Two Tigers and Three Masked Men

Three masked men on a foggy morning. All in their 70s, yet spirited enough to brave the chilly winds in central India in an open jeep in middle of January. To do what? To venture into a jungle to 'meet' the king of the jungle!

All three love wild life in its natural habitat. All of them have been to many National Parks and Tiger Reserves. But two of them had not been to Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh India. So, one phone call in December set the ball rolling. It was to be a stag trip. While Animesh and Ashok came from Mumbai, Ghumakkad Harsh travelled from Hyderabad to RV at Nagpur. It is a 70-80 minutes drive from Nagpur to Pench. See the location map later in the story. Cab charges are Rs 4200 for an SUV.

The scene shifts to Pench Tiger Reserve. Safari vehicles lined up at Turia gate of Pench tiger reserve on dot in the morning. See the pictures as the day dawns.

See the short video showing the safari ride.

Safari vehicles enter the jungle. Five minutes into the jungle, our safari vehicle driven by Ram Prasad slowed down. Two other vehicles also pulled up. In hushed tones, the forest guide pointed to thick grass 20 to 30 meters away. Movement which could be barely noticed. Yes, there were two tigers one each male and female. They were in the mating phase which lasts couple of days. With dim lighting, fog and thick grass cover, photography was ruled out. In any case, Ghumakkad believes in the privacy of the animals or birds in such moments. So, within five minutes of the safari, the three masked men were rewarded with a sighting. Sighting of two tigers enjoying each other in Nature's lap, well camouflaged and hidden from the prying eyes and intrusive cameras of the visitors. Sharing few pictures of the national park below.

Video clip below takes you through the dried up grassland.

How would you like to be alone in this dry jungle? See the short video clip below.

Does the tale end here? No.

The masked men continued hunting the jungle. Looking for more tigers and other animals. When you are braving the morning chill in an open jeep, you need a bio break after some time. The forest department has made field toilets at a designated spot for those needing a bio break. The surrounding grass is shoulder high and makes for a perfect shoot. See the pictures below.

More than two hours into the jungle, as we were negotiating a rocky bend we found couple of vehicles stopped on the track. A family of leopards had been sighted on top of the rocks. A female leopard with three cubs. Binoculars revealed their spotted coat merging with the rocks of the Satpura range. Phone cameras started clicking. I took out my 600 mm lens. In an unsteady vehicle, it was a challenge to keep the lens steady. Besides, the lighting was not all that great for the required shutter speed. I had to switch to AV mode. My monopod came handy and I could manage to capture the Leopard family up in the rocks some 50 meters away surrounded by trees, bushes and boulders. The leopards apparently had feasted on a spotted deer and were resting after the meal. Enjoy the shots below which are unprocessed to give you a feel of dimly lit rocky outcrop where the leopard family was resting.

As we soaked in the thrilling moment admiring the leopards, we noticed some langurs running away. Which meant that the tiger was somewhere close by. We turned our attention down the slope where our safari vehicles had lined up. And through the thicket, we saw the golden glimmer of stripes in the morning Sun. A tiger was approaching us and sniffing in the direction of the rocks where the leopards were resting. Another tiger followed. Two tigers and three masked men! Encounter of a life time.

As it turned out, it was a tigress with her cub. The cub also looked grown up. As is well known, the tiger cubs remain with the mother till they are about two years old. You can see in the pictures and the video below that the cub leads her initially. Later, she pecks the cub as she passes by. The cub then sits down, as if to pose for us. The tigress by then has got the scent of the kill and presses on. Both the mother and the cub then climb the rocks where the kill is. In the meanwhile, the leopard and her cubs run for their life and climb the trees nearby. All of this happened in less than a minute. But it was spell binding and a life time experience. Even the forest guide and safari driver admitted that it was a rare sighting of leopards and tigers in a matter of minutes!

The video below shows the entire sequence of events that morning.

Here is another short video capturing the excitement and commotion caused by tigress's arrival and scampering by the leopards. The video camera was not steady but listen to the panicky calls by the langurs and leopards captured in the video.

We did not sight any more tigers during the afternoon safari the next day. However, we did shoot some other flora and fauna. See the pictures below.

Bisons are unpredictable as you can see in the 15-sec video below.

Here is our crew that morning. Special thanks to both Ram Prasad our pilot and Rajesh, the forest guide. It is mandatory for every vehicle to have a forest guide onboard.

Thanks are also due to Akanksha for video editing.

For those interested in the leopards, may enjoy the Leopard Safari in Jhalana in Jaipur. You may click to browse our earlier story linked below:

Leopards In A City? Yes, Rajasthan forest department offers leopard safari in Jaipur city itself. Do visit if you haven't yet been there. Online booking available both for morning and afternoon safaris.

We are also sharing below some of our earlier picture stories of tigers at other Tiger Parks in India:

Tiger Ahoy - how a tiger heard us to give 'darshan' and then led us!

How Do Tigers Enter Water? - See how Baghdoma aka Waghdoh, then the oldest tiger of Tadoba, does it!

Maya The Tigress of Tadoba - Enjoy the company of her cubs in this story

Follow Me Said Sonam The Tigress - And we followed her for 10 minutes in the jungle!

More Than Tiger Sighting - The forest is larger than the tiger!

The Infamous T-24 of Ranthambor - Our first tiger sighting after 17 years of relentless search across several tiger reserves in India

Where to Stay in Pench

There are 100+ resorts of varying budgets in Pench. We had stayed in Camp Gondwana, 7 kms from Turia gate. More about our stay in another story.

Location

Pench is located 70 kms north west of Nagpur on NH-44. See the map below.

The highway passes through the reserve forest. MP Forest department is to be lauded for its conservation efforts. It has constructed several elevated corridors with underpasses for the animals to freely cross over. These elevated corridors have been fenced with sound barriers to prevent noise pollution in the forest area. See the video below.

Safari Booking

Safari booking is online and is the first step in your planning. Safari for six, forest guide fees and vehicle hire charges comes to Rs 3600. Id Cards are required. Rates may vary in future. 16 seater safari 'canters' are also available. See the picture below. 

In addition to the core zone, buffer zone safari is also available near NH-44 entrance. 

About the Park

Readers may view our YouTube video by our forest guide Rajesh. It was shot after the tiger sighting on 19th Jan 2024 in Pench.

The Park recently observed two events. Firstly, the 88th death anniversary of Rudyard Kipling, the legendary writer who wrote 'The Jungle Book' which became famous after a movie with the same name. Secondly it observed the 2nd death anniversary of Collarwali, the tigress of Pench who gave birth to a record 29 cubs. She died at a ripe old age of 16 years. See the pictures of the signages created by the forest department on the occasion.

The Park is disabled-friendly as you can see the picture below. It also has a nice Interpretation Centre meant for education and creating awareness about the environment.

Hope you enjoyed the 'encounter' of the three masked men with the tigers of Pench! When unmasked, they look like this:

Thanks for browsing. More stories on the Night Safari, Bawanthadi River Bank, Camp Gondwana and birds of Pench will follow soon.

Other stories on Pench already published, are listed below. Simply click to browse.

Rural India- Real Happiness A picture story of villages near Pench and how a village panchayat has helped in tourism development.

Jungle Walk At Night - How does it feel to walk at night in a jungle in pitch darkness? What do you sight during a night safari?

Pottery Magic at Pachdhar Village - The story takes you to Pachdhar a village near Pench National park on NH-44 where the residents have been creating amazing designs in pottery.

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with inputs from Animesh and Ashok/ Pench MP India/ 24th April 2024

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