Ranthambore Tiger Census 2013

I visited Ranthambore Tiger Reserve on May 11th and that was when I first found out of the waterhole census that was to be carried out on 25th & 26th May 2013. Later, I found a post on Facebook providing details on how to apply to volunteer for this census. As I have always wanted to experience being in the jungle at night, I immediately sent a mail to the email address provided expressing my willingness to volunteer for this. A couple of days later, I got a response wherein I had to send an application form and updated resume to apply for this. After two days of e-mailing the required documents, I called up the Deputy Conservator of Forests office to find out the status of my application. I was told that my name was put in 2nd list as I didn't have any relevant experience. Upon hearing this, I told them of the number of safaris that I have done in Indian National Parks and also South African ones. On hearing that, I was soon sent a mail confirming my acceptance to volunteer for this.

A huge chameleon in our hotel lawn

I reached Ranthambore on Friday, 24th May for an orientation/training session for the waterhole census wherein we were informed slightly about all the ranges for this census and the differences between some animals with similar physical appearance. This waterhole census was basically over 330 waterholes in Ranthambore National Park and Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary. As the census form was in Hindi, so we were also told names of some animals in Hindi/local language. After this, we were told a few Do's and Dont's in during the census and were told to collect at the division office by 0630 hours next morning. During this session, I was pleased to see the number of naturalists/enthusiasts who had travelled from all over the country to be part of this.

See those parallel logs of wood? Thats Jamoda II machan

I reached the division office on time and tried to find the machan that was allotted to me. After jumping over a few shoulders trying to peek onto the list that was pasted on a board, I finally found my name written next to Kushalipura waterhole. Upon speaking to a few locals there, I found that this waterhole is right on a road  meaning that there would be almost no movement of animals during day-time but leopard and bear come there after dark. However, as my personal motive was to experience being inside the jungle, I asked the Range Officer to change my waterhole to one that is inside the jungle at least. He then changed me to Jamoda II waterhole and told me the vehicle that was to drop me to the waterhole. This vehicle stopped on a Dhaba on the route to pick up food packets for us. A 5-7 kilometer drive and four of us, two volunteers for Jamoda I waterhole and two volunteers for Jamoda II waterhole were dropped at Kushalipura check-post from where a smaller vehicle was to take us to our individual machans over the waterhole. Everything seemed perfect till now. 

Even though I was hanging onto a branch for dear life, but a Paradise Flycatcher is not to be missed

Having waited for almost 2 hours for the smaller vehicle at the check post, it was already 1200 hours when the forest guard offered to walk us to our machan. Considering it was almost noon and the temperature was almost close 45 degrees, I didn't wish to walk. But, my colleagues were very enthusiastic to reach their machans early and I had to oblige. Walking under the sun for just under an hour was enough to make them understand that their decision had backfired and we called up the Range Officer to tell him about the situation. After about 30 more minutes, a vehicle came to us and dropped us to our waterhole where I was to sit with Bhushan from Gujarat. Upon asking for drinking water, the forest guard took our water bottles and filled them with greenish water from the waterhole where we expected all the animals to come for a drink. As if this and the scorching sun wasn't enough to frighten us, the machan looked unstable with the branch vibrating as we climbed on it. However, trusting the forest department, we climbed and seated ourselves on it. The vehicle had hardly left us and we heard a cracking sound. Next thing we understood was that we were on the ground and all our bones seemed mobile without any clear pain. Thanking God for keeping us safe, we immediately ran to the Jamoda I waterhole where we hoped to find the vehicle still dropping the other two volunteers. However, upon reaching there we found those volunteers sitting on their machan and no sign of the vehicle around. 

A highly active bird. Never sat on one branch for more than a few seconds

Realising that the way back was very long tough under the scorching sun, we decided to climb the tree on which these people were seated and sit on some its branches. We did this trusting the forest department vehicle to come to us on regular intervals as was promised to us. So here I was seated on a branch deep into the forest under scorching sun waiting to hear the humming of the vehicle engine. In the meantime, I was still hoping to see some animals no matter what my situation was. However, except for a few Paradise Flycatchers, Kingfisher, Great Tit and some other birds, their came neither any animal nor the forest vehicle. Finally around 1800 hours, a few Sambar deers came near the waterhole but they were too nervous seeing us and only a few drank water and the rest ran to the other waterhole nearby. It had started getting a bit dark by now and I had started to fret a little thinking of how to spend the whole night hanging onto a branch like monkeys. However, I had started to prepare myself to being a primate for the night.

