Crouching Tiger, Hidden Cubs

[janzin]

I've been eagerly awaiting these next installment(s). (I hope your sick kitties are better.) Great Dhole sighting! And of course I love seeing all the birds. And yes I do see the little tiger cub feet under the hat How exciting that must have been to see the little cubs!

[SafariChick]

@@elefromoz thanks so much - and yes, you are absolutely right and I do feel very privileged to have seen tigers and even cubs - as well as the other wildlife we saw. We do have to stop sometimes and remember that we are so very lucky to get to go on safari!

 

@@TonyQ We did think perhaps the larger one was parent to the smaller ones. And thanks for the nice comments.

[SafariChick]

@@janzin Thanks! Oh and @@elefromoz you said you enjoyed revisiting India with us - there was actually one more drive so not quite finished yet!

[Tom Kellie]

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)

 

~ @@SafariChick and @@Kitsafari

 

I 100% concur with @@TonyQ's comment about the Green Bee-eater.

Both of your respective images of it are entrancing! The INTENSE GREEN plumage is among the most striking bird images I've seen in Safaritalk.

@@SafariChick, thank you for your care to bring out the running tiger cub for us to enjoy.

Very nice capture of what might otherwise have been lost.

@@Kitsafari, my hands applaud your fine dragonfly portraits.

When a trip report includes dragonflies, I feel satisfied that all organisms are being honored.

Thank you both for the dhole shots.

There's another game drive yet to go?

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Atravelynn]

Perfect setting and light for that green bee eater.

 

I saw the tiger under the hat--even before reading your directions of where to look.

 

Dhole and sloth bear sought you out.

 

The sambar looks so happy munching his leaves!

 

Nice job by Rajan on the spiders!

[Tom Kellie]

Perfect setting and light for that green bee eater.

 

I saw the tiger under the hat--even before reading your directions of where to look.

 

Dhole and sloth bear sought you out.

 

The sambar looks so happy munching his leaves!

 

Nice job by Rajan on the spiders!

 

~ @@Atravelynn

 

With vision that keen, you've missed your calling.

The Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena could use your eyesight for scouring through off-planet images in search of alien skinks, harvestmen or Zorillas!

Had @@SafariChick not provided a helpful enlarged image, I'd never have spotted it.

Wholeheartedly concur that the Green Bee-ater images by both @@Kitsafari and @@SafariChick are especially noteworthy.

Tom K.

[SafariChick]

For the last drive I don't have a lot of photos of many different things, but we did have a few good sightings ;-)

 

A chital mother and baby:

 

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Some not great photos of a somewhat distant owl:

 

 

 

A crocodile:

 

 

We were at Tadoba Lake which is very scenic

 

 

and then .. for the third day in a row ... the dhole made an appearance to bid us farewell! The same foursome as we saw the day before with the large one and the three smaller ones. This time they were near the lake and one of the young ones was having fun trying to chase birds - he wasn't very skillful at it so they were not in any real danger, I don't think! I apologize in advance for an excessive amount of photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and here is a video of the dhole - you can see the juvenile chasing the birds a couple of times:

 

Edited January 10, 2016 by SafariChick

[Kitsafari]

perfect pictures of the dholes @@SafariChick. we finally saw the dholes in the golden morning light.

 

It was Serendipity. we were waiting at the Panderpauni waterhole for about an hour as alarms had been heard across the pond and Rajan had heard Maya calling her cubs. with dozens of cars, we waited. Finally Rajan decided to move on as we had a way to go to Telia Lake. On the way we stopped to admire Tadoba lake and its birds, and he spotted a crocodile - our first in India! and probably the mugger crocodile. Unlike the Nile crocodile, this was a small delicate fellow and was cruising close to the shoreline, no doubt looking for a tasty fowl or two.

 

as I was taping it, someone said dhole behind, and i swung the video to see a single dhole running just behind us. It then ran away from us, and led us to its pack. How fantastic it was to have the dhole pack come out to seal a really enjoyable and relaxed final safari drive. If we had continued to wait for the tiger (which didn't appear in the end), or if we had not stopped to admire the lake and the crocodile ,we would have just missed the dholes without realising they were just behind us.

 

Serendipity.

