Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cubs

[Kitsafari]

It was hugely frustrating about Maya's sighting. @@SafariChick told the events but that was half the story.

First, when we saw Maya walking on the road away from us, we started to reverse. That road was one way, and it would have been a Long way to reverse to follow her back to the Cubs. Rationally, I think we could have done it because no car would ever drive up the road when Maya was walking down that road.

There was a quick exchange between Rajan and the driver, and we stopped reversing and moved forward but it was a Long loop and we found ourselves trailing a huge tourist bus which annoyingly parked at an angle that blocked our access forward. Our driver squeezed through and found ourselves a good angle to watch maya as she came walking closer. But we found ourselves right in front of the vigilance / park security officials who demanded us to get out immediately. Rajan pleaded for a few minutes break which one official granted. As he took up my camera to snap Maya's approach, other officials started shouting and arguing at our forest guide and driver, yelling threats to suspend them. Rajan turned to plead once more but they were adamant we had to get out of the park.

It was close to 5.15pm and 45 mins were sufficient time to reach the gate at 6pm at a clipped pace. In fact, ultimately, we even stopped for 5 minutes to watch a cat on the way out and still made it out of the park in time.

I was already fuming that the officials Had ruined our thrill at seeing Maya, and mired what should have an enjoyable sighting. What infuriated me more was after they ordered us out, the officials quickly jumped into a gypsy in front of us to take photos of Maya.

That was a slap on our face. Their enjoyment was a priority ahead of foreign guests. Is that how they treat tourists and visitors to their Parks? I swore at that moment I would never return to Tadoba park again. And I doubt if I ever would, even though I found Tadoba a prettier park than Kanha.

On the ride back out, The forest guide and driver were depressed with fears that they would be suspended. I told Rajan to tell them not to worry because of they were suspended because of us, I would personally write a letter to their bosses and the national park officials to support them. Rajan told them and I hoped that helped ease a bit of their fears.

I had wanted to write a feedback letter to the Tadoba officials to complain about it, but I worry it may lead to trouble for the forest guide and Raju our driver. Rajan alluded to it as much as he says the officials might be polite to us but would find fault later with the forest guide and driver.

Edited January 4, 2016 by Kitsafari

[SafariChick]

Actually, it was not dhole on the way out but another tiger! As we were moving towards the gate at a quick pace, Rajen shouted for the driver to stop and back up and said "Tiger!" - it was really dusk now and hard to see much so I don't know how he saw this tiger kind of far out in the middle of a meadow but he did. It was a male, and they knew which one but I can't remember the name - Kit has notes and can tell us. He was very relaxed and just lying down in the meadow and then he turned over on his back. It was way too dark for photos but Rajen took this video with my camera.

 

 

It was cool to see this after the crazy Maya experience. A few other cars behind us stopped to see this male too, but it wasn't nearly as many people as at the Maya sightings. Of course, it was so dark we could barely see the tiger, but we could see him enough. We stayed for maybe five minutes and then felt we really better get going. As far as we know, the guide and driver did not get in any trouble, at least while we were still there, and were allowed in the park the next morning. Hope it is true that they were ok.

[Atravelynn]

 

Great sighting of the Dholes! But rather distressing to see the insanity around Maya.

 

Could it have been possible to be the first one at the gate to at least get the best position? It looks like when you arrived there were already many cars. I would be willing to wait at the gate as long as necessary to be #1 or #2 (as we did in Ngorongoro....that's how we got our Serval there.)

 

@@janzin, as safarichick mentioned, Rajan had us first in line every morning in Tadoba and that's only because he would get up much earlier to drive the car to the front of the gate. On our last morning drive on a Sunday, poor Rajan drove the vehicle at 4am (!) to ensure we were first in line as the crowds were expected to be really early.

 

I have to give credit to @@michael-ibk and @@Atravelynn who gave us the idea. When I first broached the subject to Rajan, he was very hesitant about parking the car first in line without the guests (us) in it. He was concerned that the park officials would tick him off. But he was willing to try it, and bless him, he successfully made the attempts despite fears of being scolded by the park officials. I think if other guests had complained, he would have gotten into trouble.

