Goodbye Munna : Tiger Iconic at Kanha

Munna Imprisoned!

Munna is an epitome of the tiger. His resilience, stamina, sagacity and the spirit of survival is insuperable.  

Munna - Mary & Andrew

The cage was a dreadful sight for us or for any tiger lover. The crowd comprising police and forest officials made evident the sad event about to take place. We were shunned by the officials and we could not witness the capture. But the saddest part was his translocation to Bhopal a faraway land. We expected him to be immortalized here!

The contingency had arrived because of the death of a young girl in her teens. Upon inspection, no pug marks were seen in the vicinity as per some mahouts. Actually, event details are not known accurately to me. But the teen was deep in the forest and could have been a victim of rape or could have been killed by another animal as the goats she was herding could have attracted the killer. 

Anyway, it is unlikely Munna could have done this because even in old age he was still able to kill cattle frequently. He was thus drawing the ire of villagers by becoming a cattle lifter. He could have been poisoned or killed by an irate local. But with locals, no one dares to take a chance, and so the sad incarceration of a majestic and iconic carnivore.      

He is still living, seventeen years plus but now far removed from his home at Bhopal conservancy. Born and brought up in Kanha National Park there was no tiger like this amazing big cat in the World. 

Munna With Bison Kill - Image Gopal Desai 

Red Eye - Paul Fear

I must have seen him earlier on my frequent visits to Kanha National Park as a naturalist but my first memorable meeting was in 2009. He had killed a bison and was fiercely protecting it from the crow nuisance. The place was near Schaller's hide at Kanha and some lucky tourists had seen him making the kill. 

As a freelance naturalist, I was frequently encountering this magnificent beast and learned to track him with ease. He was one tiger that I had seen very often more than others as a naturalist. The study was revealing but the most awe-inspiring was his controlled aggression and sagacity rarely seen in dominant tigers. Another feature was his tolerance for humans whom he knew were not part of his food chain.       

Though he moved from one area to another all were within his dominance. I had seen him tackle red eye whom he managed to subdue using his posture and roars. Red Eye equally huge never ever came close to him, for Munna was more than a match in his prime.  

The iconic tiger made careers of many naturalists in Kanha and brought into prominence the forest guides as well. For us, the awe had turned into an extreme fondness for this mighty predator who made many holidaymakers fulfill their lifetime desire of seeing and photographing this amazing tiger in the wild. 

Munna now far away from Kanha still lives in the park through his genes as he must have made a record of siring many young in his phenomenally extended rule. 

The last I saw him was in the summer of 2016 or was it 2017? I do not remember. He had emerged from the forests after spending time at a waterhole in the canopy. He came to sit beside us, in fact too near for comfort and we had to reverse. He kept on roaring at the top of his voice incessantly probably to attract a tigress that frequented the area. He could share meals with her...a practice which he often did in old age. This he repeated the next day as well continuously roaring on both occasions he was a figure of extreme sadness.

                                                         Aging Munna Video

T2 or Kariaghati Tiger the big beast proved to be his nemesis. He had given way to a larger, younger, and fitter T2 but kept dodging him throughout to escape injuries. After one or two confrontations between the two...the story continued with Munna cleverly avoiding him all the time. The fate of aggressive T2 is not known for more than a year. Both the big cats had moved into the buffer in the vicinity of Courtyard House Resort.   

Munna is in incarceration...if looked after well may live longer than he would have in the wild. Let us hope for the best in conservation history and see a record being made.
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Uday works as a Naturalist at Kanha National Park. He loves to blog on wildlife conservation and tiger safaris. Uday writes content for websites and for search engine optimization.
He can be contacted at: pateluday90@hotmail.com
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Munna - Epitome of Tigerhood

Tiger Safari

"Nothing here," the forest guide said as we passed through the Silyari Lake and adjoining grasslands. "Well than lets go over to Nain Singh Nala," I said. "Nothing here as well no sign of the tiger," the guide said. The driver and the guide then set out to draw an elaborate route that would fetch a tiger. 

Our guest at Courtyard House was a wildlife photographer Micheal from UK and he wanted a real good shoot of the big cat. 

"We are going back," I said in a stern voice to make sure that my wish is accepted. The driver and the guide looked absolutely bewildered....crazy nut they must be thinking."But there is no sign of the tiger at all," the guide said. I remained quite. 

