Rajan Jolly’s personal account of his pilgrimage to his native India in search of that most magnificent and elusive of beasts, the tiger.
In April 2007, I got the opportunity to visit some of the best Tiger reserves in India and I was very lucky with 32 Tiger sightings of 16 individuals Tigers.
During my tour, I visited Panna, Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves, and ended my trip in Sunderbans with a wonderful sighting of huge monitor lizard!
In the early morning, leaning out from the Jeep, looking down at the very fresh pug marks of a tiger made me very excited. I looked around as a peacock continued his shrill alarm. Shortly afterwards my first encounter began when a Tigress with two well grown cubs emerged from cover. The sheer beauty and the thrill of seeing these magnificent animals made one almost shiver in the cool morning air. Everyone present there had a sighting of these magnificent big cats and I had extended close views of males patrolling along the jeep tracks, and from one of my trips from Elephant back during a so-called Tiger show, I saw a big male Tigers for 45 minutes. It was amazing! Afterwards, I reflected that the first sighting had taken place just 10 minutes after entering the park.
My last Tiger sighting was in Pench, where I saw a family group comprising male and female with their four 18 months old cubs!!!!!! I can’t explain the joy it brought to all of us present to see this very rare sight.
In addition, I was lucky to see four Leopards, seven Jungle Cats and a single Sloth Bear while the local pack of Dhole (Indian Wild Dogs) was seen on two occasions. Commoner herbivores such as abundant Chital (Spotted Deer) and Sambar were supplemented by repeated encounters with impressive Gaur (the largest Bovine in the world) and Barasingha (‘Khana’ Swamp Deer) one of the rarest mammals on earth and the original reason for establishing Khana as a protected area.
I also got good birding opportunities and saw a wide range of species including Painted Francolin, Orange-headed Thrush, Crested Hawk-eagle, Indian Black Eagle and four species of Owls as well as numerous commoner species (over 150 species in total); even a few vultures (3 species were seen) are still hanging on in this remote corner of India after the catastrophic population declines elsewhere.
The experience is very different from the safaris of Africa. The animals are far more elusive and the vehicles generally smaller. However, the wonder of finding pristine natural environments and the experience of spotting game from an elephant or even the jeeps/boat trips adds to the pleasure, and the beauty of the parks at sunrise or sunset make wildlife viewing in India a highly enjoyable experience.
On the last leg of my trip, I visited Sunderbans, located in a river delta in the Bay of Bengal. Two major rivers of South Asia – Brahmaputra and Ganges – enter the sea here. 102 islands are situated in this world’s largest river delta. Approximately 60 per cent of the Sunderbans belong to Bangladesh, the former East Bengal, 40 per cent to India’s state of West. The Landscape at Sunderbans is the largest mangrove forest worldwide; they cover 60 per cent of India’s total mangrove area. Roughly 90 per cent of all Indian mangrove species are found here. The mangroves play an important role as a buffer zone as they protect the fauna, the island and the alluvial soils from rises in sea level, torrential rain and cyclones.
The Sunderbans are home to a huge variety of species, out of which the Royal Bengal Tiger (panthera tigris) can be named as the most significant flagship species. Only in the Sunderbans it shows distinct amphibian behavioural patterns. The Tigers roam the entire area, sometimes crossing several kilometres swimming. Moreover the Sunderbans are home to many amphibiae, reptiliae, fish and mammals as well as more than 180 bird species.
Most of the people in the Sunderbans are fishermen or farmers. Houses are built with locally available materials: timber, mud, paddy straw. Often the houses are surrounded by paddy fields, in which families grow paddy and – in a small scale – vegetables. Agriculture in the Sunderbans is dependent on the rainfalls during the rainy season. They are sufficient for growing paddy, but normally allow only one yield.
The Sunderbans are a rich fishing ground. Yet the fishermen’s life is not easy. The fishing nets are still often knotted by hand, the weirs plaited manually. Fishing is still handwork, yet over fishing increasingly becomes a challenge. The protected areas in the National park are important breeding grounds and are strictly protected by the park rangers accordingly. Collecting the rare mangrove honey today is allowed only during special times and in selected areas.
The market days are a big and important event. Farmers and fishermen sell their products and purchase what they cannot produce themselves. Trades people from other areas offer all kinds of curios. People come from near and far and thus the market days are an important platform for communication and information. Saturday morning is busy-ness time.
TV-antennae are a rare sight and radios are hardly heard. Electricity mostly derives from diesel generators, increasingly by solar power as well. It will take some time, until street lamps light at least the major paths. So long people stay dependent on battery pocket lamps, if they do not want to roam in complete darkness. For example, when the market visit took longer than expected or when it got late with the card play.
Again and again men in the Sunderbans are attacked by wild animals – sharks, crocodiles, or Tigers. Especially when fishermen or honey collecters enter the dense mangrove forests they are exposed to danger. The fencing around the protected area made by the national park administration protects in double regard: the Tigers from men (poaching has become very rare), and the men from straying Tigers. When men entered the forests in earlier times, they wore a mask on the back of their heads. It is said that the Tiger never attacks from the front.
Bonobibi, the Goddess of Forests, is widely worshiped. Before fishermen go out it is obligatory that they ask the Deity for support and safety. For the big festival Bonobibi Puja, celebrated once a year, artists form splendid idols using paddy straw and mud.
The camp, I stayed at Sunderbans is the finalist of Prestigious Award “Tourism for Tomorrow – 2007” given by World Travel and Tourism Council for their work in the village, starting schools, giving livelihood for many people who otherwise would depend exclusively on agriculture. The most prominent will be the medical camps, held fortnightly in alternating places of the island.
Where ever you are in the world there is the thrill and anticipation of seeing the king of the jungle. Sometimes you are not lucky to see them but they are fortunate enough to see you! Please go and visit India's great wildlife parks and enjoy all the creatures, be it a small sleepy looking Owl to a solitary Leopard high on a rampart looking down at you in the dawn light. Chital stags battling for territory, kingfishers of all sizes, Serpent Eagles, Nilgai and Sambar Deer, Wild boar, Peacocks strutting in a jungle glade, Porcupines, Jackals, a Sloth Bear if you are very lucky, all these and much more will make a visual feast. In Kanha you will see Gaur, the huge bison with horns, and Barasingha the Swamp Deer. As well as all the animals the birdlife is immense and very beautiful.
Naturetrek have trips to all these exciting destinations in India. To discuss any of your holiday plans to India, please give me a call on 01962 733051 or email me.