Loading search...
Bret Charman continues his month-long trip to India with visits to the Tiger Reserves of central India, his mission to take as many photographs as possible …
Indian Dhole by Bret Charman
Next, I travelled from Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) to Nagpur (the geographical centre of India) using the Indian Railway. After a 7-hour delay and a further 18 hours travel, I finally arrived in Nagpur and headed to the comfort of the Tuli Imperial Hotel. The next day I met up with the pre-tour extension group for Naturetrek’s ‘Tiger Direct!’ holiday and we headed off to Tadoba Tiger Reserve to stay in the small but homely Tiger Trails Lodge.
The highlight in Tadoba Tiger Reserve was, ironically, not Tigers. We did get a brief glimpse of a Tiger on our first day but that was our only Tiger sighting in Tadoba – in fact it proved to be the sightings of Indian Dhole (Asiatic Wild Dog) which were my favourite here. On our second morning in Tadoba, just as we had entered the park, our driver spotted some movement ahead as a group of Wild Dog puppies ran into the road playing. After a few minutes watching these beautiful animals we noticed the two adults on the edge of the thick bamboo forest. After spending nearly half an hour watching this wonderful family we went off in search of a Tiger, only to find another three Wild Dog hunting Chital Deer. The Wild Dog charged at the deer causing panic, as if they were trying to work out which of the animals was weakest.
The next day Indian Dhole were the highlight once again. This time an adult appeared on the edge of the forest and decided to lie down in the shade. After a few moments a pup appeared and approached its mother. We stayed with these wild animals for about five minutes before it was time for them to move.
Pench National was our next stop, and we were looking forward to the possibility of seeing Tiger. Our first drive was a little disappointing as we only saw the usual deer species (Chital and Sambar) with a brief sighting of a Nilgai (India’s largest antelope). However, on our second drive we saw a huge variety of game and then a group of vehicles ahead. In India, if you see a large group of vehicles in a Tiger Reserve, it can mean only one thing, a Tiger. After a few minutes our guides spotted the movement of a Tigress and her five cubs across a small valley. It took us all a few moments to see where the Tigers were and then we got that amazing buzz that only somebody who has seen a Tiger can understand. Everybody always remembers their first sighting of a Tiger. After half an hour of watching the cubs playing with their mother we had to make our way to the park gate.
On our second morning in Pench we saw a Leopard run across the road and had some superb monkey sightings. Still no close encounters with a Tiger but with a leopard sighting and one clear view of a Tiger in Pench, one cannot be disappointed. With a few more drives in the coming days (in other Tiger reserves), there would still be plenty of chances.
For more information on our India holidays, click here.