GreenEye's
Animal Tails

An extract from
'Wild Tigers of Bandhavgarh'

Late one morning, I find the cubs lying on a rocky hillside; in deep sleep, they seem totally exhausted. Initially, the scene is reminiscent of the morning after a drunken binge. One of the sisters is lying on a steep slope, her head and front end sliding down the hill, while her rear end is unable to move because it is wedged between the ground and a tree trunk.

Waking up, they quickly shift positions and start on an intense grooming routine. It is as if they are trying to make themselves look respectable, and feign innocence after being caught by their parents.

Pyari's Cubs

One of my most enjoyable tiger sightings must be my encounter with Pyari's cubs waiting for their mother to return. The morning had been frustrating so far, lots of pugmarks but little else. We had parked at the foot of some hills having heard one monkey alarm call, but weren't particularly hopeful, as a solitary call normally means a mistake...

But then, high up a hill, Kaye, one of the naturalists I work with, spotted some movement. Far away we saw a young cub moving through the undergrowth. Repositioning ourselves closer, we could see it was the eight-month old male cub of Pyari (and Sundar). He climbed onto a rock and lay down, seemingly enjoying the early morning sun. Only a few minutes later his sister appeared on the rock. We watched for about an hour as they sunbathed and even play-fought (behind a tree) waiting for their mother to return.

As the sun was getting stronger we heard some calls lower down in the meadow below. Their mother was calling them. As quickly as they appeared, they disappeared down the hill in search of her. Hopefully she would have food after a nights hunting.

Southern Right Whale Breaching

Sitting on the edge of a cliff in South Africa my partner and I sat watching Southern Right Whales in the bay below. Every year these whales move from their Antarctic home to the warmer southern shores of Africa, Australia and Argentina to calve and breed. They come very close-in to the shore to protect their young from sharks...

It is an an amazing experience to see 50ft whales resting and playing only 10 metres away. Slightly further away but no less dramatic I watched this whale leaping out of the water (breaching) three or four times in succession. The sheer size and grace of these animals is truly breathtaking.

We had a number of wonderful encounters with the whales, including an adolescent male swimming under our boat and once having our breakfast 'rudely' interrupted by a mother and calf frolicking in the bay only 7m from the rocks.

Tigers Kissing

In Bandhavgarh in June, the monsoon rains had started early, bringing torrential downpours and energy sapping humidity. For the past week I had searched in vain for tigers. Eventually on the seventh day we came across very fresh pugmarks...

A few seconds later I spotted Barra Larka (Bachchi's third son) walking down the track a short way in front. He wandered off the track into the dense undergrowth where I could just make out a tigress lying down. Incredibly excited, we watched as he slowly he approached her. Tentatively they sniffed and nuzzled each other before he lay down next to her.

Frustrated because there was so much undergrowth in the way, I was having real difficulty getting a clear view. In the end I found my best shots were to be got by squashing myself into the footwell of the jeep. Thirty minutes and a lot of cramp later, the male got up and wandered off. He continued to call to the female but she didn't follow.

The pugmarks of these two tigers had been seen together before, but not the actual tigers. To see two wild tigers interacting was a very special experience. Almost a year later I returned to Bandhavgarh and was delighted to discover tiny pugmarks (footprints). I wasn't lucky enough to see this tigress, but I understand that she has two cubs, which in March 2001 were about 8 months old. Maybe I will come across them on my next visit.

All photographs © Iain Green