Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Sanjay Dubri; Tigers, Sloth Bears & Bhawki Bazzar!

“The book of forest has no beginning, as it has no end. Open this book where you will, and at any period of your life, and if you have the desire to acquire knowledge you will find it of intense interest, and no matter how long or how intently you study the pages, your interest will not flag, for in nature there is no finality.”
― Jim Corbett

“Every time I go to the forest I come back as a happier person” … Me

https://www.instagram.com/p/DXw99Pdk0U1/?igsh=MTR2eG92cDVqcWl0NA==

The King !!

Its vast expanse of Sanjay Dubri (MP) and to locate a tiger in this forest is like finding a needle in the stack of grass yet its peak of summer & he must be around some water hole to beat the heat & the water hole without any other animal is a sure sign of presence of him around! Now it's a game of patience & wait, starts, he is relaxing in a cool shadow & he has seen you waiting in open in scorching heat with mercury touching 44 degrees & your luck shines as from the other side comes an elephant patrolling forest. He doesn’t like to be disturbed yet this elephant is just doing its job & didn’t know King is resting and marches on. He is upset as he has to leave his resting place & came out of hiding, his glare pierces through your camera lens, you can feel the burning heat of those glowing orange fierce eyes & thanks god that he is nearly 100feet away from you, yet you are happy also for the poses he gave...that’s what a King is... Trishul, Sanjay Dubri National Park. Summer of 26.

#tiger #mpforest #sanjaydubritigerreserve #mptourism #wildlifeconservation

This I posted on Insta, first thing when I came back from Sanjay Dubri & Bandhavgarh & trust me last year only I had been there in summers, & I was surprised when I found myself again in Dubri this May! Because it's nearly 1500km from Pune, I had some work in Pench so drove there from Pune & again ahead to Dubri, though the drives in Central India in summer (or in any season) doesn’t ever exhausts’ me as once you are on outskirts of Nagpur then everything is wildlife, such blessed is this part of our country. Though I won’t say the same thing about the people living here as its difficult life with extreme weather conditions & earnings are less, however you curtail your needs. And Sanjay Dubri is last end of MP which I have already mentioned in earlier sharing & terms like Growth, Development, Prosperity hasn’t yet reached here keeping all due respect to every govt in country & in State, which if is a boon for the wildlife but then is biggest challenge for conservation, is one of the aspects of my sharing. Speaking about wildlife, a lot has been changed at Dubri especially on tiger sighting which forest dept as well the die-hard wild lifers & conservationists may say, is not everything which actually is, for wildlife tourism. Unless we accept this fact, that tiger sighting is not taboo, we won’t ever be able to strike balance between wildlife conservation & tourism i.e. sustainability, high time for all stakeholders to understand! And this time I was with my forester group, has kept them not to expect much on tiger sighting but to enjoy the forest which really is something your head knows but your heart always craves for those yellow black stripes is a wildlife fact & then we were to head Bandhavgarh post Dubri, so we can cover our quote of tigers there, is also I told my friends. Because Dubri forest is very big & unlike Tadoba or Bandhavgarh there aren’t many meadows or open patches where you can have a clear sight of tiger as well thanks to the river Banas which flows through this park & provides enough water to the wildlife of the park even in mid summer! And as this park yet doesn’t have flood of tourists like other popular parks, the tigers here are not much used to the movement of gypsies was my experience from the last trip & barring the famous Mausi (tigress who put Dubris’ name of wildlife map), other tigers are pretty shy, I put in the heads of my forester friends well in advance. But this is where forests or wildlife are such a boon, blessing whatever you call it as with all such bracing for non-sighting of tigers what followed in Dubri was reverse of what I told i.e. we saw nearly six tigers in mere three safaris which was like super bonus as we were there to see the forests which of course we enjoyed a lot. This was peak summer of central India & as Sanjay Dubri is towards north (border of UP, Ayodhya is hardly 80km from here) the heat was scorching & tigers were rushing towards water. Though there is ample water inside the park yet as a tiger is an animal of habit it prefers some particular water hole & come there only for drinking or resting. To my delight a young male Trishul walked head-on toward nearly five to six gypsies which is like a twenty plus crowd on scale with tadoba & was unfazed by eyes looking at him, this was new & heartening to watch. This means, the tigers are accepting humans around them & continuing with their routine in presence of humans around & that’s one very big plus when conservation is the purpose through tourism, is my reason for sharing! Though most of other tourists were normal families (read as not professional or so-called tiger searching wild lifers) & its this class who must see the tiger in the wilds as then only they start loving wildlife & the word from mouths (read as social media) is what makes any place tourism paradise & I can feel Dubri rising on wildlife destination chart by looking at faces of those tourists!

