JAN 08, 2009. FRIDAY.

BANDIPUR NATIONAL PARK

On a nice bright afternoon, I set out at 4pm on a game ride. We took the Reception Road and with in 5 mins of being on the game ride, my guide received a phone call that another group had seen a tiger on the other side of the park. We continued on with the ride and wanted to just get close to the area where the tiger was spotted. 15 mins later on, our jeep driver brakes the vehicle to a grinding halt and exclaims TIGER! TIGER! I pop my head out of the vehicle and try to spot the tiger in the direction that he was pointing. I look into all the far away bushes and openings, I couldnt see it! Until a movement very close to the jeep caught my attention. The tiger was sitting at about 15 ft away from the vehicle, in a slushy depression on the ground. The tiger was too close for my big lens, so had to change to a smaller one. This was the tourist friendly Big male tiger of Bandipur – Agasthya!

The depression he was sitting had some water and this had formed into a thick black slush because of the black soil around. I initially thought that the tiger was just cooling of the heat, but why this hole when there were many inviting bigger water holes near by? I really couldn’t make out what the tiger was doing with his head down in the pit. When I  saw the big black patches on his mouth,  I realized that he was slurping up the slush and soaking in it too. I was informed by the Guide that this tiger had a wound in its front paw and was last seen 15days ago with a bad limp. He got up and walked away after being in the pit for nearly 20 minutes, without any signs of a limp.

Was this tiger eating mud to heal its body or make up for some mineral deficiency or some intestinal disorder??

The guides with me were quite well informed and were able to predict where we would be able to catch him next, when he disappeared into the bushes. We spent an amazing 2 and half hours with the tiger – tracking, spotting and Clicking!! I ended up with some 400 images and 4 GB of HD videos!

DEC 18TH 2009, FRIDAY.

Its over 6 months since having gone out into the jungles or using  my cameras. Work and extended monsoon has kept me away from the jungles and I am very glad to be in the outdoors again.

A quick trip in the weekend to Bandipur and Nagarhole. It was the first day of my daughters Christmas holidays, and Ruthu accompanied me on this trip.

It is December and its Winter in the South Indian jungles. Chilly and Misty early mornings in the forests can be quite enchanting. This year has been very different – ITS STILL WARM AND ITS RAINING!! Does anybody why this is happening??

I only hope that the world leaders can work together and drawup a workable strategy to reverse the changing weather patterns and ofcourse we all, as  citizens of the world humbly contribute to Conserve and Preserve all forms  of our diminishing Natural resources.

We were quite lucky to see the beautiful Lady of the Bandipur forests. Tigress Ganga!

When she saw first saw us, she immediately walked  off the jeep track and into the bushes. She is quite a shy tigress and it was only because of the expertise of the accompanying guide that we were able to predict the route that she would use on her evening stroll. We had a good 12 minutes with this tigress and on one occasion she walked very close to the jeep. It was a very nice experience to see a tiger upclose in a South Indian jungle and cant mention Ruthus excitement.

We were told about a Big male tiger called Agasthya who roams around in the same area and is extremely tourist friendly. There is also another tigress called Gowri. Dont you all think that naming the wild tigers is a good idea? This should help effectively keep a track of various individuals.

Bandipur National park in the last two or three years is very frequent Tiger sightings. Well managed clearing of the undergrowth and also the Tigers becoming tourist friendly has helped this. The national highway that runs through the park is now closed for traffic in the night, which should further help animal movement and drastically bring down road kills.

It’s the weekend coming up and I’m sure everyone has one thing on their mind – to Get the Hell Away… Away from the hustle and bustle of traffic and the maze of bureaucracy and hypocrisy… and go far enough away to not have to deal with any of it… well, at least for the weekend.

