Tigers

She had stood up, only to walk right past us, all 500 pounds of her lazily crunching the leaves beneath her monstrous paws, giving us a full view of her royalty and I was too stunned to even move. It was like she didn't even care. Five cars around her, all clicking away carefully, and she just kept posing almost. "Showoff," I thought. But in my mind I knew this was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. Her colors were so defined. Her face was chiseled, jaws taut, teeth massive, eyes a gorgeous amber gold, paws the size of my face, and yet with all those monstrous features, she looked regal and beautiful. It honestly was beauty beyond belief.

 

 

She was so close that her tail touched the side of the car. Considering this was an open jeep, she could have just leaped up into it and pulled one of us away. It wouldn’t have been hard. Tigers can leap as high as 5 m (16 ft) and as far as 9–10 m (30–33 ft). Their paws are powerful enough to smash the skull of domestic cattle. Yet even with this knowledge in mind, we just waited. Leaving ourselves out there as bait to see what she would attack, but she just turned around, gave us another clear head shot and in her royal splendor, disappeared into the bushes.

 

My father, my boyfriend Karan, an entourage of domestic help and I were stalking a Bengal tiger, in The Jim Corbett National Park, in Uttaranchal, India. Although we frequented the park every year, occasionally we would encounter an unforgettable experience like this one. They were all the memorabilia that we needed of the park.

 

Jim Corbett National Park lies in the Nainital, Pauri Garwhal and Bijnore Districts of Uttaranchal. The area of the Reserve is 1318.54 sq. km. including 520 sq. km. of core area and 797.72 sq. km. of buffer area. The core area forms the Jim Corbett National Park while the buffer contains reserve forests (496.54 sq.km.) as well as the Sonanadi Wildlife Sanctuary (301.18 sq.km.). The park has been a tiger reserve for decades.

One is quite lucky to spot a tiger in the wild, considering this perfect carnivore is a critically endangered species. India is home to the largest population of wild tigers in the world. There are estimated to be only 5000 to 7500 tigers surviving in the world. Out of these, the subspecies found in the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal tiger has 3000 to 4500 surviving members, more than three-fourths of which are in India.

The Corbett Reserve in particular holds a large percentage of these tigers, but again, you have to be lucky to see one. Adult tigers are usually solitary, except for females with cubs. Generally, both female and male tigers maintain home ranges that do not overlap with the home range of another tiger of the same sex. Females have home ranges of approximately 20 sq. km while those of males are much larger, covering 60-100 sq. km. Male home ranges cover the territory of many smaller female home ranges. The male protects his territory and the females within it from competing males.

Tracking a tiger down is not easy. On one occasion we spent almost 6 hours in the summer heat, tracking a young male tiger. Karan and I were in the back seat of a convertible Gypsy, and while driving along through the jungle we spotted pug marks on the side of the muddy road. You can tell quite easily whether the pug marks belong to a male or a female. The female’s have ‘pointed’ toe prints while the male’s prints are curved. Since tigers are territorial, you know whether this is a male or female’s territory by looking at the pug marks. These pug marks belonged to a young male, around 3 years old.

Our ranger, Kale followed the pug marks for a while, my father’s car and the other cars tailed us as quietly as possible. Then all of a sudden the most awful stench filled the area around us. It was like we stumbled into a morgue during a power shortage. The smell of rotting flesh isn’t something that gets most people excited, but to a ranger and tiger enthusiast it was like walking into a gold mine.

The tiger was in the area, and this ‘aromatic’ pungent odor was the smell of its kill. When tigers kill, they usually settle down in a comfortable and shady place, and eat till they are full. If any of the kill is left over, the tiger will wait until it feels hungry again and finish its meal. So this was a definite indicator that the tiger was in the area.

Male tigers also share their kill with the female and cubs if the female shares the male’s territory. Unlike lions, the female and cubs feed first.

Tigers in India hunt deer and wild boar. They choose the largest of the prey species since larger prey represents more energy for the effort spent. For this reason the Sambar deer population density is believed to be a good indicator of the presence of tigers. Occasionally, tigers will also attack young of elephants and take smaller species, including monkeys, birds, reptiles and fish. 

Tigers usually hunt in the mornings or go down to the water holes to quench their thirst. Corbett is freezing in the mornings, yet dawn is a good time to spot a tiger and also enjoy the stirring jungle. As we were driving through the jungle we got lost in its serenity. The rich peacock of the leaves, the height of some trees that could put a sequoia to shame and the way the sunlight bore through the gaps of the canopy were breathtaking. It was like emerald with gilded gold.

