31st March 2011 Day 6 - Will we see a Tiger?

An early start  (again!!) we set off in our cantor hoping to see at least one of the Elusive Three.  Lots of excitement as peacocks were spotted.  Lots of clicking of cameras.  I have peacocks living in the village and it’s not unusual to see one sitting on my fence - I didn’t come here to see peacocks!! :)  Deer were spotted, monkeys, several beautiful species of birds but no bears, leopards or tigers, alas.....

Then, someone shouted “BEAR”, pointing to a high rocky ridge. Much excitement, binoculars, pointing and clicking of cameras. One out of three……

According to our guide, tigers like to walk on the trail as it’s sandy and soft under their feet.  Every now and then he and the driver would lean over the side of the canter in search of a foot print.  No footprints this morning….

Time to head back to the hotel - oh well....

Until…..the driver, leaning over the side, pointed to a ‘footprint’.  We ALL leaned over to inspect said footprint. “It wasn’t there as we drove in. It’s a footprint of a female, about 4 yrs old” said the Guide. “She must have walked this way after we passed on the way in”.  I didn’t really believe him (as the girls might say ‘Yeah, whatever’ :)) .  We stayed there in silence, the Guide and Driver’s knowledgeable eyes and ears scanning the area for clues of her whereabouts.  The Guide thinks she may be heading down through the wooded area nearby,  he can hear the warning calls of monkeys, birds, deer in the distance.  We move the cantor off trail.  More waiting, More listening.  More watching.

Then I see a shadow moving in the trees - whispered excitement in the cantor.  I see her left front paw first and then there she is walking slowly towards us.   She glances our way but is unperturbed by our presence and keeps coming calmly towards us, passing us within 3 feet of us, down by the side of us and up into the wooded area and eventually out of sight.  Wow!!! 

The Guide  thinks she’s heading to the water hole nearby so off we go as fast as you can go in a cantor over bumpy territory, that is…..once more, in silence we sit and sure enough she comes into vision as if totally oblivious of our presence.  She lies down, licking her paws, looking around, as if posing for a photo shoot!!  And with that, up she got and almost within touching distance but in total silence she glided past us and once again disappeared into the trees…..how anyone could kill this beautiful creature either as a trophy or for medicinal purposes is beyond me.  I am thankful for this project at Ranthambore to protect and enable the conservation and protection of this endangered magnificent animal.