Adventure & Wildlife Magazine - Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 Vol 1|Issue 5-6| Nov 16 - Jan 17 | Page 91

ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
We thought he might be resting deep inside the bushes
and lingered in the area for a while, suddenly there was
a sound of rustling leaves coming from the bushes, we
thought the Tiger is pulling the kill near to the waterhole
so that it would be easy for his next meal. We instantly
turned our vehicle and parked near the water hole. We
waited for almost 45minutes in the vehicle and then
somebody whispered... “Tiger...Tiger..”, we were fully
alert in an instant. There he was, very far, rolling down on
the ground trying to get rid of the pesky flies on his back.
He got up and then started walking straight towards the
water hole, head-on, staring straight in to the cameras.
He then turned and then put his hind legs & tummy in
to the water first, comfortably settling in to a position to
relax and drink the water. We had seen on TV that tigers,
known for their hunting skills, need lot of water content
as their body heat increases drastically after making a kill
and ingesting the raw flesh. The tigers prefer resting in
the shade in a pool of water in order to lower their body
temperature and aid in digestion of their meal . It was one
insane experience witnessing it with our own eyes.
Sonum’s Male Cub head on
Location: Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserver, Maharastra
Date: 20/11/16, 9:28:42 AM
Camera Info: Nikon D750, Nikkor 200-500 F5.6
Metadata: Focal length- 500mm, Aperture- F/5.6,
Shutter Speed - 1/4000sec, ISO – 800, Exposure (-0.33)
Vol 1|Issue 5-6|Nov 16 - Jan 17
In my personal opinion, Tadoba is a dream destination
for an avid tiger enthusiast. If Kabini is called the land
of leopards, then Tadoba can be called the land of tigers.
Isn’t it a good competition between the stripes and the
spots?
It was in the month of November, 2016. What we had
expected to be a normal safari, turned out to be a dream
safari for all of us. We were hoping to sight one of the
cubs from the tigress called “Sonam” also known as the
“Queen of Teliya” from the land of Tigers, “Tadoba”.
We were waiting in its territory to catch a glimpse of the
cubs with the tad bit of information that it was spotted
by some safari jeeps in the early morning. We waited for
nearly 30 minutes in the area... with only the cacophony
of jungle noises permeating the atmosphere...
And as the saying goes “Patience always pays-off ”, we
were dazzled by the mesmerising sight of one of the
famed cubs. There he was, sitting beside one of the
bushes by the roadside. We then drove our jeep all around
to come to the perfect spot, where one the cubs of the
Teliya Queen was giving us an opportunity to get that
dream shot of every wildlife photographer i.e., Head-on
as we call it. After a while, getting bored of the crowd
of avid wildlife enthusiasts and photographers,he turned
and walked towards the bushes, to join his mother and
her other cubs that were said to be resting inside the
bushes. At this point of time, I reiterated the fact to
myself that “Patience always does pay off ”.
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