All of a sudden our nirvana was interrupted by shrieks from monkeys and the “call” of the Barking and Sambar deer. The tiger’s prey is one of the most efficient ways of tracking a tiger down. According to Kale, who has been a ranger for 15 years, when the tiger is on the move, the entire jungle comes alive. And when the tiger sits down, the peace is restored.

We experienced something quite similar that morning. As Kale drove through the thick jungle towards the sound of the “call”, he pointed out that it was coming from the direction of a water hole nearby. Considering this man has been tracking tigers for years, the thrill of the chase was still evident on his face.

Anxiously, in his meager English he exclaimed, “Baby (in reference to me), I am going to show you tiger.” In his excitement he let go of the wheel to stretch his arms out, as though giving the moment a hug but really trying to convey how ‘big’ a tiger he meant.

As our cars growled softly towards the water hole, the drivers muted the noise by turning the cars off. And there in the distance was a 450 pound tigress with her two cubs that were not more than 4 months old. 

My boyfriend Karan gasped, taken aback by the sight. You see tigers in the zoo with their cubs and think nothing of it. There’s no magic there. But to see them in the wild, in their natural habitat, maternal instincts at play, and to just sit there in silence and observe nature at its finest, was an unforgettable experience.

Karan just sat there, everything else around him was blurred. The only thing in focus was this mother-child bonding session. His mouth curved into a subtle smile as he watched the female. She licked both her cubs, grooming them. All the monstrosity of this huge cat was gone. In that moment, she was just a mother, looking after her babies, and how!

Female tigers rear their cubs alone, and the cubs stay with their mother until they are 2-2½ years old, although they become independent at 18 months. The gestation period is usually 16 weeks and 3–4 cubs of about 2 pounds each are born. The female tigers generally own territory near their mother, while males tend to wander in search of territory, which they acquire by fighting and eliminating another male.

I watched as the female lay down and stretched her massive body on the cool bank. Her cubs started to play with each other and as we reversed our jeeps, satisfied with our morning’s findings, I noticed how she was watching her cubs. She had to be protective, male tigers often kill young cubs. But this was more than being protective; it was almost a show of love and care.

One of the most riveting experiences Karan and I had in particular that trip, also had to do with a tiger. This time however we were not in a jeep, but on the back of an elephant.

An elephant safari is essential for anyone who goes to Corbett. In order to really get into the thick of things, tracking a tiger on elephant back is a must. Due to the park’s regulations, people are not allowed to take their vehicles into some parts of the jungle. Elephants however provide that solution. Domestic elephants are trained by their owners, who are villagers of the area surrounding the park.

The elephant along with its owner riding up front will then take you into the grasslands and the jungle, through the trees. You need to watch your head however and be careful as tree snakes can often fall on you when going through a canopy.

Karan and I rode on the back of an elephant called Mona and that morning she lead us into a field of -get ready for this- marijuana. The plantation stretched out for as far as we could see, full of the intoxicant. Although marijuana grows wildly in Corbett, there are strict laws against harvesting it for sale.

As we trudged along, Mona’s huge feet crushing the ‘higher’, Karan started to get nervous.

“Rach, what happens if we do see a tiger? And it freaks the elephant out, and the elephant throws us down?”

Valid point I thought, considering we were not strapped onto the elephant by anything. It was just a cot placed upside down on the elephants back with a mattress on top. All we had to hold onto were the legs of the cot.

The rider however, told us that it wasn’t a problem. Tiger’s are actually scared of elephants. He went on to tell us about how tigers were trampled by elephants and how some of the loudest noises in the jungle, were fights between elephants and tigers. Usually male tuskers that have elephant calves are very defensive when it comes to tigers as tigers can sometimes prey on elephant young.

Moments later, in the thick of all that green, something orange darted across our line of sight. Yes, here was another one of these beautiful creatures. Yet it was like a jungle joyride.

Karan couldn’t believe it. First marijuana heaven, now this! The tiger could only be seen in flashes because the plants were almost 14 feet high. Yet he was amused by how gracefully this elephant pursued her target. The crowns of the marijuana would swish in the area where the tiger was. It was a cat and mouse chase that did not end in our favor and as soon as the tiger appeared, it was gone.

It didn’t really come as a surprise though. The tall marijuana field was one of the ideal traits of tiger habitat, being a good cover. The dense vegetation provided good camouflage. Tigers are also often found cooling off in ponds, lakes, and rivers during the extreme heat of the day. Tigers are excellent swimmers, and can swim up to 4 miles.

My appreciation for these cats, were for the longest time non-existent. I was aware they were endangered but I never felt passionately about them. Up until that moment where I was inches away from that tiger I started my story with.

That “showoff” made me realize just how beautiful and calm these creatures could be. I could’ve been sure she looked me dead in the eye and as she did, she allowed me in that moment, to co-exist, side by side with the largest and most regal of her kind.