Charged By A Massive Tiger

 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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Uday has worked as a naturalist and loves to write about tigers and other wildlife forms. He also provides SEO Services and Content for Digital Marketing. He can be contacted at :

pateluday90@hotmail.com

Mob/Watsapp: 9755089323 

Charged By A Massive Tiger

This happened not for the first time. 

I was on safari with guests from Courtyard House Kanha. Jennifer, David, Heather, and Mark are all enthusiastic travelers from New Zealand.  

The evening ride was organized at Khatia Zone ironically not a preferred one for most. But recently, tigers and leopards have been seen here besides sloth bears, nilgai, barking deer, and the common animals of Kanha.  The area lacks water bodies that retain water during the scorching summers. 

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The evening was interesting with some good sightings but no tiger. Since most of the travelers to the reserve come with this majestic predator in mind, I had some thinking head-on about coming game rounds. 

While some distance away from the Mocha township a man on a motorcycle waved frantically at us to catch our attention.  

"Tiger Ahead!"

I believed the man since Munna the dominant tiger now vanquished often roamed in this area. In no time we reached Budbudi Nala only to be confronted by locals and a retinue of forest staff. We could not see the tiger till the ranger pointed to a bush.

He was sitting in between the opening of two bushes. In the dim light, we could see him pensive, staring straight at us. My guests had their first look at the magnificent predator.  Calm prevailed as the ranger informed us that he was Munna.

"Well he looks very big", I informed the guests. My suspicion proved right as the calmness was shattered by the deafening roar as the tiger rushed towards us on all fours crouched as only the cats can. It all happened in a split second and none of us saw him get up from where he was stationed.  

Stunned by the assault we kept looking at him in awe and wonder.  He covered a few meters and then retracted but before we could settle down he rushed again this time more viciously and with greater intensity. He came to about fifty feet near us. In that dim light, photography was not possible.

In an instant, the crowd moved far away from the scene of action. Trepidation ran deep among one and all. The snarl and the hiss were blood-curdling. The huge tiger retracted once again and remained crouched ready to charge...which never came.    

"This is Dabang," I exclaimed. Being a cattle lifter he is of aggressive dispensation as all his likes are. He was charging at our jeep and that of another stationed near us.

Dabang is the largest tiger seen so far at Kanha National Park. He had earlier charged us with greater ferocity last June. The charge was close distance and it was terrifying. This was my third sighting of the big cat, much earlier I had seen him at a bison kill on Karia Ghatti Road. He was grimacing and snarling menacingly then.

The ranger signaled us to move on and we did. Much relieved that my guest had seen a tiger and experienced a rare action in making.

The next day the animal was seen near the Ghangar Nala on Bahiar Road which leads to the Courtyard House.  At 3.50 pm. A big passerby crowd had gathered and witnessed another charge on a passing vehicle. The tiger had then moved into the forest leading to the Nala.

The cattle lifters survive among the livestock of impressive size and hence grow big and aggressive, often confronted by the cowherds. Unlike Dabang which is closer to human settlements, most of them live in buffer forests scattered around the core. These are inhabited by people and their livestock. Unlike the core the buffer is not much under scrutiny, man-animal encounters and poaching often occur.

With the ever-increasing population of tigers and leopards, the management of buffers augurs a new look.     

An awkward kill

The leopard must have been very hungry to go for a kill twice or thrice his o her size. When we reached the spot we could make out that the kill was not severely injured or dead.

The awkward attack suggested of a young leopard male or female. It was difficult to make out from few pug marks that we could trace.The cattle was lying totally floored to the ground with not much loss of blood,  but its vertebral column was damaged. From the charge we could make out the the attacker was not a tiger. 

The attack took place around seven or eight in the evening and the alarm cries brought the owner to the spot. The leopard had remained rooted to the spot where it had made the charge. The cattle had staggered to about fifty yards before it was grounded.  

The alarm cries alerted the owner, and perhaps the leopard hesitated as many a times the owners must have been summoned quickly. The owner and some other people gathered around the cattle and tried to raise  the animal but could not. They than sat around the animal whole night in order to keep the big cat away. 

The kill had been made a few yards from the luxury resort at Kanha National Park in Boda Chappari village. We walked down to the spot at noon. The forest guard had been summoned and he was taking stock of the situation. There were claw marks on the back on both sides and the neck had been gnashed from the top. This had resulted in breakage in the vertebral column.  

The owner of the eco resort an experienced man about forest matters accompanied us to the spot. The cattle bull was undergoing great sufferance but there was hesitation in letting the animal finish and consume it or use some other method for a swift death. Eventually the bull was carried to a spot near to the villagers house for observation and prevention of poisoning of the kill.   

The leopard must have been very hungry and must have been unable to make another kill. It approached the cattle in the night and consumed it. It was later chased away in wee hours of the morning. The dead cattle was than cremated. The leopard  was a female with cubs as we found out later and hence the desperation for food.   

This is a frequent occurrence in the buffer zone of Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh in India. This reflects upon the man animal conflict and challenges the management capability of the department. In spite of good prey base big cats find live stock an easy target as compared to the fleet footed deer. Every year a large number of cattle are killed whence the venture into the forest.

The villagers receive compensation, it would not a big surprise if the cattle owners have made this a opportune business since I am told the proportion of bulls is higher than the cows in the Kanha buffer. This also explains scarcity of fresh milk in the buffer.