 

I did a bit of googling on dholes, and sadly not much research has been done on this predator. The asiatic wild dog used to roam all over China, INdian subcontinent and southeast asia. It has been wiped out nearly everywhere except in India where it is faces habitat pressures and human ignorance that they are vermin and have to exterminated. I didn't realise Singapore used to have them; must have been decades ago when they were exterminated. But there wouldn't have been enough land for them to traverse in any case.

 

is there such a thing of an overload of beautiful russet red black-tailed Indian wild dogs? never. so in that vein, here are more photos of them. (some of which may echo safarichick's since we all had the same angle...)

 

(courtesy of H)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

a longer version of the dholes

 

Edited January 10, 2016 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

@@janzin one of the two is better and getting home nursing now, although he's still not fully recovered. His sister is still not recovered and still not eating consistently to be off the IV fluids. unfortunately, it seems one of her kidneys has been damaged (The vet thinks she might have been born with the damage) so her immunity is badly impaired, and that means she will take far longer to recover.

 

Thanks for continuing reading!

[SafariChick]

@@Kitsafari Thanks - and I agree, never too many dhole! Nice that you got the longer video.

 

Well after the dhole ran off, the other main thing I recall about this last drive was that we had one more brief sighting of sloth bear! I was having trouble remembering the details, as it was short, but Kit reminded me that it was along this same road and it had just crossed and was dashing into the bushes. We could not believe it - so this made three dhole sightings and three sloth bear sightings at Tadoba. No photos or video though, too quick.

 

I think the last photo I have to share is one of all of us with Rajen, our WWI guide, and the driver and guide from Tadoba. That's Rajen sitting, in the green shirt.

 

 

And thus ends my portion at least of the trip report, but perhaps Kit has more to add. Thanks so much for continuing to read along and all the nice, supportive comments!

[Kitsafari]

Just to catch up with safarichick's timeline, the last morning drive was on a Sunday. (which reminds me that @@Atravelynn had asked about which day the park was closed - and i think it was wednesday - WWI had arranged it such that we would travel on that day from Kanha so that we would not miss any safari drive - which goes to show how efficient travel arrangements are by WWI )

 

It was crowded! the buses were full, and a group of tourist had bundled into our vehicle (we had gone to the loo before the park opened) to take a photo of themselves in the gypsy. they looked happy and very excited, and I smiled at how thrilled they were going into the park and silently wished them a happy safari.

 

(half of the vehicle queue)

 

More tourists = more guides

 

making sure we know where we are

 

 

a gerenuk in India?? well a female sambar in disguise.

 

exposed...

 

a chittal family - the most common deer in India

 

 

whiling away time at the waterhole

 

 

That's where the tiger was supposed to emerge from...Not

 

red vented bulbul

 

 

 

and a very sleepy owl

[Kitsafari]

There was a little bit more to the drive after the dhole. We were finally going to the Telia Lake, a place I had wanted to go to because of a documentary that showed the early years of a tigress named Sonam and her three sisters. as the documentary goes (how far true it is, we don't know), Sonam had chased her sisters away to claim the lake as her territory but she wasnt a superb hunter and in the end, the three sisters returned to the lake for better prey and teamed up with Sonam to bring a male Gaur down.

 

at the time we were in Tadoba, Sonam had 3 cubs and was seen crossing the mini tarred "highway". ALthough we spent a couple of drives staking and waiting at the areas, we didn't see her. But Telia Lake is lovely. In my view the most scenic of the 3 lakes mainly because there is not much traffic there! There was much birdlife there. I suggested breakfast ther e as I wanted to soak in the scenery and the birds, but sadly we couldn't linger too long in case we missed the Tiger at Panderpauni (we didn't as no tigers were seen there).

 

i think - a common buzzard

 

a darter soaking up the warmth of the sun

 

 

[Tom Kellie]

~ @@SafariChick and @@Kitsafari

 

You both look so happy at the conclusion of your India safari!

That conveys a sense of the enjoyment you had while enjoying nature.

Thank you so much for the wealth of dhole images.

There's never enough. They share with Ethiopian wolves a certain lean grace and especially lovely colors.

I'm surprised to learn that sloth bears are capable of rapidly scooting into the undergrowth, despite their name.

The candor, humor, warmth of spirit in this trip report extends the positive vibe from last year's memorable Lipault Ladies trip report.