To prevent troubles for the naturalist, it would even be worth adding an extra layer of clothes, hunkering down and waiting in the car at the gate. Maybe you could extend your morning snooze time. First in line did make a difference for us.

[SafariChick]

I forgot to mention that on the day we saw Maya, we had a brief sighting of sloth bear! It was just at the side of the road sticking out a bit from the bamboo thicket. When we stopped and looked at it, it kind of froze for a few seconds looking back at us, then turned and ran off into the thicket so no photos. But it was great to see one and between that, the dhole, Maya and the male tiger at the end of the day, helped contribute to making it one of our better days for sightings!

[Kitsafari]

 

 

Great sighting of the Dholes! But rather distressing to see the insanity around Maya.

 

Could it have been possible to be the first one at the gate to at least get the best position? It looks like when you arrived there were already many cars. I would be willing to wait at the gate as long as necessary to be #1 or #2 (as we did in Ngorongoro....that's how we got our Serval there.)

 

@@janzin, as safarichick mentioned, Rajan had us first in line every morning in Tadoba and that's only because he would get up much earlier to drive the car to the front of the gate. On our last morning drive on a Sunday, poor Rajan drove the vehicle at 4am (!) to ensure we were first in line as the crowds were expected to be really early.

 

I have to give credit to @@michael-ibk and @@Atravelynn who gave us the idea. When I first broached the subject to Rajan, he was very hesitant about parking the car first in line without the guests (us) in it. He was concerned that the park officials would tick him off. But he was willing to try it, and bless him, he successfully made the attempts despite fears of being scolded by the park officials. I think if other guests had complained, he would have gotten into trouble.

To prevent troubles for the naturalist, it would even be worth adding an extra layer of clothes, hunkering down and waiting in the car at the gate. Maybe you could extend your morning snooze time. First in line did make a difference for us.

 

 

 

Oh dear, so I might have caused unnecessary trouble for the naturalist. So guys, don't do what I did then.

[Atravelynn]

 

 

 

Great sighting of the Dholes! But rather distressing to see the insanity around Maya.

 

Could it have been possible to be the first one at the gate to at least get the best position? It looks like when you arrived there were already many cars. I would be willing to wait at the gate as long as necessary to be #1 or #2 (as we did in Ngorongoro....that's how we got our Serval there.)

 

@@janzin, as safarichick mentioned, Rajan had us first in line every morning in Tadoba and that's only because he would get up much earlier to drive the car to the front of the gate. On our last morning drive on a Sunday, poor Rajan drove the vehicle at 4am (!) to ensure we were first in line as the crowds were expected to be really early.

 

I have to give credit to @@michael-ibk and @@Atravelynn who gave us the idea. When I first broached the subject to Rajan, he was very hesitant about parking the car first in line without the guests (us) in it. He was concerned that the park officials would tick him off. But he was willing to try it, and bless him, he successfully made the attempts despite fears of being scolded by the park officials. I think if other guests had complained, he would have gotten into trouble.

To prevent troubles for the naturalist, it would even be worth adding an extra layer of clothes, hunkering down and waiting in the car at the gate. Maybe you could extend your morning snooze time. First in line did make a difference for us.

 

 

 

Oh dear, so I might have caused unnecessary trouble for the naturalist. So guys, don't do what I did then.

 

Don't think you necessarily caused any trouble for Rajan. I was just reacting to his concern about being "scolded by park officials" for parking a car up front with no bodies. Interesting you note that Sunday was crowded. I had known weekends would be more crowded. So now you have to allow for the one day of the week the park is closed. Remind me what day that is for Tadoba, please??? It is Wednesday in Madheya Pradesh, which includes Kanha and Bandhavgarh. And maybe try to avoid the weekend. That could get very tricky. But having a guide willing to get you in a good position is helpful.

 

 

The tiger rolling over was visible in the video. How nice you had that last surprise.

 

Very cool photos of the serpent eagle doing what serpent eagles do--eating a serpent/snake.