Enter – The All New Mahindra Scorpio Getaway, the perfect vehicle to get you out there… away from it ALL (actually it’s not really new – it was released on Indian roads about a year ago) but anyhow… Well in advance I knew after having worked in the field for many years, this was the vehicle that would have to be a substitute for my dream vehicle – The Toyota Hi-Lux 4WD.

Well, this, is Mahindra’s answer to the Toyota Hi-lux. It’s got all the bells and whistles, but more importantly it’s inside engine capability and it’s outside appearance and performance fall only a long tad short of the Hi-lux. In attention to small detail and user usability the Hi-lux of course maintains higher ground and I wish Mahindra would pay more attention to the little things, rather than focus on thoughtless improvements like the irritating audio system, which reminds you every time you switch off and on the vehicle, “please wear your seat belt for a safe drive” Took me forever to figure out how to shut that off, because in the field you are always starting and stopping, and it’s not the nicest thing to be hearing when you are in the midst of an otherwise quiet jungle.

Whoever named the Getaway must’ve been a Lenny Kravitz fan and probably drew some inspiration from the song – Fly away

I wish that I could fly,
into the sky, so very high.
Just like a drangonfly.
I’d fly above the trees,
over the seas, in all degrees.
To anywhere I please.
Oh,

I want to get away.
I wanna fly away. (yeah, yeah, yeah)
I want to get away.

I would work up a full report, on the vehicle, but for now, this will have to suffice… More about it later.

The video was edited by Chinmay Rane, who is the newest member on board the Felis team. Well done Chinmay!

Marketing hasn’t been our strongest forte, but we do finally have the coffee-table book about India’s Western Ghats available for purchase from Amazon. If you know anyone who may be interested in purchasing a copy please do forward this link on to them and if you do buy a book from the store, please do fill up the customer reviews to help give the book a ranking of sorts.

Cover image of book

Gorgas Science Foundation has set up a storefront on Amazon and the books/DVD are available for purchase directly from GSF or from Amazon. Soon more items will become available on this store-front, so please do bookmark for future reference.

Many thanks for your support!

Sandesh

For those of you in the United States, check out NG channel this Saturday at 7PM and watch King Cobras from the comfort and safety of your television screens! We spent nearly a year documenting the natural history and behavior of King Cobras in the wild at Agumbe. Our base camp – Agumbe Rainforest Research Station. Here, Romulus Whitaker and Gowrishankar along with Matt Goode and a team of volunteers are at the forefront of King Cobra research in an effort to help conserve this incredible species. Watch this documentary to find out more about the on-going research work and learn about King Cobras in the wild!

Brief Synopsis: He is the king of serpents: Unblinking, hypnotic, deadly, and hungry for his own kind. The king cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world, is powerful enough to kill a full-grown elephant… and yet we know almost nothing about it. Fortunately, that’s about to change.

Watch the trailer:

The SECRET LIFE of the KING is an unprecedented journey into the natural history of the wild King Cobra following them into their world revealing what they do, where they go, and who they interact with, when we are not around. And surprisingly, the people of India are very much a part of the story. Early evidence suggests that kings might be more intertwined with humans than previously thought, making this project more important than ever. Its a close and personal look into the secret life of the King and the best chance we have of ensuring the survival of this legendary snake.

I can’t believe that it’s already been two months since I left India. I haven’t made any blog updates and hardly any FB updates either! This doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything, it just means that too much is going on that I wouldn’t even know where to start…

The highlight of my visit back to the US so far has been the visit to Boston and DC and screening of The Mountains of the Monsoon at the Baird auditorium in the Smithsonian Museum – The premiere Natural History Museum in the United States. I don’t know if you’ve watched the second part of Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller – I haven’t, but I’m going to go watch it tonight!

Kamal Bawa – Distinguished Professor from the University of Massachusetts and Founder of ATREE – Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, spoke about biodiversity hotspots and in particular about the Western Ghats and the need for conservation across this critical landscape.

