Tadoba Adventures
Most of you reading this must have seen or heard about the documentary 'Tiger king' on Netflix. How sickening it was to hold those beautiful wild cats' captive.
We all saw that on TV, but I felt to my guts when I saw the beast in the wild; Holding these majestic animals captive is one example of how cruel and uninformed we are. I had seen tigers in zoos, and they are always roaring. Their roar is nothing but a fact cry for help. I had the opportunity in my life to be informed.
I live in the Amravati district, which is known for the Melghat tiger reserve. This project is widely known for wildlife-protected areas and tiger conservation. Known for the sighting of the Bengal tiger. I have been visiting the Melghat tiger reserve for a while but never encountered the majestic beast. Personally, I never really got those people who would spend hours to get just one glimpse of a tiger in the wild. They would spend hours tracking tiger moments to get the glimpse. I understood that excitement, but it all changed, All changed with just one vacation.
We went slightly west from Amravati – a place called Tadoba-Tadoba tiger reserve and national park. It is in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. It is also known as 'Tadoba Andheri National Park.' The park is open for visitors from 15th October to 30th June every season and closed every Tuesday.
Tadoba Andheri National Park Location
This is the area of 650 km sq of sheer green and dense forest. Well, I was not expecting any sighting of the majestic beast of about 500 pounds and shiny black stripes with yellow skin pigmentation. It was initially a yearly family vacation for me.
We reached the Tadoba, which is about 6 hours' drive from Amravati, on 4th January at about 5 PM.
We enjoyed local food and family time by watching the sunset over machan (machan is an observation area created for the wildlife activity). We stayed in a resort called 'little paws.'
The resort 'little paws' was near the lake and very close to the tiger reserve's core area. We spent the evening listening to the local stories of sightings of wild cats like leopards and tigers. The leopard sighting in the resort happened two days before we arrived. The resort staff stopped my uncle and me when we decided to go for a walk. They told us to stay in the resort's core boundary for safety reasons.
Around 8 PM, my cousin came shouting that they had seen some activities from machan in the night and called me and Shivani (my wife) up. Well, little I knew, it was a surprise celebration of our anniversary. So thankful for this family and my wife!
We spent the rest of the night with the bonfire and games. We called the night at midnight as we had booked the safari early the next morning.
Now we get to the main part – Seeing the beast!
Everyone woke up at 5 AM super excited for the safari. As scheduled, all 16 of us were present at the Moharli gate at 6 AM.
Few things you should know before safari at Tadoba
You need to carry your IDs to get an entry into the forest
You need a reservation to enter the core areas of the forest (available online quickly, and please do it in advance)
Pro Tip: When you visit Tadoba, please book at least two safaris from different gates (there are many gates to get in the forest). There are chances that you won't see a tiger in one safari.
You are not allowed to get out of the vehicle at any point during the safari.
The only forest approved Gypsy (specially modified Jeep with no roof) or Cantina (a huge safari bus) is allowed inside the forest (no private vehicles)
They lock your phones up in a suitcase that is in your vehicle, but you do not have access to it till the safari is over
All camera will need a permit to be carried in the forest which can be bought on the window at the gate
And most important – No weapon allowed of any kind
After ID check, 14 of us sat in the Cantina, ready to go.
There were (Gypsy) Jeep's, but we had booked Cantina for a big family in the morning. A Cantina is a bus with an open roof. We were all set to experience our first safari through Tadoba.
Guide told us about Tadoba. The forest is divided into two parts – core (350 sq. km) and buffer area. We were set to visit the core area. The total number of tigers in Tadoba is more than 150. Since the area is small, we were told sighting the tiger is very likely. The forest was dense with a lot of bamboo trees and tall grass with ponds and rivers.
Tiger is a solitary animal. They live alone and have territory defined. They only interact with other tigers during mating or during the war to gain rights on the other tiger's habitat.
We started with Moharli Gate, and after half an hour in the forest, we started going to the core area of Tadoba. This is called tiger reserve.
We saw many peacocks and blackbucks on the way (deer family). This forest is also known for many native woodland bird species. Oh yeah, if I did not mention this before, it was a cold morning and we were without heaters in the bus.