 

I had missed that giant gaur earlier, but had read the comments referencing its size. Wow, what a big one! What is also thought provoking is that the tiger would go after this big guy, causing the limp. If that is indeed what happened. I would think the tiger would take on a smaller, less powerful creature. I wonder the fate of this gaur...if the wounded ankle will make it very vulnerable, or maybe it can heal and survive.

 

I think you would know if your guide/driver had gotten in trouble for staying late. "We" got ticketed one time, I think for speeding, and it was very obvious. I think the rules can be bent a little, as long as you were clearly on your way out.

[Atravelynn]

I forgot to mention that on the day we saw Maya, we had a brief sighting of sloth bear! It was just at the side of the road sticking out a bit from the bamboo thicket. When we stopped and looked at it, it kind of froze for a few seconds looking back at us, then turned and ran off into the thicket so no photos. But it was great to see one and between that, the dhole, Maya and the male tiger at the end of the day, helped contribute to making it one of our better days for sightings!

A grand slam!

[elefromoz]

OK, it was a bit of a circus, but you did get to see a beautiful Tigress walking down the road, and have a lovely photo of her ( with the vehicle cropped out), put that canvas on your wall and as time passes, thats what you'll remember. Im surprised that Tadoba is so hectic, I figured it would be less so than some of the more "famous" name Parks. Im going to head back to India, probably 2017, to try my luck again with Tiger, inspired by @@michael-ibk, @@Atravelynn with their incredibly lucky visit. Nice to see you spotted another in the darkness in more relaxing circumstances, pleased you got to see a Sloth Bear too.

[SafariChick]

@@elefromoz I agree - even though it was so crazy, I'm happy we got to see her!

[Tom Kellie]

 

~ @@SafariChick

 

I'm greatly enjoying your trip report with @@Kitsafari's co-authorship.

• Is the bee-eater you photographed possibly Merops orientalis, Green Bee-eater?

• Is the large web spider possibly Nephila sp., a Golden Orb Spider?

As I've never visited India and am certainly no bee-eater or arachnid specialist, please ignore my thoughts above, which lack any authority.

Many thanks for posting such enthralling reports with images!

Tom K.

 

 

[Alexander33]

I really appreciate your reporting your true impressions. Too often, we hear, "This was so fabulous, and that was so fabulous...," which is great and what we really want to hear, but what we need to hear on the other end is the frustrations that we might expect to encounter, as well. Your candid recounting does nothing to diminish the experience from my perspective -- rather, it helps inform me of what time spent there would truly be like -- from incredible highlights to the reality of the routine and customs -- the true signifier of a great report.

 

Looking forward to more.

[SafariChick]

@@Tom Kellie thanks, glad you are enjoying it! I am not sure the spider's name - I thought it was called Giant something but I am rereally not sure. Perhaps @@Kitsafari will recall? And the bird, I think it was either called Green bee-eater or Little green bee-eater. Maybe those are the same bird?

 

Thanks very much @@Alexander33 - glad to know you appreciate hearing both the good and the bad. And I agree with you, I like to hear about all the aspects of someone's trip also - if we only hear the positive then we may have unrealistic expectations if we make a similar trip.

 

Ok, back to the report. Now up to the last full day of the safari portion of our trip. Here's our driver and park guide:

 

 

Checking out the paparazzi waiting at Maya and the cubs' spot in the morning:

 

 

Birds on the wire on the way out for lunch:

 

 

 

 

 

On the afternoon of that last full day, we told Rajan we really didn't think we wanted to spend a ton of time hanging around waiting to see if Maya and the cubs would come out. He said ok, let's go check it out really quickly when we first go in and then if it doesn't look like anything is happening we'll go do something else. But we didn't quite go directly there - Rajan took us first to one of the water holes where Maya and the cubs might go drink - we'd never gone there first before going to check out the stakeout spot. Nothing happening, so we started heading back over to the main staging area - but on the way we stopped to look at a bird - I can't remember what kind, maybe Kit will - for a few minutes. Then we made our way over - and as we drove up literally saw two of the cubs dashing across the track and back into their hiding spot! It was literally a few seconds sighting. Apparently Maya and the cubs must have gone out for water during the lunch break and didn't get back quite before the crowds got back. And apparently Maya and the other cub had just gone back in before the two that we managed to catch. If we hadn't spent that time watching the bird,we might have gotten there in time to catch Maya and the first cub - but how could we have known when most of the day every day nothing was happening there?