Now that you're both back home, topped off with well-deserved Pith helmets, I hope that your respective next safaris in 2016 will be as happy as those in 2015!

Thank you both for favoring Safaritalk with your comments and photographs.

With Appreciation,

Tom K.

[Kitsafari]

oops clicked the wrong button...

 

more pix..

 

 

egret flying low

 

a white eyed buzzard - i think

 

 

honey buzzard

 

[Kitsafari]

We ended the trip on an excellent note. I found Tadoba a more scenic place than Kanha. Kanha was colder than Tadoba, but less crowded perhaps because it is much larger. Some rules were stricter in Kanha - for eg there are designated stops for breakfast or tea and you cannot eat in the vehicle, but in Tadoba, they are more lax and we had breakfast and tea in the vehicle, which saved time driving to and fro any designated locations. There a lot of ranger stations in both places, while we saw a sprinkling of park officials walking with just sticks, in Tadoba at major sightings, such as Maya and her cubs, we didn't see park officials walking but they are very selectively strict at sightings.

 

Kanha's landscapes varied from thick forested areas of mainly Sal trees to small meadows and hilly terrain while Tadoba was mainly flat with mostly bamboo thickets which don't blanket the forests like the sal trees. the buffer zone between road and forest was wider in Tadoba, which gives a great sense of space. The Gond rajas used to rule these forests and rajan mentioned that there used to be a palace in the park. the tarred road is marked by ancient columns with directions and information in Maruti language. The columns also served a purpose; at the top of each column was a ring through which a log rope ran from the palace. when a noble was leaving the palace, the staff would pull the rope and it would ring at the gate to prepare for the noble's arrival. That's the story from Rajan!

 

to wrap up my small portions to @@SafariChick's most enjoyable TR, here are more pictures! they tell more of the parks than I can.

 

Kanha:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Tadoba:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[michael-ibk]

Thank you both for a most enjoyable report, Reading it felt like revisiting these parks with you. I'm sorry you had some frustration with Tigers but then I think your Dhole and Sloth Bear sightings must have made up for that. From the photos of the queues it seems to me Tadoba was even busier than when we visited in March. Interesting that you preferred Tadoba landscape-wise, for me it's definitely Kanha, I love the forest, meadows and small ponds there. When the sun is finding its way through the trees it's just magical.

[janzin]

Thank you for the wonderful report. What a wonderful dhole sighting at the end! And it was great to see and hear all the videos because I could hear all the many birds in the background

 

Between this and Lynn and Michael's report its really given me a good idea of what to expect, in terms of the landscape and the parks and the routine. And even nice to know what our guide Rajen looks like! As for the animals, well you never know what to expect! I can't wait to get there.

[Atravelynn]

Thank you both for a most enjoyable report, Reading it felt like revisiting these parks with you. I'm sorry you had some frustration with Tigers but then I think your Dhole and Sloth Bear sightings must have made up for that. From the photos of the queues it seems to me Tadoba was even busier than when we visited in March. Interesting that you preferred Tadoba landscape-wise, for me it's definitely Kanha, I love the forest, meadows and small ponds there. When the sun is finding its way through the trees it's just magical.

My thoughts exactly! Your photos of each park add to the distinction

 

 

"which reminds me that @Atravelynn had asked about which day the park was closed - and i think it was wednesday - WWI had arranged it such that we would travel on that day from Kanha so that we would not miss any safari drive - which goes to show how efficient travel arrangements are by WWI ".

 

So, the same day as the Madheya Pradesh parks. That makes it easy to have Wed as the travel day. I know WWI paid attention to closed park days and travel days for us too.

 

The story of the tiger sisters reads like an Aesop's Fable.

 

The group shot at the end is lovely.

Edited January 10, 2016 by Atravelynn

[SafariChick]

@@michael-ibk Thanks for the nice comments - I think overall I might agree with you about Kanha being prettier, although Tadoba had some very pretty parts too - i.e. the lakes. I did love the misty meadows at Kanha though!

 

@@janzin thank you - I can't wait for you to get to India too because I can't wait to see your photos!

