Lionscape Wildlife Tours News Bandhavgarh Nov 2006

The park has had a successful monsoon, with the water sources sufficiently restocked to last through the hot dry season until next summer. Just before our arrival, the park had several days of light rain, leaving the vegetation vibrant and green. The main meadow sported a growth of tall white-headed grasses, which quickly seeded and began to fade. Towards the end of our visit, the park authorities decided to reopen the fort hill, and our second group was one of the first to walk from Sheshaiyya to the see the ancient ruins at the top.

The two litters of cubs that were born at the start of the year are in good health and growing fast. Both were sighted frequently during the month. Banbai’s three cubs remain fairly shy, and they have developed a characteristic way of following their mother across the forest tracks. Banbai would walk across in front, with a flash of teeth to any onlookers reminding them to stay put, and after a few seconds the first cub would bound across. The other two cubs would then follow one at a time, with a distinct pause between each one rather than as a group, a habit that everybody found rather endearing. Chorbera’s two cubs are more tolerant of both elephants and humans, and this resulted in some good sightings. While young (and consequently much lighter than adults), tigers are quite capable of climbing trees. One morning on elephant we were presented with both ten month old cubs climbing up the same branch, uncertain whether to play or watch the strange creatures sat on the back of the elephants! A second morning saw the tigers feeding on a large sambar stag that Chorbera had killed the day before. After feeding, one of the cubs began chewing a stick to clean his teeth. That’s a first for me – a tiger using a toothpick!!

Chakradhara’s four cubs have still not yet left their mother, even though they are now two years old. Both male cubs and one of the females are currently staying as a group and interacting frequently with their mother. The other female has almost split from the family group, visiting only occasionally. This female would appear to have made a head start on her siblings in carving out a territory, and she was seen frequently patrolling the area from the caves at Badhi Gufa away to the fort hill. One morning she gave us a sighting at the caves that was a lot closer than those present were expecting. We had completed our route, and had arrived at the caves to register for our elephant ride. It was particularly quiet, ours being the only vehicle present, and Butch and the forest guide accompanying us were speaking to the ranger, with their backs to the caves. Suddenly, the tiger appeared on top of the mound into which the caves are set, and with a warning shout from us the three on foot ran the short distance to get into our jeep, no doubt breaking a few records in the process! We drove a few metres and were rewarded by the sight of the tiger nonchalantly crossing the road behind the caves.

Being almost fully grown, Chakradhara’s cubs are extremely confident, and they gave us some superb sightings throughout the month. On one occasion we found the group of four resting in a small gully after eating a kill that, we think, they had stolen from Banbai. The two males were sprawled together, one with paws over the other, making a great sight from the elephants. Another afternoon saw one of the males sitting on an elevated bank only a few metres from the road, apparently indifferent to the queue of jeeps straining to get a good view of him. I got a very interested look from him as I manoeuvred across from one jeep to another to get a better angle for the cameras! I was also lucky enough on two occasions to be on elephant when the tigers decided to move. When this happens, the elephant must follow the tiger to see where it comes to rest, so that they know where to take the next set of tourists. Both times we spent twenty minutes trailing the tiger through the forest until they began to climb paths that were too steep for us to follow. There is something very special about observing the king of the forest walking undisturbed in his own habitat, memories that will live with me for a long time.

Jhurjura’s cubs are now 18 months old, and gave good sightings for all of the groups at one time or another. My turn came when, one afternoon, most vehicles decided to try and view Chorbera and her cubs who were resting close to the road. Deciding to avoid the traffic jams, we set off for a quieter part of the park in search of Jhurjura and her cubs. After a couple of hours tracking and waiting, we heard an alarm call inside the forest, and Butch decided to drive to a point where one of the tigers’ known routes crossed the road. The alarm calls got closer and closer, and having judged the lie of the land superbly, we were rewarded with all three tigers appearing out of the forest right next to the jeep. We were then treated to half an hour of the three animals walking and interacting with each other – chasing, play boxing, tree scratching, scent marking and scraping. One of the tigers even turned towards us and made a flehmen gesture, testing our scent. On a scale of 1 to 10, say 10 ½ !!

All is not plain sailing for these cubs, however. The second dominant male of the park, Boka (meaning “broken tooth” – one of his front teeth is chipped) is increasingly encroaching onto B2’s territory, posing a threat to any cubs that are not his. At the start of the month we observed him mating with Mahaman female, very close to the road. This went on for several days, with the accompanying growls, roars and scrapes. Also, the two males from Durga’s last litter have remained inside the park, and now aged 2 ½ years they are beginning to have aspirations for territory of their own. Later in the month, we had a morning encounter involving two males and a female deep inside the jungle. Observing a frantic to and fro of the animals, punctuated by roars and fighting, we initially thought that the cast was the two younger males and Mahaman. (Mahaman has been known to mate with a succession of different males over the last year, but without success. At the moment it appears questionable as to whether or not she is actually fertile). However, a sighting later in the morning and a comparison of earlier photographs to check stripe patterns proved that the three were Boka, one of the younger males (Boka’s son) and Jhurjura. It is entirely possible that she was playing a “tease” with the males to distract them from her sub adult cubs (fathered by B2), a behaviour that I had previously seen on film from Ranthambhore but never witnessed first hand. The fact that two males were involved makes it all the more remarkable.

B2 remained elusive, for myself at least, though several members from each group caught a glimpse. With his area being so large, his patrol patterns have become increasingly random and sightings consequently a matter of pure luck. I have spent 10 weeks in the park during the year, and have not had a single sighting of the top cat. He will be 10 years old next April, and will have a challenging future as Boka and the other maturing males start to lay claim to territory in the park. In truth, his territory is exceptionally large, and you would normally expect there to be at least three dominant males in a territory of this size.

The last tiger to report on is Durga. Her territory is on the quiet western side of the park, and she has not seen by anyone except one of the senior guides who had a single sighting. This is not because of any problems, but because she has a new litter of three cubs to protect! We saw some little pugmarks, but not the tigers themselves.

The other inhabitants of the park put in appearances too. A sloth bear was sighted on a couple of occasions (the warmer than expected weather encouraging a burst of activity) and someone from each group saw leopard. I was in the strange position of seeing somebody else take a leopard sighting – facing the opposite way in the back of the jeep I saw them point, but by the time I had turned around it was gone! A pair of wild dog in prime condition was spotted several times near the Hardia Gate, and on one occasion we watched a face off between them and a huge wild boar. Surprisingly it was the boar who was keen to see off the dogs – they nipped and barked, but it would take 6 to 8 dogs to take down a boar of that size – a remarkable sight.

During the four weeks in the park we had 60 sightings (38 on the first tour and 22 on the second) covering 21 different tigers. Including the new cubs, that made the total number of tigers in the Tala range 25. I’ll be back in the park in February. In the meantime, if you have any comments or questions, please drop me an email.

Bye for now!

Pete

18 December 2006