One of those nervous Sambar Deer that came to the waterhole

Finally, around 2030 hours, I saw a car's headlights in the woods and trust me I have never been more pleased to see headlights ever in my life. When it finally reached us, I told them that our machan came down as soon as they left. To this, the forester, Omprakash Sharma retorted that "If you didn't have the guts to sit, then you shouldn't have volunteered". I was taken aback by his response but decided that arguing with him was not going to help. I simply told him that I am neither afraid nor do I wish to back out and he should provide me another machan and I am willing to spend the night on it. Even then he continued to talk crap for a while before telling me to join the forest guard who was seated at Aam Chowki waterhole. I agreed and I was dropped on this machan now. However, this wasn't exactly a machan but the top of one of those old ruins in Ranthambore. Hence, I was seated on it with the forest guard by 2100 hours.

Full Moon

Sitting there, I started a conversation with the forest guard, Shiv Singh with the usual sounds of Nightjar keeping us company. While waiting for any wildlife to show up, we continued to chat for some time when around 2300 hours, we heard the dry leaves behind us cracking. Upon looking around, we saw a Sloth Bear appear out of the bushes. The bear walked close to where we sat without noticing us and went to the waterhole where he had a fill. After that, he moved further ahead without even giving us a look. For all the trouble that I had went through during last 10 hours, I was mightily pleased now for this was my first sloth bear sighting in the wild. Half an hour after this, Shiv Singh dozed off and was snoring heavily in another 15-20 minutes. Looking at that, I also decided to sleep around 0000 hours.

One of the Jackals that came early in the morning

I didn't find it easy to sleep as every sound would wake me up in the hope of a leopard/tiger coming around. Just when I was finally sleeping, I felt a tug on my shorts. I woke up immediately to find Shiv Singh pointing towards the waterhole. He told me that he could hear the sound of some animal drinking there though we could hardly see anything even after the full moon lighting all over us as the waterhole was under the shade of a tree. I tried looking for a few minutes but my head was feeling just too heavy so I lay down again while he continued to look. A few minutes later, he again woke me up telling that their is something at the waterhole for sure. This time even I could hear the sound of a tongue licking near the waterhole. Soon, we could also hear the deep sound typical of big cats like lions, tigers and leopards. Still, we couldn't see anything as the animal was under the shade. A few minutes later, we saw the silhouette of the animal move quickly which is typical of a leopard. As soon as it moved towards our right, the sharp sound of Sambar deer warning call came from that direction as well. So, we were now sure that this was a leopard at the waterhole. After this, I slept again fully satisfied having seen a sloth bear and a leopard during night.

Jungle Mouse?

I woke up at 0515 hours when the dawn was just coming up. I immediately sat up to look at the waterhole hoping to see some animal there for his early morning drink. But, there were only a few birds there. A little while later, 3 jackals came to the waterhole. They played around for sometime before moving further ahead towards our left. Soon, Shiv Singh also woke up and his mobile phone rang too. It was the forester, Omprakash Sharma who ordered him to walk to the Jamoda I waterhole and bring the two volunteers sitting there to our waterhole. I was seriously disappointed to see that these people don't plan to provide us a vehicle again even after all that happened with us yesterday. Shiv Singh asked me to come with him to fetch these other volunteers as he felt that I can talk them into walking again. I decided to cooperate with him and walked 3 kilometers in the jungle looking for pugmarks. When we reached them, they told us that they saw a tiger move below their machan during the night. I then assisted Shiv Singh in taking off the machan and throwing the sticks in different directions while taking the rope with us. This was done to ensure that we don't end up providing readymade equipment for any hunters that might plan to sit in the forest. Then, all four of us walked back to Aam Chowki.

Aam Chowki. This is where I sat all night

Looking for animals to come at this artificial waterhole

Though, it was just 8 in the morning, but the sun was already really harsh and it wasn't easy walking back. When we reached Aam Chowki, we found out that now we were to walk our way back to Kushalipura check-post from where vehicle would pick us to take us back to the division office. Now that was the maximum patience I could keep with the operations of Forest Department and I called up the control room to provide us a vehicle. The person there told us that it was only a few kilometers further away and that we have walked so much, why not a little more. At that point, we decided to end cooperating with the forest department and walked to the road where we hopped onto a local bus that drove us to Sawai Madhopur City.

