We saw this pack of dhole at the Sunkadakatte gate during a forest department paid safari. This is a part of the Mysore-Manathavady Highway is restricted to vehicular traffic.… Read More
Peacock Display in Nagarahole
This peacock put on a beautiful show for tourists in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve.… Read More
Tourists Chase Away Bonnet Macaques in Bandipur
Tourists choose to have a picnic right beneath a warning sign board in Bandipur National Park, on the Mysore-Ooty Road. A bonnet macaque interested in their food invites their wrath. The Karnataka Forest Department has marked this exact place as an elephant crossing zone.… Read More
First Ever Camera Trap Photo of Striped Hyena in Bandipur Tiger Reserve
Striped hyenas have been documented before in Mudumalai, but there have only been anecdotal reports of their presence in adjoining Bandipur. Their presence in adjacent areas inside Karnataka is only speculative. The last two authentic evidences documenting their presence, are a road kill reported by Dr. Ullas Karanth around Nugu Wildlife Sanctuary in 1984 (observed and collected by the then ACF (Wildlife), Mysore); and another observation and a mobile phone capture by Praneet Goteti in farmlands around Bandipur (Moyar area) … Read More
Stray Dog Chasing Blackbuck
Here is an image of a stray dog chasing a herd of Blackbuck in the Jayamangali Blackbuck Conservation Reserve (formerly Maidenahalli). There were at-least 5 or 6 more dogs chasing the bucks, in a very organized fashion (not unlike dholes). This is a serious threat, as the fawns are easy targets for these dogs.
The reason these dogs enter the sanctuary is unchecked tourism. Often, tourists from nearby villages picnic inside the reserve and leave behind food, thus attracting dogs. … Read More
Mugger Entangled in a Fishnet, Ranganthittu
My friends and I visited the Ranganthittu Sanctuary, near Mysore, Karnataka, on the afternoon on July 6th. We noticed this mugger, lying on a rock in the river when we were taken for a boat ride in the sanctuary. It had a nylon fishing net and twigs stuck into its mouth, and seemed to be feeling uncomfortable. It was struggling to get rid of the net and twigs. When we tried to approach it to have a closer look, the … Read More
Village Dogs and Indian Gaur, Nagarahole
Every year, the backwaters of the Kabini river recede in summer, allowing a lush carpet of grassy meadows to develop. It kickstarts game movement, as animals head towards the water and and also enjoy the lush grazing grounds. The general scarcity of water attracts not only elephants from neighboring ranges, but also herds of gaur and sadly, humans too. This forest, like many others, has tribal settlements on the periphery. The further the water recedes, the deeper the humans intrude. … Read More
Resort Vehicles and Responsibility
I witnessed this at Kabini in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, where a canter van belonging to Jungle Lodges and Resorts was stopped extremely close to a wild tusker. When we approached the scene, the van was parked on the safari track with the tusker close to it on the left. The tusker then moved slightly towards the van (may be a metre or so) and then stopped, but the van remained in its position. Only when there were signs of a … Read More
Camera ‘Traps’ Black Leopards in Dandeli-Anshi
Perhaps because they remind people of ‘Bagheera’, from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, or perhaps because of their distinctive look, black leopards have always generated a buzz. Although they are just a genetic variant among the more common spotted form, it is usually assumed, even among many conservationists, that black leopards are a different species. Though the black form also occurs in dry forests, it tends to be more common in denser and humid forest regions (for example virtually all leopards … Read More
Being Human
This was photographed early in the morning at Nandi hills (near Bangalore), a good birding destination with an evergreen forest patch on the top.
A Bonnet Macaque that lives in the wild, with no human interaction is a docile, shy creature. As a stark contrast, the ‘monkey’ that all city-folk know exhibits the exact opposite behavior – aggressive, thieving, angry, and dangerous even. The way this intelligent, curious species has adapted itself to whatever environment it has been introduced to … Read More
BPL – 123, Tale of a Leopard
This one belies the field guides and the natural history books, which usually dismiss the leopard’s diet as “scrounging on smaller prey.” In actual fact, leopards are powerful predators that routinely kill fairly hefty prey such as spotted deer and sambar fawns.
Even so, Vinay S Kumar’s photograph of a leopard dragging a gaur calf is not a sight you see everyday. The picture, which was taken in Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve, shows a male leopard dragging his massive kill … Read More
Morning Rush, Nagarahole
The Mysore-Mananthavadi road passes right through the Nagarahole National Park. This particular stretch of the road is quite smooth and most vehicles zip across, at good speeds. People who have visited this park have seen a lot of wildlife around this stretch and know how dangerous it is when so many vehicles drive past every day.
This image is the last elephant of a herd that crossed the road one evening inside Nagarahole National Park, as safari jeeps and regular … Read More
Chitals Chewing Plastic and Paper, Bandipur
This is an image from Bandipur. After a fine morning drive, having sighted a leopard in all its glory, the constituents of our vehicle were beaming with happines. However, the drive back to the resort brought everyone back to reality. Very close to the checkpost of Bandipur National Park, we saw tourists proceeding towards Ooty, feeding bread and jam to a herd of Chital. It has to be noted that of late, drivers and naturalists of Jungle Lodges and Rests … Read More
Leopard With Gaur Calf Kill, Bandipur
I had heard about this leopard with a gaur calf kill 3 days prior to making this image. The leopard was unable to carry the kill atop the tree because of its size. The kill lay vertically beneath the tree but no one saw it till the leopard got down from the tree and dragged the kill to other side of the game track. Inspite of multiple days of feeding the kill was still massive in size relative to the … Read More
Leopard Outside Protected Areas
We all know that unlike tigers, leopards are not strictly confined to national parks wildlife sanctuaries. This leopard (do you see the two little cubs!) was photographed near Jayapura Village, H D Kote Road. Because of rapid expansion of urban areas, we constantly hear of leopard captures in towns and even cities. In Mysore city alone, during the last few months, three leopards were captured:
Chamundi Hills: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/217901/leopard-trapped-chamundi-hills.html
N R Mohala, Mysore: http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/karnataka/article3003671.ece
Bellikere, Mysore: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2852542.ece … Read More
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