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“This generation has given up on growth. They're just hoping for survival” … Penelope Spheeris
“I have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence i.e. teenagers” … Robert Cormier
“It
is better to have lived twenty-five days as a tiger than a thousand years as a
sheep.'… Tibetan proverb
“By observing a tiger in the forests, I have understood hardships & sacrifice which comes with the tag named a King”… Me
Welcome to Part 2 of Sub Adult tigers & just I mentioned in earlier sharing (Dhurandhar effect), this isn’t actually a part 2 but sharing in continuation of earlier write up about sub adult tigers & observing them in the forests but had I tried to cover it together then it would have a novel which not many people would have read so part 2tag! Ok, this is about forests & needless to say tadoba & tigers but this is more about the learnings which I have understood about tigers & the forests by merely observing the way a tiger, adult or subadult moves in the forest & its habitats. This is very important aspect in wildlife at large & not just tourism as recently I came across a post on Insta, where the guy has posted a video of himself & family in safari at tadoba with caption, “hajaro rupaye kharcha karke, ky dekha to do jungli bhaise, chhe deer, kuch bandar aur dhul ke sath dhup” (after spending thousands of rupees all we get to see is two buffalos i.e. gaur, few deer, monkeys & dust & heat), I promptly replied to his post saying Jungle sirf dekhneki nahi, samzne ke chij hai (forest is needed to lived not just seen) but I know that’s not going to change the guy’s perception or thousands of tourist’s perception about wildlife tourism or safaris, that’s why this sharing!
That way like forest even life teaches us every day new things but learning is when we gain knowledge & use it in the life or else it’s just “palthya ghadyawa pani” (pouring water on container’s wrong side), sorry it’s a Marathi phrase ! But that’s different story so let’s focus on observing a tiger & learnings from it & here many will say ( as the guy with insta post), to observe a tiger first one has to see a tiger in the forest & let me tell you its “pahale anda ya pahale murgi” wala matter (plz google)! Because when I say observing a tiger, it’s not just zooming on a tiger but it’s observing the entire habitat in which a tiger resides as this is the first step which will make you help for the second step i.e. seeing a tiger! Let me tell you (for those who are not well versed with forest) a tiger rarely indicates or shows its presence to the forest unless a specific purpose is there such as mating call or a tigress calling for her cubs or a warning for scavengers to keep away from its meal & other all times its very silent & that’s because then only it can hunt, right? So, to locate a tiger you have to observe the forest around him as every living thing in the forest is aware of the tiger's presence which is a master of camouflage. Humans are weakest species on all fronts of senses in the forest & birds, monkeys, deer all can either see, smell, or hear a tiger from a distance & even in dense of the forest or grass & once they do that, they all give a peculiar alarm about presence of tiger, this is what observing a tiger means! Many times a tiger is a few feet from you & the tiger has very clearly seen you, but you can’t see it unless it moves or makes sound & at such times all the alarm calls from other species can help you to locate the tiger!
Another help is, a tiger usually likes to walk on forest tracks & an adult tiger definitely follows a particular road or trail to mark its territory & from the pug marks in dust or droppings on the road, you can judge a tiger’s presence around as well its whereabouts! Here is where sa tigers (remember part 1, sa is sub-adult) are more difficult to track than the grownup or adult tigers as they don’t have a specific territory of their own so they don’t follow any particular tracks. Rather unlike grown up tigers, sa tigers prefer to move from the shrubs or through grass or any cover & reasons are obvious, one, they are low on confidence of moving on their own, two their training isn’t yet complete & mom has taught them not to come in open unless she is around & third, they are afraid of showing themselves as in this stage sa tigers especially males are most vulnerable to attack from other male tiger who is not their father! And the same time, sa tigers which are born in buffer areas has seen humans around & their mom has told them to keep distance from humans as that’s important aspect of survival while the sa tigers in core areas are not at all exposed to humans on feet or on two wheelers but are comfortable on walking on roads among gypsy vehicles which they know are not a threat, so in core sa tigers does walk in open on roads also though still lesser confidence than a grown up tiger! In classic case of recent sa tiger sightings at tadoba moharli village these are sa cubs of choti madhu named tigress & since childhood they are seeing loads of human activity,& they do have seen humans walking on roads around them as well humans working in farms near forest , even with this exposure the sa tigresses now the mom is not with them, rarely walks along the main road & immediately hide or take shelter or thickets along the road when they sense any vehicles approaching! So, when you see any tiger walking ahead on road, towards you are away from you its advisable to stop the vehicle then & there only & first observe it keenly & if you are photographer then take shots from the distance & then slowly advance towards the tiger keeping safe distance is what I will advise, so you can get your shots also & you can observe the tigers also properly!