And then for all three safaris we were roaming through expand of Dubris, absorbing its landscape & Banas rivers blessing for the forest & came across some wonderful wildlife experiences. My friend from earlier visits Mr.Babunandan who is deputy ranger accompanied us on one safari, sharing his experiences in conservation & his heroics in saving a captured tiger from forest fire around its enclosure. Those who have not witnessed a forest fire for them its something which engulfs hectors of the forest in minutes & the kind of fury it unleashes on anything which comes in its way is something no words can describe but to experience only if you are lucky to survive it. When most people’s & animal’s first reaction is to run as much away from such fire sight here was small man with no modern fire fighting equipment’s at hand, risked his life & saved the tiger, this is dedication & you can’t make someone do it for mere salary but it has to come from within, salute to Babunandan & his forest labours! With him we witnessed a young & shy male tiger chasing a pack of wild boars who were faster than a tiger & in a few minutes the tiger gave up the chase & found solace in a nearby water body. The place he chose to relax was classic hiding which only some expert eye can find & as usual just one small window was open to click the tiger & he was very much aware of our presence & was looking exactly at that window & smiling at us from it, must be laughing on our efforts to have a glimpse of him from a small window in the foliage around him! After relaxing for a while during which we were patiently waiting in the scorching heat the young male got up & started his journey, for hunting & marking together. He was a shy male not much used to vehicles & because there were two gypsies we could keep his track & finally we caught up with him while he crossed the road ahead us & went in to patch of forest where no motorable road was there. While being with this handsome & huge male tiger I realized one thing, all the time he was knowing we were around & keeping an eye on us but not once he came head on at us which usually many tigers do. He was always keeping us at his one of the side, very interesting behaviour I got to observe, though the guide & tourist from other gypsy who were regular visitors here said, its first time this male was given such long time sighting or else at the first hint of gipsy this tiger vanishes inside forest & it’s a good sign that he slowly is getting used to be sighted, this is how tigers become habitual to sightings of humans & that’s good for wildlife tourism in a way & that’s coexistence too!

And best was yet to happen, as after chasing this male for nearly two hours we were slowly heading towards the main water body where we have sighted earlier male female tigers, suddenly we saw a black mass ahead on the edge of the road, it was a big sloth bear. I quietly tapped the shoulder of the driver & indicated to him to stay where we are & cut the engine as sloth bears are the most unpredictable animals in the entire forest & the only way you can click them is let them feel nobody is watching or disturbing them & then they move by their will. This one was huge male & for a while it stayed inside the foliage judging our moment & as it realized we are stationery it retreated & for a while we though we miss the opportunity to see him in clear but I was sure that it wanted to cross the road only thing is the bear will do it in its way so I asked driver to wait where we are & the moment sloth bear went behind us there was small hill in between I asked drive now to reverse a bit so the bear won’t know we also have moved! In minutes it emerged behind the small him on road & for a second it stood on its hind legs, a sight which I have wished for nearly two decades & witnessed finally in Sanjay Dubri, I didn’t know whether I was able to click that moment but seems I could what was more important is I saw it, that’s what forest is about, ticking our wish list!

Later on, we again bumped a very handsome tigress T17 & her subadult cub which is nearly grown up yet was seeking closeness with her mom which her mom refused as there was another male tiger in the vicinity who is not father to this subadult & she went away making he sub adult safe by keeping away from her. I wonder whether the young tigress understood the sacrifice her mom made as for a long time poor subadult was sitting in grass looking in the direction of her mom who never came, may be some days later she will understand what it takes to be a tigress mom when she herself will become one! When we went back to resort of MP Tourism’s, one of the best places right on the bank of Banas River, young RFO friend Mr Arpit Mairal came to meet us & shared his experiences which included rescuing a leopard which accidently went in to a kothi of a farmer family on the fringes of the forest. Such things indeed are common but imagine the tension they create as even a small honey bee if accidently comes inside our bedroom, I have seen people jumping & dancing like they have been stung by hundred bees & here a leopard is entering your home! This is why more of us must visit forests to understand what is wildlife as then only we can do our respective duty towards saving it, right?

With all such happening incidents, we left Dubri & there was a weekly bazaar of local villages called as “Bhawki” with many wonderful local items at sale & colourful dressed villagers & tribals negotiating at stalls, it’s a vibrant scene always such bazaars. I personally feel we must promote them aggressively as in European cities flea markets are a thing to be around & the concept is getting popular in our cities also, so why not the tourists experience the real flea market of locals & make it part of wildlife tourism. It's in such places you actually can experience the culture of people whose life is attached with forests, they too are part of wildlife, I hope my these words will reach somebody who will act up on them in the right way. It was late evening when we passed through this Bhawki bazar outside of Sanjay Dubri, there were voices of people, music & from long distance alarm calls of deer also was part of these sounds, this is coexistence; I smiled at myself & said adieu to Sanjay Dubri with a promise to come back soon!

We went to Bandhavgarh from Dubri & first I thought I must write about it in this sharing but then I realized it’s already been too long & then some things happened in last week at Bandhavgarh after I came back which also I wanted to cover, so wait for it in next sharing, lol!

Here are some Sanjay Dubri special sightings, you can check on link below…

https://www.flickr.com/photos/coexistance_is_the_key/albums/72177720333421448/

Sanjay Deshpande

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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