Tigers in the wild - Tadoba, Part 1

"A good mother is worth hundreds of schoolmasters." - - George Herbert

 

Having had the intense ambition to become a good photographer, I landed my first DLSR in Oct 2010. And never looked back. And it took a few months of capturing my first tiger in the wild. While I had seen many in the past at Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR), in Maharashtra, my first capture of these magnificent Big Cats on my new DLSR took a while.

While I have had several great experiences, I am going to be talking of and posting pictures of what were some of my best shots and moments with the Big Cats!!!

It was March of 2009, as the summer started getting to full steam in Tadoba, all the tourists were waiting to see the mother and four cubs. The excitement was very evident and everyone was high on adrenalin. The mother played hide and seek, and then came out in full view once she had realised that there was a huge male in her territory, and at the very first opportunity, would have killed all her four cubs. The huge male's presence was clearly evident as the cubs were very nervous and were searching for their mother (Sundari as we called her; she was a beauty), who had gone out for a hunt. 

On sensing the male's presence, Sundari was searching for her cubs that were hidden in the undergrowth of the bamboo and shrubs. She kept walking on the road, calling out to them. Her roar each time sending a chill up our spines. She wasn’t bothered about the number of vehicles on the main road in TATR, and kept walking between all the vehicles that had stationed themselves in their respective vantage points. On many instances, she brushed past the open Gypsys', giving rise to the mixed emotions of fear and unrivalled excitement amongst the tourists.

Finally mustering up enough courage, the cubs came out in full view, and bonded with their mother at the artificial water hole (WH) 8. You could see the excitement on the cubs’ faces, on seeing the mother! We were there for an entire hour as the cubs played in the water, enjoyed a much needed drink, and forgot about earlier tension they were living. So much so, one of the cubs, walked across to another Gypsy parked across the road on his own. Something that cubs don’t do, but this was one courageous fella, who wanted to make his own mark. The professional photographers in the gypsy were delighted at seeing the cub, at less than 10 feet. But were wary of Sundari. Because she could have charged at them, potentially making it fatal, if she foresaw any threat.

The pictures here try and capture that special moment, for all of us, the cubs and us tourists. This was the start of our tryst with Sundari, a very proud and successful mother who has now gone on to rear many successful litters over the last 3-4 years.