Coming to the sa tigers & observing them & photography, here I will tell you one thing, I also like to see a tiger & click it but in that clicking so called best shot frenzy we miss to observe the tiger which must be the main focus of our wildlife trips! The shot we will click & post on Insta/ FB & will get likes & next day the post will be a history but the entire experience of feel when a tiger is around, right from the way it walks in open as well in stealth mode under cover, the calls, the stillness everything we miss if we are only focused on clicking the tiger, is my point of sharing! And I too have missed many such experiences for clicking but now I have realized what’s important & fun is in balancing between clicking a tiger & observing a tiger at the same time! Here again, when you are buffers where open areas are less & your vehicle only if is in front or at the rear chances of seeing a tiger clearly are more, so be patient when you see a tiger, don’t rush to grab the piece of sighting, wait, observe the tiger’s moment, understand what type of tiger it is & then makes your gypsy move in right direction. Because if the tiger is a sa, then it will try to avoid the gypsy i.e. people & either will take shelter of shrubs cover or will cross the road keeping distance from the vehicles & you will miss even seeing it leave apart clicking! If it's the core area forest then it will just walk inside the forest where you gypsy can’t follow it, so understand the tiger's mindset & then make your moves! And for that observation of habitat is very important as that helps you tracking the tiger more easily as tiger is animal of habit, it will follow the path which it’s using always or which has been shown to it by its mom if it’s a sa tiger but you must have patience to observe & trust on your observations, is the key! Recently in tadoba we were observing a sa tigress who was just twenty months old but has started living on her own & when we saw her entering grass patch while all gypsy’s followed her on a track in that grass, we left her & went far ahead & waited at a water body which we though she will come to, considering the distance she has walked & direction. While all the other vehicles waited in the grass from where she has entered in the grass but we waited patiently far ahead & after nearly thirty minutes her head emerged cautiously from the patch of the grass near the water body where we have been waiting, giving us perfect shots also & more than that a satisfaction & joy of understanding a young tigress! This is what observing a tiger is about & this is an art which is missing in the rush of photography as well just having a glimpse of a tiger at any cost, which we must make others aware of!
Coming back to sa tigers, they are like an unguided missile & the biggest problem of a sa tiger is, it has nobody to protect it or it can trust & this makes it very unpredictable which if is a hurdle for good sighting then a threat for the neighboring humans! In our recent tadoba trip we observed a sa tigress chasing a peacock & after an unsuccessful hunt attempt, she attacked a calf of indian gaur which also was unsuccessful as the mom gaur charged on the tigress to protect her calf! Now you can imagine, in normal a grown-up tiger will never waste its energy to chase a peacock but that’s what difference is in sa tiger & grown up one, though it was fun to watch both charging episodes of the sa tigers & yet I felt very sad after seeing her tiered post both unsuccessful hunt attempts! While a grownup tiger will never attack a human, even if it collides with one accidently but a sa tiger can attack humans or any bigger animal like indian gaur without thinking, because it gets panicked & becomes desperate too, easily! Here is where observing a tiger helps a lot for us a s tourists & for the people around the forest as these tigers are part of their life now! To conclude all I will say, observing a tiger is important for conservation of the tigers as well it makes your mind train to observe every smallest detail as every detail matters & when you are back in your concrete jungle then also this habit of observation helps as survival is even more difficult in the concrete jungle because here the hunters are two legged & far more cunning than a tiger, mind it, adios with this note!
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Sanjay Deshpande
Sanjeevani Dev.
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