Walking to Jamoda I waterhole to fetch the two volunteers there

The experience of sitting inside the jungle overnight is frightening but equally fun. However, the arrangements provided by forest department were really disappointing. I will put those in points here:
1.Nobody came to check on us after putting us on machans for 7.5 hours. If we might have hurt our head or any such part when our machan came down, we could easily have died due to loss of blood in that much time. Ideally, they should check on all machans in 2-3 hours for such emergency situation. Other than machan coming down, snake bites or animal attacks could also need such patrols.
2. It was their duty to take us to our machans in vehicles, but they simply refused to provide that and told us to walk when temperature was soaring at 45 degrees.
3. We were also told that we would be provided with drinking water while we were told to drink the greenish standing water of the waterholes where all the animals bath and drink as well. We can easily fall sick drinking it.
4. Even when we are telling them that our machan came down, instead of accepting that and being a little apologetic, the forester, Omprakash Sharma is shouting back at us telling us that we are trying to fool him.

Thats the Machan I was supposed to sit at and the one that crashed onto the rocks

And its branches had these fresh claw marks of a Leopard

Overall, the forest department didn't seem to care at all for the volunteers and anyone wanting to do this in coming years should be prepared to do this at their own risk and responsibility.

While I was hanging on the tree, these primates are seated on the ground

More from the wilds of Ranthambore

Indian Hare, the bubbly guys!!

Before the parks close for Monsoons on June 30th, I made another weekend trip to Ranthambore National Park. Another night's drive of around 400 kms in superfast mode ensured that we reached our hotel just in time for our morning safari. However, even the superfast mode didn't give us a minute's time to relax at the hotel as our safari vehicle was waiting for us as we entered the hotel.

T-28, star male

During my last two visits, I have only been to zone 3 & 5. Thankfully, this time I got a change of scenery as we were allotted zone 2 for our morning safari. This is one of the smaller zones and falls into the territory of T-28 male tiger and T-22 female tigress.  With more experience, I have realized that sighting a tiger is totally a matter of luck and now I don't expect to see a tiger every time I am out on a safari.  But I got lucky again, as we took a curve and saw T-28, the star male named so because of a star sign over his left eye, right next to the road about 10 meters ahead of us. Thanks to our driver who couldn't switch gears smoothly and made enough noise to disturb the tiger who drifted into the woods. This same tiger passed before our gypsy the last time I visited Ranthambore without giving us a clear shot. And he did the same thing again. However dominant he might be known as, he surely is camera shy.

After that, we tried to locate him again without any success. Then, we moved further into the jungle in the hope of sighting T-22, which again didn't happen. So, apart from the short sighting and a few dancing peacocks, this safari was pretty dull and we were out of the park half hour before the allotted time. A sleepy breakfast followed and we dozed off to catch whatever little sleep we could before afternoon safari.

In our afternoon safari, we got zone 4. I had wanted to visit this zone for long as the legendary tigress, Macchli now inhabits this zone. At 16 years, Machhli is claimed to be the oldest tigress in the wild and is also famed for having killed a crocodile. At this old age, she doesn't move much which increases our probability of sighting her in her smaller territory.

T-25, a 6 yr old male

However, we were in for a pleasant surprise when we entered our zone gate. A gypsy was coming backward trying to tracking a male tiger. As expected, we also started tracking and after straining our eyes for sometime trying to look into the woods, I saw something huge moving parallel to the road. He came into the clearing and here he was, a huge male tiger over 10 feet long from nose to tail. While he was scent marking a tree to warn other predators of his territorial presence, I could here shutters clicking all around me. If it hadn't been for a well traveled Bengali uncle in our gypsy who literally commanded our driver to stop, the tiger would have crossed the road right in front of us. Still, we were satisfied having sighted such a magnificent tiger. He was T-25, also famous for being the only male tiger known to be bringing up two cubs after the tigress died last year. I wonder why his other name is "Zaalim" even after him being caring enough to think of the cubs and not moving on to some other tigress.

Machhli, the grand old dame of Ranthambore

After the tiger crossed the road and disappeared on the other side, we went further into our zone in search of Macchli. On our way, we passed by Malik Talab which had become just a small pool of water in which many birds like painted stork, cormorant, black headed ibis and spoonbill were found fishing in the shallow waters. We also passed by many dancing peacocks enjoying the slight drizzle that had made the weather in this May afternoon enjoyable.