We were told that there were sightings of the tigress 'Maya' with her Cubs in the zone area. We drove straight to that - well, there was a rush of the Jeeps in the area. One of the Jeep's drivers told us that they saw the tigress! She did a roadshow! Tigers like to walk on roads in the morning as the streets are warmer than the rest of the forest. Their paws are delicate and love some warm surfaces, and they love to walk on the streets. Guides can tell if they can see the tigers by different Animal calls like - deer/peacocks. Deer's calls are perfect as they are shortsighted and love to alert their herd to potential dangers.
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Our driver drove towards the instance, and we saw many Jeep's (about dozen) but no tigress. We heard that she just left her usual meadow of grass - where she left her Cubs and crossed the roads (by walking on the road for about 20 minutes). We circled the forest she went in, but we could not see her return. We waited in the corner. Our guide decided to take us to the other end of the woods and see if she comes out. When we came back on our waiting spot of the original sighting, there was no Jeep's but could hear them moving fast. So we understood that she did return but from the other end and again we had missed her. We were playing hide and seek with her.
Well, we waited for half an hour on the spot. There were a ton of hurds of deers, peacocks, jungle cocks, monkeys around the area. We roamed around; guides were telling us stories of different sightings they have had, which did nothing but made us jealous.
We missed the tigress two times, now it was becoming late about 930 AM, and for guides, it was again a one-hour drive to come back to Moharli gate. With huge dismay, we decided to move around!. Maya had disappointed us. Our entire Cantina was sad. All Gypsies had already done their part and left. Our bus (Cantina) was the last one to leave.
Our eyes were looking into the forest for traces of a tiger. Some of us slept through as they were disappointed and given up on hopes of seeing one. At about ten, my cousin who was sitting in the front shouted — is that a tiger? Everyone lost their breath. And yes, it was. A magnificent animal roams around on the road, about 4 feet tall and 8 feet in length, Yellow and white combined with shiny black stripes. She also had something on her neck (it looked like a tracer). We were right behind her. We moved closer. For that animal, we were just another part of the jungle. She walked like she owned the place and we were just inanimate objects. She did not care about our presence.
She turned to look back, to see what was coming behind her, did not bother, and kept on walking on the road. For 10 minutes, we were quietly following her. She was just in her groove. She peed on the left, pooped on the right. Left-right kept on moving. We were fortunate. We were only Cantina following her and no other vehicles to rush in; she crossed the road and moved to another road.
Our driver quickly went ahead and went reverse on another road to see the walk of the wild animal who was not bothered at all.
She kept on walking, and we kept on looking at her till she disappeared into trees. We did not even blink our eyes. Well, we were the lucky ones who got the glimpse of - Choti Tara. She has a tracker on her neck as three other male tigers in her area are very aggressive, and she has three little Cubs to take care of. The tracker was placed by the forest department, to make sure she and her Cubs are safe and protected from other aggressive male tigers.
Few things I learned about the tigers on that trip
They do not roar unless they need to mate, call their cubs, or fight
They are very loner animal; like to stay in their own solitary life.
Tigers have their specific area. Male tigers have their areas claimed. That area is enormous, marked by trees with their nails and pee on the tree used for marking their territory.
They do not allow any other male tiger to enter their territory.
They would allow female tigress and mate with her. One tiger might have two or three female tigresses in its area, but they do not interfere other than mating
Tigers would mate with the female and move on, and they do not raise or help raise their offspring.
Female tigress would take care of cubs until they are 2 to 3 years old and then have to find their own area.
Tigers are usually very aggressive for their territory. That is why cubs are to be protected because due to less land for them nowadays, cubs might have to find territory crossing with the tiger and creating competition.
Tigers generally gain independence at around two years of age and attain sexual maturity at age three or four for females and four or five years for males.
They do not survive more than 18 years as they grow old and can't hunt anymore; usually, the cause of death for tigers is fight or starvation.
They love to walk on the roads, so sighting is possible in the forests; their paws are soft.
Tigers have the tendency to attack by surprise, and their one-front jab can decapitate humans. They are mighty amongst the cat family. If lion and tiger were to fight, tigers would always come on top.
Anyways, going back to safari, at this point, we were delighted with the result and were ready to go back. Our guides who stayed back 10 minutes had rewarded us with the best experiences so far. We cheered that our trip was now successful. We landed back at the hotel, followed by heavy breakfast and some rest.
We checked out to reach the second part of our journey- gypsy safari.
One driver and a guide in the Gypsy appointed by the forest department was with us to guide us through. They do not carry any weapon of any kind. If the tiger had to reach us, they would not even have to try hard.