 

I tried to turn on the camera and snapped off two quick photos but when I looked at them on the screen, no cubs, missed them. But wait - just now when I was going through my photos I thought I might have seen some little legs with stripes ... what do you think, can you see them?

 

 

How about now?

 

 

See it? Under the hat. I'm afraid to zoom in any more but it's there!

[Kitsafari]

@@Alexander33 thanks for understanding. My disappointment was not that the vigilance was trying to keep peace around Maya - that is their job, and that is what is required to ensure that the wildlife is not negatively affected. My point was that the vigilance could have done the job more quietly and be more reasonable. I feel responsible for our guide and driver as they are doing what their job is to ensure that we the guests can have a pleasant and enjoyable moments. By yelling at the guides, I felt they were attacking the guests as well, and that's not acceptable by my standards.

 

I would rather not see the tiger in such an unpleasant situation. so as far as I am concerned, I cannot recall that sighting of Maya at all, because I was too preoccupied with the vigilance threatening our guide and driver.

[SafariChick]

SO that was that, we knew they weren't coming out again that afternoon and went off in search of other things. Here are some of the things we found. (Can you tell I'm getting a little weary of writing?)

 

 

 

 

This guy was enjoying munching on some leaves and was fun to watch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And these ladies really enjoyed the water, though they always remained vigilant to make sure no predator was lurking:

 

 

 

 

As we began to drive on, suddenly on the side of the road, something rustled - we hear the famous words from Rajan asking the driver to stop and back up ... "sloth bear!" This one was shy but it stuck around for a bit, just behind the bamboo. Photos were difficult but got a few little videos - it would never show itself fully to us, but this gives an idea of what we saw:

 

 

 

 

So for the second day in a row, a sloth bear sighting!

[SafariChick]

As we drove on a bit, we realized the sun was setting:

 

 

 

And then, suddenly, what should appear - four dhole! These were not the same four we'd seen the prior day. The one with the lame foot wasn't there and also, in this group there was one that was much larger than the others and a couple that looked smaller and younger. Once again, the better sighting happens late in the day when the light isn't ideal but still managed some photos and videos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So for the second day in a row - dhole! I was pretty happy at this point. And that was a wrap on our last full day. One game drive remained ....

[Kitsafari]

sorry - work and my hospitalised stray cats have occupied the last few days, so i'd not been updating and supporting @@SafariChick! but some lovely pictures and videos from safarichick.

 

there were some questions but I can't recall what they were already....nudge me again please if I don't answer them.

 

even if Maya's sighting was marred, Rajan still got some nice pics in between pleading with the officials. great multi-tasking Rajan! and the pix served as a pinch to remind me that yes Maya finally graced us with her presence.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and a rather shaky video (courtesy of H)

 

[Kitsafari]

I recall the male tiger - we had fun watching it roll back and forth - i think it was the Matkasur male. we saw him on the way out to the park and I remembered thinking he was pretty close to the edge of the park and wondered if he ever wandered out into the buffer zone.

 

I don't seem to have many pictures from the following morning drive. It started with a male sambar in the waterhole....

 

 

 

 

my irregular and brief notes said "waiting for Maya and cubs", followed by "whole morning" and then ending with "checkpoint" and Bay backed shrike, which was a really pretty bird, fair of body with a masked set of eyes.

 

 

No,this is not the shrike - this is Raju, our nice and friendly driver.

 

 

 

the bay backed shrike that @@SafariChick showed earlier.

 

I loved that tail - so unusually spread out for its balancing prowess I imagine.