A paradise Flycatcher

As we approached Lakarda area of the national park, we finally saw Machhli walking across the road. She seemed smaller and whiter compared to other tigers. Probably a result of of old age!! While I clicked a few pictures, she moved nonchalantly to finally lie under a palm tree. From here, she was heard growling for over 10 minutes which probably signified hunger as she is unable to hunt efficiently having lost all four canines in battle/hunting. We then went to the forest checkpost and asked the person posted there to feed the tigress as she seemed hungry. Upon our way out, we saw a dead Civet. Civets are known to climb trees and he possibly fell to his death. We also saw some exotic birds here like Paradise Flycatcher, Green Beaeater, Shrike, Golden Orioles. Paradise Flycatcher was really a treat to the eye with its magnificent orange color which turns to white with age.

A Heron looking for its prey

Back at hotel, we dived into the pool to get some respite from the dry heat of May. Our hotel was perfect in all aspects including good rooms, nice swimming pool, a good lawn except for food which was tasteless without fail.

A sambhar deer in middle of Rajbagh Lake eating aquatic plants

Next morning, we woke up around 5:30 and hurried ourselves to the hotel gate, where our gypsy was waiting for us. This time we got zone 3 which is the most scenic zone of Ranthambore as it has three lakes which act as perfect habitat of both prey as well as predator. Though zone 3 used to be quite popular for tiger sighting a few years back when Machhli ruled the lakes with her 3 cubs, but I have not seen a tiger in zone 3 in over 3 safaris.

A monstrous Monitor Lizard

Upon entering the zone, we first went inside hoping to see T-19, a female tigress with 3 cubs. However, we were out of luck as the area was totally devoid of any signs of her presence. After that, we came back around Rajbagh lake to find a number of alarm calls warning of the presence of a predator in the area. Finally when we reached the source of alarm calls, we saw a sick cheetal sitting on a rock and a sambhar deer was giving alarm calls while looking at the cheetal. Sambhar deers have very weak eyesight but a strong sense of smell. Here it seemed as if the sambhar had caught the smell of tiger scent from some earlier territory marking and he confused the sick cheetal for a tiger. Standing there with his tail up, he continued to give alarm call for over an hour. Disappointed, we moved around the lake where we saw a couple of small crocodiles lying in the sun while a number of sambhar deers were inside the lake eating aquatic plants without seeming to fear for their life. Also, three monitor lizards were moving along the lake searching for bird eggs to eat.

Biggest Turtle I have ever seen

On the other side of the lake, we saw a giant turtle resting about 5 meters away from the lake. Disturbed by the sound of our gypsy, the turtle immediately put its head inside his shell and moved into the lake. Though, we didn't see a big cat in this safari, but seeing that huge turtle kept us excited.

A female Neelgai

In our afternoon safari, we got the only zone I didn't want to see: Zone 1. This is the smallest zone here and there are hardly any water left in this zone in the month of May. Though this zone falls into the territory of two tigers but both would have moved somewhere in search of water. There are some specific berries loved by bears in this zone which also opens the possibility of a sloth bear here. However, as feared, the zone was totally dry in terms of animals except for a few langurs and spotted deers.

A beautiful Golden Oriole

Monsoons are not really easy for Tigers as water in the lakes increases the reach of crocodiles enhancing chances of a conflict between the two ferocious animals. Also their prey gets more dispersed due to the flooding in low lying areas and availability of grass in higher plateaus. So wishing the 8-9 cubs recently born in Ranthambore all the luck in surviving their first monsoon rains!!!!

Painted Storks in Flight mode

Where Tigers rule: Ranthambore National Park

When I visited Ranthambore last year for a day and failed to see a tiger, I had decided that I will come back here again. I always had a feeling that I missed seeing one by a very slight margin. So I decided to drive to Ranthmabore on a Friday night, have four safaris over Saturday n Sunday and drive back after the evening safari on Sunday. Last year I committed a big mistake of doing these safaris in a Canter, which is like a minibus with its top removed. Though you can still see a tiger but the canter with its inability to maneuver easily and the time it takes in picking up all the tourists reduces the probability of seeing a tiger significantly. So I booked my safaris in gypsy with Ranthambore Bagh. I would highly recommend this place to anyone going there. With the owner himself being a wildlife photographer, this place is built with a passion that won't be seen in other resorts in Ranthambore.

