Chakradhara Meadow, suddenly looking behind us to find mother and one of the cubs about to cross the track at very close quarters. The other cubs we saw by elephant.

Over the next two weeks we had several memorable sightings of the cubs. As well as sitting on their favourite ledges, we were also lucky enough to see the male cub at the side of Gupalpur waterhole, surrounded by bamboo and lit by a wonderful reflected light from the water. The elephant waded in up to its girth to let us have a really good view at eye level.

The future is hopeful for all four of the cubs, and they have already started to hunt, taking small chital fawns when they get the opportunity. Early one morning we actually saw one of the cubs carrying a kill. If they reach maturity, Chakradhara will have successfully raised three out of four litters over the space of six years, 10 tigers in all. She is proving to be a superb mother.

Banbai’s litter of four cubs is now two years old and beginning to split from their mother. We were lucky enough to catch a 10 second glimpse of one of the adolescents on the road, though for the most part they remained elusive. Their newfound freedom has not been without its problems. As they move away to establish their own territories they will inevitably come into contact with humans in the nearby villages. Tragically, one such encounter ended with a five year old girl being killed, almost certainly as a result of a misunderstanding rather than any man-eating intent.

Durga’s two male cubs are also maturing and spending a lot of time away from their mother, but remaining together as an inseparable bachelor unit. We could often hear them calling in the depths of the forest, but were not seen. Our sole glimpse of the family was of the mother, whom we saw for a couple of minutes crossing the track close behind us and slowly wandering off into the forest looking for the two brothers.

Jujhura had a litter of two cubs in July 2005, and we were fortunate enough to have one good sighting of mother and both cubs (one male, one female) in and around a steep gully. The male cub played hard to get, being visible on the far slope moving in and out of the bamboo, but the female was more confident with her mother around and we saw some nice interaction between them. The sighting ended with Jujhura suddenly getting to her feet and launching herself downhill into the undergrowth. A few seconds later, a squeal revealed the fate of a chital, which had inadvertently wandered too close to the resting tigress.

Our last two mornings gave us wonderful sightings of another tigress, Chorbera, who had reputedly given birth to two cubs in September 2005. We could see that her nipples were distended, suggesting use by the cubs, but they remained hidden from view, even when our mahout remained with the mother one afternoon. Hopefully they are still well.

Unfortunately, we have to report some sad news about Challenger, a six-year-old male who had recently returned to the park. On the night of Diwali in November 2005, Challenger wandered into a wire noose trap and was caught. Initially, he appeared to have luck on his side. Though caught around his neck, he managed to exert enough force to break the trap free of its moorings without fatally tightening the noose and escaped. The following morning he was spotted by a tourist vehicle in the Tala range of the park with the noose still around his neck. The Forest Department was quickly alerted and the mahouts went to investigate. A decision was quickly taken to tranquillise the 500-pound tiger for closer inspection, and they were able to remove the noose. Apparently not seriously injured, Challenger went back to the forest.

Sadly, the story does not have a happy ending. On 7th December, Challenger was seen in the park with terrible facial injuries. Once again the mahouts were mobilized to try and help. They found him the same evening and remained with him until he died, sometime around 4 o’clock the following morning. Nobody is sure of the cause at the moment, but several possibilities exist. In March 2005, Challenger killed two buffalo in Mahaman village. It is unknown whether the trap was set to prevent further interference, even though the authorities will compensate the farmers for the loss, or to poach the tiger.

There is a chance that Challenger’s line may continue after his death. Shortly before he died he was seen mating with a female called Mahaman. If successful this would be her first litter, and would be born sometime late January 2006. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Overall the park is a good habitat for the tigers, whose numbers in the central range are gradually increasing and now stand around 22. (Including the outer ranges of the park, the number should be between 65 – 70). The exact number will depend on the safety of Chorbera’s cubs and the migratory status of the maturing litters. On our visit we had 27 sightings, covering 12 different tigers. Whilst we were there, the official census was taking place. This is based on recording pugmarks, a system that has proven to be unreliable in the past, and made more difficult because the census teams do not utilise the knowledge of the local guides to interpret the tracks. I’m sure that an ongoing log using the mahouts and guides, backed by photographic records, would provide a more accurate picture. As we left, we found that the census teams were intending to count the populations of chital and sambar deer. One spot, two spots, three spots, four………

I’m scheduled to spend 3 months in Bandhavgarh this year, so the news feature should become a regular item. I’m heading back to the park in late March for four weeks, and the next bulletin should be available at the end of April. If anything else happens in the meantime I’ll post a quick note. If you have any comments or questions, please drop me an email.

Bye for now!

Pete

2nd February 2006