 

 

 

I forgot the name for these 3 pretty birds ... and then further on the electricity cables, an Indian roller

 

 

the road outside the checkpoint

[SafariChick]

@@Kitsafari Thanks, and sorry to hear the street kitties are in the hospital! Rajan did get some great shots of Maya and Herman's video is good too - considering the circumstances we were working with, I think we all did well!

[Kitsafari]

@@SafariChick yes and we have documentation - no matter how blurry, shaky they were - that we did see them. LOL.

 

that was such a quick reflex from you to capture the cub! my hands were too slow but at least i enjoyed watching them skipping and dashing across the road. such wonderful tiny bundles of stripes!

 

i can't recall which bird we stopped momentarily to watch and possibly missed Maya and the third cub (the story of our Indian safari!) but I recall it was a bird of prey.

 

That afternoon drive was one of the enjoyable and pleasant drives we had in Tadoba. we weren't rushing from place to place but driving leisurely to really enjoy and admire Tadoba scenery. we finally made a good long stop at the Tadoba lake to enjoy the birds. There is an abundance of birds at the lake but my bridge camera can only go so far....

 

some pics from that afternoon -

 

 

Male sambar accompanied by egrets

 

 

good friends hang out together - a pond heron and a little egret

 

a lapwing - red wattled lapwing perhaps?

little green bee-eater who was not shy of our vehicle. it was perched on the branch just next to the road, and posed really long for us. well actually posed for Rajan {who took the beautiful shots for me} and for H.

Edited January 8, 2016 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

we did enjoy watching the male sambar chewing his leaves. he was a big fella and so calm, letting us share figuratively his meal.

 

 

 

 

and that male sambar in the waterhole (it wasn't a barasingha, they aren't found in Tadoba) earlier in your TR was so fun to watch as he tried to roll in the mud! I think we watched him mid-way up the hilltop view (off the red brick road) I've got a longer video, so apologies, readers you're being bombarded with sambar overload.....

 

 

 

 

 

then more sambar - females this time - at the hilltop waterhole, where we heard some alarm calls but no big cat emerged.

 

splashing the water - testing for crocs, perhaps?

 

 

safe to settle in for a cool dip

 

Edited January 8, 2016 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

while waiting for a shadow of a cat to emerge, a beautiful dragonfly was hovering next to the gypsy.

 

 

 

just adding a couple of sunset photos to supplement safarichick's

 

 

 

and then to round up a most pleasant drive, DHOLES!!

 

[michael-ibk]

Great Dhole sightings again, and very cool that you had another Sloth Bear. Really enjoy the Sambar pics as well, and the Little Green Bee-Eater. And a Raju sighting - he was our driver as well.

[Kitsafari]

 

 

~ @@SafariChick

 

I'm greatly enjoying your trip report with @@Kitsafari's co-authorship.

• Is the bee-eater you photographed possibly Merops orientalis, Green Bee-eater?

• Is the large web spider possibly Nephila sp., a Golden Orb Spider?

As I've never visited India and am certainly no bee-eater or arachnid specialist, please ignore my thoughts above, which lack any authority.

Many thanks for posting such enthralling reports with images!

Tom K.

 

 

 

 

@@Tom Kellie it is indeed the Merops Orientalis and Rajan said the spider is a giant wood spider which is also known as the golden orb-web spider. it seems there are many sub species of the golden orb-web spider so I'm not sure which is the one although I think the Nephila Pilipes resembles it most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

courtesy of Rajan

[elefromoz]

@Kitsafari@SafariChick, some terrific footage of the Dhole, the Sloth Bear, the Sambur in the lake are beautiful, and, even though yes it's shaky, she still looks majestic, you are a couple of the worlds privileged few to get to see and film a Tiger. What a treat, India has some real treasures and long may she continue to do so.Really enjoyed revisiting India with you both.

[TonyQ]

Dhole and a sloth bear! Exciting stuff. Do you think the large dhole is the parent of the smaller ones?

It does look beautiful by the lake - and the sambar in the water are lovely to see.

The bee eater is like a little jewell - such a beautiful colour.

 

(I appreciate getting the good and the not so good - it does give a view of reality)