Tag: Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

“Hunting” tigers (#3 in 3 part series: close encounter)

Published November 13, 2023 by Pelidoug

“Hunting” tigers (#3 in 3 part series: close encounter)

It was late afternoon, on our final “full” day in and around Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

We were midway through the eighth of our nine Nagarhole wildlife “drives”.

Tiger-wise, time was running out.

We had enjoyed many “close encounters of the wildlife kind”, including one with a very healthy leopard.

On two occasions we had seen a tiger…just, fleetingly.

On more than two other occasions our ears had provided unmistakable evidence that a leopard or tiger was “on the prowl”, nearby.

However, at 4.52 pm on 07 March it appeared likely that we were not going to experience any 2023-vintage, visual “close encounter of the tiger kind”.

I took the featured photo – above – at 4.58 pm.

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“Hunting” tigers (#2 in 3 part series: use your ears)

Published November 11, 2023 by Pelidoug

“Hunting” tigers (#2 in 3 part series: use your ears)

Imagine an English-speaking tiger, asked to describe the deer in this post’s featured image.

”Delicious”, might be the tiger’s reply.

You are looking at #1 and #2 on the list of species most preyed on by India’s tigers – respectively, sambar and chital/spotted deer.

As you can see, all five deer are definitely not relaxed.

Drinking and having “a good look around” are not simultaneously-possible; the pictured chital are in “eyes down” mode.

The sambar calf is looking at its mother.

However, you can see that the ears of all five deer are open, alert.

If you wish to see tigers (or leopards) in the wild, your ears are your most useful organs.

Big cats’ hunting success is stealth-dependent; they are highly unlikely to make sounds that betray their presence.

Your very quiet self should be focused on hearing the alarm calls which “prey” animals make whenever they notice a predator.

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“Hunting” tigers (#1 in 3 part series: tiger country)

Published November 8, 2023 by Pelidoug

“Hunting” tigers (#1 in 3 part series: tiger country)

If you wish to see tigers “in the wild”, India is your best destination.

It contains circa 25% of the world’s remaining tiger habitat, but India is currently home to around 75% of “our” globe’s wild tigers.

There is no such thing as a reliable estimate of India’s wild tiger population, let alone the world’s.

The likely-best available figures come from the Global Tiger Forum.

On 10 September 2023, Global Tiger Forum published its latest global estimate: 5,574.

That is 74% higher than their 2010 figure. (click here for more detail)

It is impossible to know how much of the apparent increase reflects better monitoring rather than actual increase.

That said, there are grounds for believing that in some nations – India, especially – wild tiger numbers really are rising, after many years of steep decline towards seemingly-inevitable extinction.

This little series looks at Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka, south India.

The featured image and the one immediately below show what the local tiger habitat looks like.

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Quirky moments (#11 in series: white-throated kingfisher, with musical bonus)

Published August 25, 2023 by Pelidoug

Quirky moments (#11 in series: white-throated kingfisher, with musical bonus)

Members of the kingfisher family are typically very confident; these predatory birds are not much preyed-upon.

Fish are not invariably their primary prey, and not all kingfishers live near rivers or lakes.

Pictured is the most ubiquitous of Asia’s kingfishers, Halcyon smyrnensis – the white-throated kingfisher.

By itself, this perky individual’s demeanour was almost enough to qualify it for inclusion in this series…

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Indian leopard, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

Published August 7, 2023 by Pelidoug

Indian leopard, Nagarhole Tiger Reserve.

Leopards are members of a single species – Panthera pardus – but the eight (or nine) “valid” living subspecies have different characteristics, and their current fortunes/prospects are widely divergent.

Generally, across Africa and Asia, leopard numbers are falling.

India, however, is an exception; after the leopard population had plummeted through “the Raj” period, it has (from a low base) markedly increased – perhaps, by 60 percent – over the last two decades.

This post features one very healthy, confident male.

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African leopard, Indian leopard (teaser)

Published August 4, 2023 by Pelidoug

African leopard, Indian leopard (teaser)

Pictured above is a leopard, stalking.

He had targeted a springbok, on the morning of 07 November 2022 in Etosha National Park, northern Namibia.

Almost exactly four months later, in very different habitat we enjoyed our first Indian sighting of a leopard.

The next two Pelican Yoga posts will feature each encounter, separately.

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Indian boar

Published August 3, 2023 by Pelidoug

Indian boar

All “true” wild boars – as distinct from domesticated pigs who have escaped and become “wild”/“feral” – hail from Eurasia or North Africa, the so-called “Old” World.

They are generally reckoned a single species, Sus scrofa.

Circa sixteen subspecies are recognised, and none are more striking than Sus scrofa cristatus, the Indian boar. (aka “Andamanese pig” or “Moupin pig”)

Its signature feature is a dorsal mane/crest that can be very spectacular, especially when it is a mature male’s, in erect mode.

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Three of the same (#13: spotted deer)

Published May 5, 2023 by Pelidoug

Three of the same (#13: spotted deer)

As you can see in the image above, when a predator is not obviously present, the level of vigilance/alarm/nonchalance exhibited by its prey can vary greatly, from one individual to another.

This is true even within a small, close-spaced, single-species group.

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Oft-encountered “11” – Kabini sunset (#20 in series of single-image south India teasers)

Published April 1, 2023 by Pelidoug

Oft-encountered “11” – Kabini sunset (#20 in series of single-image south India teasers)

Every day on “our” planet “our” sun seemingly rises and sets.

(unless one is within the Arctic or Antarctic “circle” in summer or winter)

On at least many days – in drier regions, most days – humans who care to pay attention can view the sun’s daily emergence and disappearance.

To those who do not care to pay them attention, such “every day” events are the very definition of ennui.

The (generally, much happier) rest of us relish the happy reality that no two sunrises/sunsets are too much alike, even in a single place.

Travelling to different locations further enhances this delicious, effectively-infinite variability.

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Oft-encountered “9” – morning song (#18 in series of single-image South India teasers)

Published March 30, 2023 by Pelidoug

Oft-encountered “9” – morning song (#18 in series of single-image South India teasers)

You are looking at Sturnia pagodarum – so named for its alleged habit of perching on temple pagodas in south India.

One of the oft-seen, more handsome starlings/mynahs, it is commonly known as the Brahminy starling.

The pictured individual was delivering a full-on vocal performance at 7.46 am on 05 March 2023 in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve, Karnataka.

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