Tiger, tiger!!

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright. In the forests of the night."

[01] A couple of playful pachyderms

Thus wrote William Blake in the early 19th century. Luckily, for Mr Blake, tigers were much more abundant in his day than now, existing in such numbers through India and Asia that nothing was thought of slaughtering dozens on a hunt.

Today however, it's a different story, and a sadder one. Indeed, the tiger of Blake's poem is allegorical of the ravaging industrialisation of the world of his time, ironically the very modernisation that has been responsible for much of the decline in tiger populations.

Ranthambore National Park , one of the most famous in India, was home to 42 tigers in 2003. Now, in less than three years, only 26 are left, the rest having been lost to poaching for the Chinese medicinal market. Despite this, Ranthambore remains one of the best places in India to spot tigers in the wild (although for how long is uncertain).

[02] Ranthambore National Park

When I was in Delhi, I met a couple who had just spent 3 days in the park, and had seen a total of 3 tigers and 2 leopards. So with this in mind, I headed to Ranthambore to find a couple of my own.

Ranthambore is a beautiful park, encompassing deciduous forest, lakes, grasslands, and rocky hills, and hundreds of species of birds and mammals, not to mention the myriad other animals roaming the wilds. The best time for tiger spotting is from now until, as the weather gets hotter and the waterholes dry up. With less and less water around, the animal cluster around the lakes, and get a lot easier to spot.

I had high hopes, therefore, and so Friday morning, at a freezing cold 6:30 am, I jumped into a canter (basically a 4x4 open-top minivan) and headed into the park. We saw deer and antelope a plenty, the primary food of the parks tigers, plus the ever-abundant langur monkeys. It wasn't for a few hours until word came across the radio of a tiger nearby, and so at breakneck speed we barrelled off along the dusty game trails. It was a little (okay, a lot) like a Disneyland ride, the "Jungle Book" rollercoaster, this rugged cart careening through the forest, tree branches whipping past your face, deer scattering as you pass, and a soundtrack of tiger growls playing in the background. As it turned out, the growl was all we heard of that tiger. 5-6 other canters and jeeps were all crowded around in front of the bushes where the big cat was hiding, but while we waited in hushed expectation for it to show itself, it didn't nothing more than growl and cough. That sound alone was enough to raise the hairs on the back of your neck, so full of menace and power, but it wasn't as satisfying as a visual on a big tiger.

[03] Samber deer

Still, it was only my first safari, and I planned to have at least 3 more by I was here, so I wasn't too concerned. Bugger...

As it turned out, my afternoon safari that day, and my other two over the next two days, were less like a theme-park ride, and bit more like a proper wildlife safari. Our drivers and guides on those canters actually seemed to want to do more than just hurtle around the park trying to find a tiger, and so we got to take in most of what the national park had to offer. Aside from the many many species of birds that either live or visit here, I got to see sambar and chital deer, blue-bull antelope, gazelles, a caracal, wild boar, crocodiles, monitor lizards, and peacocks. No leopards or bears though, and sadly, no tigers. The closest we came over the four safaris I did was the cough in the bushes, a few pugmarks on the trails, and one tiger we were waiting for near a waterhole that we ended up missing by a mere 5 minutes because this damn kid wouldn't keep silent and so we had to leave before we scared the cat away from everyone else. That little brat, and his parents, were not too popular I can tell ya.

[04] Here's Bambi

Ah well, c'est la vie. No tigers for Connor on this trip, but it's just one more reason to come back some day. And it wasn't a waste of time, not at all. The park was stunning to explore, and I had a great time. It's like fishing - even if you don't catch anything, it's still better than working!!

C.

[05] Tiger!

[06] Black Bull antelope

[07] Ranthambore Fort