We reached Adarkhed gate at 2 PM, and immediately our Gypsy's were ready.
Our driver Ranjeet and guide P. Gondkar were in business for the last eight years and are super excited to have us with them. We were told that we would be exploring the buffer zone (the buffer zone is around the core zone where new tiger sightings have increased in the last eight years) As they grow in population, they need more area as each tiger needs their territory.
The buffer zone is nothing but villages around the core area that were rehabilitated due to tiger project expansion. The guides and drivers were local boys who have been employed on contract by the government. They were part of the awareness campaign which allows local villagers to get employed in the conservation efforts. Some villagers had become a victim of recent tiger attacks. Of course, because we are attacking their territory. They told us the ordinary villager's story who went in the forest to collect some elderflowers and only to be found in pieces, dragged all over by tiger. They explained that tigers are usually not looking to kill humans. They attack humans only if they are old and too hungry or threatened.
To protect themselves from tiger attacks, farmers in areas around buffer zone wear a face mask with eyes on the back of their heads. Tigers do not attack if their prey is looking at them or staring them in the eye.
The forest we were in was very dense. The grass was longer than Gypsy, and we were able to go through it quickly but could not see five feet from us what's in there as a surprise. We were pretty scared as our guides started telling us stories of tiger attacks. In another story, an older woman got killed by a leopard, and a few hours later, her husband was killed by the same leopard. These stories had us shiver, but we were excited.
The guides assured us that there were no incidents in Gypsy, but if tigers come to you or you see the tiger, do not react or act weird, then you are safe.
We were in the core area away from other Gypsy's. I was already content from the morning encounter with Tigress Choti Tara.
We heard the deer calls and immediately started getting excited. Our guides were amazing, and they knew precisely how animals reacted when there are tigers around. So we heard deer calls, which means there was a tiger around us. Due to short-sightedness they usually make alert calls to their herd as they see threats around them.
Our drivers routed our vehicles in another part of the forest, and we saw our cousins in their vehicles excited and asking us to come there with hand gestures. We turned from Meadows to the raw road, and there she was. A new cub about 4 feet tall and 8 feet long. Clean shiny yellow, blank Strips.
She was moving forward towards us... looking at us. The look in her eyes the brightness would make you shiver. She was walking towards us, and she was just a few inches away from us. We were at her mercy but she was bothered. She kept walking without swaying away from her path. It was like a queen walking on the street with paparazzi following her but she would not care. Even if she saw our jeep in front, she did not change her way, she kept walking and we had to move back.
I was about 8 feet away from the majestic beast, who could attack with just one Jump, which makes you feel insignificant.
She stopped, she did not stop near any bush, but she stopped near a tree. A tree which was worthy of her size. She moved away, and she sprayed the tree with her scent to mark her territory.
She kept on walking and moved towards the grass. Her beauty was incredible, she must have been coming through the lake because her yellow body color was shining in the sun. Tigers are excellent swimmers. Her paws looked deceptively soft. Every tiger has its stripes like fingerprints, they are all different and for us, hers were undoubtably magnificent.
She walked through the grass for a while. Sat quietly at one place, she was posing for something. She had calm before the storm look. Suddenly she Jumped! That cub jumped about 8 feet high in the air to catch the peacock. With peacock's luck, it flew away and sat on the top of the tree nearby. Hunt failed. Tigress kept on sitting in the grass for a while, and we moved on to see other things. We were with her for an hour, and it was one of the best safari's I had.
In the end, we were lucky to see one more tiger from the other side of the river towards the end of the safari.
I was in despair that these cats do not get enough area to define their territory, which they want. As humans, we are encroaching on their space. But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I saw Tadoba doing their best to cohabitate with these big cats and make sure they do everything to give them their solitude. Tadoba guides love these big cats, and they claim that they would never allow anyone to hunt them over their life. That got a smile on my face. India, a country of more than 1.38 billion people is doing best to provide a home to one of nature's best creation. They all deserve to live life with their attitude in solitude as it suits them. Definitely not in the enclosed cage. If you do not release tigers in the forest, you are constantly keeping them in pain how much ever you claim to take care of them.
Well, my safari was successful with family, and I got the thrill of experiencing tiger sighting with them. The best way to learn about tigers is through jungle safari and not zoos. Go in their territory it's more humbling and learning experience than captivating them and keeping them enclosed in your territory (zoos) Are you ready for your Tadoba adventure?
Photo credit : Manas Avinashe