Safari 1: We got zone number 3 in our 1st safari. Its surely the most scenic zone with three lakes here. Also, the chances of sighting a tiger here are good as these lakes provide nice habitat to a tiger with enough water n prey present. Zone 3 falls into the territory of T-28 male tiger, T-17 female and T-19 female with her 3 cubs. However, we were out of luck as this zone was totally dry during our safari. No pugmarks, no warning calls. We had to make do with just crocodiles, deers, monkeys and a number of birds.

Safari 2: When we reached back to our hotel, we found out that people in zone 4 and 5 had seen multiple tigers, so we requested the agents to get us those zones for the evening safari as tigers hardly move during the day. We got zone 5. Its the biggest zone and the ride is quite harsh on your back in this zone. Sundari(T17) The start to this safari was similar to the earlier safari with just deers, monkeys and birds to give us company. However, i still had hope as tigers normally move late evening when its a bit colder. After about 2 hours, we saw a canter and a gypsy parked saying that there is a tiger nearby. We moved closer to them and there she was. Sundari(T-28), a female tigress big enough to ruling a territory as big as male tigers of 40-50 sq kms, sleeping on a rock. After lying there for sometime, finally she got up to move towards the stream. This was our chance to have a closer look at her. With atleast 7-8 vehicles there, our gypsy driver drove in reverse gear for over 100 meters on such difficult terrain to get us probably the second best view of the beautiful tigress. She sat in the water for about 15 mins giving us enough time to take pictures. After that she walked into the woods and we exited the park for the day. Safari 3: Though we didn't want it, but we got Zone 3 again. By now, I had started trusting my luck though having seen 3 tigers in my last three safaris. I actually did get lucky as we had just entered our zone when a gypsy came backwards with the guide announcing the approach of a tiger. After a bit of commotion with all the gypsies moving backward and forth, he came out of the bushes, crossed the road and climbed onto the ruins to analyze his territory before disappearing into the bushes on the other side. T-28, Star Male Fort Territory This was T-28 or Star Male, the biggest tiger of Ranthambore. Though Sundari was big but T-28 seemed massive compared to her. More than that, I just loved the attitude with which this tiger crossed the route totally unperturbed by all the cars around. Rest of the time in this safari was spent looking for T-19, the female with 3 cubs. However, she is known to be shy and not easily spotted. That belief was proved when we couldn't find any trace of her but still came back mesmerized by T-28. Safari 4: I wanted to see the grand old dame of Ranthambore, the oldest tigress in the wild, 17 year old Machli or Crocodile killer or Queen of the Lakes. While male tigers are known to be dominant and stronger, it was Machli's 10 year reign of the highly desired Fort territory of Ranthambore that made her a legend. She finally left the territory for her daughter, Sundari. With her canines broken and a weak old body, she now lives in Zone 4. For this very reason, I requested my agent to provide us Zone 4. However, we were again allotted Zone 5. Though we were pretty disappointed, but our guide almost promised us that he will show us atleast one tiger. That helped in soaring our spirits high. T-39 He didn't have to work hard to keep that promise. We had just entered the National Park and were on the common road for the park and Ranthambore Fort when we saw almost all the jeeps parked. We understood that we are in luck again. It took about 15 mins before we could spot the black n yellow stripes in the woods. It was T 39 and she was walking towards us after drinking water at the stream below. Finally she came out of the woods right next to our jeep and looked towards us. She seemed hungry and our guide concluded that she must have just fed her cubs by looking at her nipples. A forest guard present there was happy to see that as that confirmed that there were new cubs in the Park. After staring at us for a few seconds, she moved parallel to the road before jumping onto it and move into the woods on the other side. She was the closest I could be to a tiger. Anymore closer, she would have been in our jeep. Then we went into our zone hoping to find Sundari again but that didn't happen. We came out of the park after our final safari of the trip and were more than satisfied after seeing 3 tigers from close. RANTHAMBORE TIPS 1. If you are going from Delhi by road, go to Jaipur. From jaipur move on Tonk Road(NH 12) before turning left from Kothun. Continue on this till Lalsot and turn right from there. This is the best route among all you will see on Google Maps. 2. Do whatever it takes to get a gypsy for safari. 3. Do atleast four safaris to enhance your probability of seeing a tiger and enjoy the wildlife. 4. If you still don't see a tiger, go back again!!