In the pin drop silence that prevailed I sat silently pondering over the possible movement of the tiger. "It is hot for the big cat to move," I told the guide who nodded in affirmative. "We will wait here for an hour and them move on to exit through as it becomes cooler." The guide was a nice man and he let me muse by the lake patiently. The driver sat smug and uneasy. He had to obey. He!He!

Micheal sat cool with full faith in me.       

All the jeeps had gone through ahead, a couple of them passed us. "What are you doing here? Any sign." No! "Then why are you waiting here?"

"For the tiger." I said." The vehicles sped through. My game plan was simple, the tiger Munna favors this lake and so I was going to score a critical tiger habitat at the right time. Hence we waited for the right time whence it was lot more cooler.

"Tiger," I said much to the astonishment of Micheal and others.In a frenzy we turned towards Nain Singh Nala.  The big cat has just descended from the hill and was coolly walking past another jeep that happened to be there. Micheal set to work by the time more and more jeeps arrived. But in the ensuing moment my guest had the choicest of the shots.        

Munna is a magnificent tiger who rule over the Kisli Range of Kanha National Park. He has sired many generations of big cats. Though aging now,

Munna Tiger By Dinesh Makhija

he exudes immense power and is a bundle of muscle. He is one of the largest male in the park. He is able to hold a large territory not only by strength but more so by his experience. Young males are trying to make in roads into his domain but not with much success.      

Big male tiger in Kanha - 16th April 2014

A big dominant male we saw Munna at Ghoda Chapar in Kanha Zone after a long gap. The tiger paused at what he thought was the limit. This may not be the exact video but the event was marked exactly. The big male is now in tussle with Lal Aankh which we photographed some time back. 

At times big tigers become pensive and thoughtful as we see here how the animal abstains from crossing his limit. The Video by Stuart Mackenzie is an excellent work on Kanha National Park in MP.  

Munna Tiger at Kanha

We are at Kanha on tiger safari. My guests from Sweden and India are excited and intrigued. This is their first tiger safari in India and expectations are high. We climb up the Sal Ghat Road in the Kisli Range hoping to see Munna and a female that often arrives here.   

With their cameras ready the guest priority is the tiger which disappoints me. I would like to give equal importance to birds of Kanha. Searching for tigers in their wild habitat is a tough task whence they are not stressed out to be on the move.  But there is always a chance of sighting one on the jungle road,

As we move forward we see no signs of the big cat but plenty of other game like sambar, spotted deer and many birds. We continue driving uphill on the torturous trek my eyes glued for moving leaves or rustle in the bush. My ears are alert to catch the tiger vocals...it is a desperate bid in this season as tigers do not move much unlike the summers.   

The jungles of India always hold big surprise to those with patience. About half way up the Sal Ghat we come across excited chatter of jeeps the ensuing commotion is suggestive of the big cat. We hold our ground as Munna emerges behind the jeep and heads toward us. 

The tigers are not very tall and maximum height is two and half feet. This helps them in ambush as they can easily hide in the grass and bush. Seen upfront the size is not evident. but when we saw this animal sideways we were stunned by the size. The huge tiger is about 250 KG and dominates the Kanha Park by its sheer size and strength.

We drove on reverse as we have to maintain a distance of twenty meters by the park rules. The tiger walks very fast and it came upon us very close. Oblivious of the jeeps and commotion the animal kept on invading. This is the moment whence the inexperienced are frightened. Big male tigers do not bother about safari jeeps albeit they are aware. You have to give ground to these tigers else they come frighteningly close. In case of delay in moving away the tiger slips into the adjoining forest. It is truly a gentleman.

Munna is a dominant tiger and moves around the major portion of the park with brazen impunity. He has sired many cubs through tigresses in his territory. As long as he is strong he will hold on to his kingdom and eventually lose to an emerging male. This is how nature works the survival of the fittest through best gene selection.   

My guests were happily clicked away to their hearts content. Things are not always the same after seeing this big cat. We moved on silently happy and excited after the marvelous tiger tour at Kanha National Park in Central India. Back at the Courtyard House accommodation in Kanha I could look at the images. The images sent by our guests are included in this blog.           

On subsequent jeep safaris my guests came across a sloth bear with two cubs. The sighting is no less exciting for true nature lovers. Animals big and small are charismatic creations of nature and we should admire them. Kanha Park is popular with birders from all over the globe. Keep a good pair of binoculars on safaris.