Professor Bawa’s talk was then followed by Cristina Mittermeier, Founder of the International League of Conservation Photographers who spoke about the importance of using images to help further conservation. The ILCP is at the front line of spreading conservation through education in particular through the use of imagery.  Watch the video – ILCP

Cristina Mittermeier - Founder of the International League of Conservation Photographers

And after that, the last and least accomplished – myself, did a quick behind the scenes introduction into the making of the documentary which included bits and pieces of everything from bloody leeches to elephants up-close.  This was followed by the screening of the BBC/Animal Planet documentary – The Mountains of the Monsoon. The auditorium had a lovely new projector so even though we played through a DVD, the image looked almost HD, just because the projection was so good. Anyhow, all in all the event turned out quite well and I’d like to thank all who were there, ATREE, ILCP, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and in particular to Debbie Rothberg who helped pull it all together at such short notice!

British Library, Bangalore

Invites you to the screening of two films by Sandesh Kadur

BBC Natural World: Mountains of the Monsoon 22 June 2009, Monday 6:30 PM

Although less than 10% of the Western Ghats remain untouched, these mountains are one of the most biologically diverse places left on the planet. Their unique beauty and mystery are embodied for Sandesh in a chance sighting he had 10 years ago with a strange, all-grey feline unlike anything he had ever seen before – but known by the local tribal people as the pogeyan.  Whether or not this enigmatic cat-in-the-ghat really is a new species, the pogeyan has become for Sandesh a talisman – offering some hope for the future in nature’s ability to survive the unprecedented pressures which 21st century India is subjecting its last wild places to.  This is the story of Sandesh Kadur’s journey through one of India’s last wildernesses and his quest to document and show why preserving such wild places matters to modern India.

http://felis.in/mom/Site/Welcome.html

National Geographic: Secrets of the King Cobra  23 June 2009, Tuesday 6:30 PM

Secrets of the King Cobra is an unprecedented journey into the natural history of the wild King Cobra, following them into their world-revealing what they do, where they go, and who they interact with-when we are not around. And surprisingly, the people of India are very much a part of the story. Early evidence suggests that kings might be more intertwined with humans than previously thought, making this project more important than ever. It is a close and personal look into the secret life of the King-and the best chance we have of ensuring the survival of this legendary snake.

Film Screenings will be followed by an interaction with

Sandesh Kadur and

Gowrishankar, Conservation Officer, Agumbe Rainforest Research Station *(Tuesday)

At: British Library, 23, Kasturba Road Cross, Bangalore 560 001

Ph: 22489220

*Seating is limited*

May 23rd,

A business trip on which I saw Tigers…still cant stop talking about it!!

A business meeting was planned at BEL, Ghaziabad for the 25th May morning. Not wanting to go on a day trip to Delhi, I checked with Hitesh and Khan, if there was anything to do over the weekend. Lucky me! They were on a trip to CORBET Tiger reserve and they let me tag along with them. I couldnt wait to see the Corbet country that I had read in Jim Corbet tales during my childhood…..and still read!!!!

My two days at Corbet were spent in the Dhikala range and we did take one ride through Bijarani range on our way out. Apart from the 7 tigers that I saw (couldn’t photograph the mother and 2 cubs), I thoroughly enjoyed the great birding, close encounters with elephants and a fabulous landscape!

Dhikala Sunrise! A Very inspiring way to begin the morning Game ride...

CHARGING Welcome! She was dangerously close and almost got us. U can see the guide frantically Shoooing her and the front end of the white gypsy only a few feet away.

Dhikala male Tigerscape. He sat in the water for an hour and was still sitting before we left...

A elusive and camera shy TIGRESS! We saw drag marks of a kill on the road and tracked her. Alarmed macaques looking into the grass, led us onto her location but she was not visible. After 2hrs of waiting, saw the stripes moving in the grass and finally got this picture near the waterfront. Learnt good lessons of Tiger tracking in Corbet country!

This is @ 3200 ISO! Good job 5DMKII!