 

@@Atravelynn thanks for your comments. I went back and checked just now on our detailed itinerary sent to us by WWI and it said about when parks are closed:

 

- Tadoba National Park is closed on Tuesday for game drives

- Kanha National Park is closed on Wednesday afternoon for game drives

 

So we did our last drive at Kanha Weds. a.m. I think and then were not there for their closure Weds. afternoon. And we also missed the Tuesday all day closure at Tadoba.

Edited January 10, 2016 by SafariChick

[kittykat23uk]

You can still do a nice drive in the buffer zone on Tuesday at Tadoba.

[AKR1]

Wonderful report. Big thank you to both of you for sharing this with us.

 

The behavior of the rangers at Tadoba as described during your encounter with Maya was infuriating. A couple of bad pennies really end up harming the reputation of the park. As far as I am concerned rangers yelling at guides in front of clients is a direct insult to the client, something that one does not experience in Africa. While this is only one incident, I have been told by others of similar events involving corrupt park officials in Indian parks that ends up harming the image of India as a safari destination. Hopefully this will change. The fact that locals are greatly supportive of tigers in particular and other larger animals in general, is very encouraging and Indian authorities have, in general, done a very good job of maintaining wildlife parks given the many challenges they face.

Edited January 10, 2016 by AKR1

[Atravelynn]

 

 

@@Atravelynn thanks for your comments. I went back and checked just now on our detailed itinerary sent to us by WWI and it said about when parks are closed:

 

- Tadoba National Park is closed on Tuesday for game drives

- Kanha National Park is closed on Wednesday afternoon for game drives

 

So we did our last drive at Kanha Weds. a.m. I think and then were not there for their closure Weds. afternoon. And we also missed the Tuesday all day closure at Tadoba.

 

Great, that's helpful in planning.

 

You can still do a nice drive in the buffer zone on Tuesday at Tadoba.

And that's helpful too. I would think dhole and sloth bear might be good bets for the buffer zones. Of course tigers can be anywhere, anytime.

[Galana]

Thanks for sharing your trip with me. I enjoyed it enormously having just come back myself from a similar excursion (and been maddened by the noisy crowds too.)

Lots of queries and tidbits to absorb. Lovely sightings and photos of Dhole and Common Jackal.

For information Gaur or Asiatic Bison is the world's largest Bovine. Bigger and heavier than African Buffalo or American Bison. Can be dangerous but not usually a threat to vehicles.

Some birdy bits. (Blame Janzin for this!!) Green BeeEaters. Some without Brown caps are juveniles. Little Green BeeEater is an African species. Your Bay-backed Shrike is actually Long-tailed Shrike. The cute little birds on the wires are Indian Silverbills. 164 series. I think your Buzzard is actually a Pallid Harrier.

None of this of course detracts from your excellent narrative. We loved Chitvan too and the food.

Oh. Page 1. We got the sleeper train to Jabalpur. It was 3 hours late but at least we did not hit any wild boars.

[Earthian]

 

@@Tom Kellie Thanks for the kind comments. I agree, I often thought the Langurs looked like they'd just had a haircut!The tags are just little paper tags that the security is supposed to put on each piece of hand luggage after it's been screened. The important part is it needs to have a stamp with that day's date on it. I too had been given a tag for my small purse that had no stamp and the employee inspecting bags as we boarded the plane suggested I stuff it into my backpack or else I'd have to go back and get it stamped!

~ @@SafariChick

 

Who would have suspected that?

May I see if I understand this?

The paper tags need to be affixed to each piece of luggage, which isn't anything controlled by the passenger, but rather is done by the airport security screening staff.

In other words, not in any sense controlled by the passenger.

Yet if a security staff member doesn't do as they should, it's the passenger who must once again go through security screening.

Does that more or less sound right?

Tom K.

 

Rules decree that every bit of luggage is identified. While the check in baggages get identified by the airline which puts the destination tag, along with the details of the passenger, the hand luggage is supposed to be identified by a small label affixed to the handle or any other convenient protrusion. The passenger is expected to write his/her name, flight number and address so that in case it is misplaced, it can be restored. The security detail, imprints a rubber stamp giving details of date and ref of officer concerned who screened it. While boarding the aircraft, this tag is again checked by the security. This ensures that a smuggled peice of luggage ( containing undesirable contents) does not enter the aircraft.

A tedious but safe procedure

Edited January 12, 2016 by Earthian