Hi, have you been charged by a massive tiger? I hope not. It is a frightening experience and can cost you your life. While working as a naturalist, I had this horrible experience, I was on an open jeep in the company of my guest from Ahmedabad. We were exploring Kisli Zone in Kanha National Park in search of a tigress and her four little cubs.
That day in summer we decided to wait at Kisli lake, it was a sunny day but the winds near the
lake kept the air cool. After a long wait,
we did not see the tiger family. The tigress and her cubs were nowhere
in sight.
"All the jeeps are gathered here, and the road to Karai
Ghati is empty," I said. "Let's go and check". The driver turned
the car, and we entered Karai Ghat Road.
After a few minutes' drive, we came across a male tiger. He was sitting
in the shade on the edge of the road, and we stopped at a short distance from
him.
My guest was delighted. He was seeing a tiger for the first
time in his life. I was standing on the jeep, and pointing features of the tiger.
But then after some time, I saw the tiger's lips quaver a sign of nervousness.
It soon dawned upon me that we were too close to the beast.
Before we could reverse, the beast charged at us. Well not
exactly at us, he went past the bonnet of the jeep. All I could see was a flash
of yellow as he leaped. He entered the bush and stood snarling at us
viciously. The fear got into me as we
reversed, and went back without making any stop. I was shaky all over, but my
guest kept his cool and was delighted by what we had experienced. He wanted to
go back again!
I will never forget the frightening encounter. From that day
we parked our jeep at a considerable distance from tigers, whenever we
encountered them.
Have you experienced such a close call? I hope not. But I
would love to know about your tiger encounters during the jeep safaris.
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