Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Indian Gaur, Bandipur Dec15

Me and my family were on family vacation and we visited Kabini, BRT Hills. we were returning from BRT Hills on 25th Dec 2015, the manager at BRT hills said to us that we should visit Bandipur as the tiger sightings are going on. He told us to try our luck, we said we will try. We did visit Bandipur Tiger Reserve, we missed tiger by 1 min and my wait to see my first tiger still increased till this year in March 2016. To our luck, my first date with tiger which happened at Bandipur this year in March 2016.

Bandipur has got lovely wildlife, it has got abundant deer families, which is a good indicator of healthy food chain. It is a dry forest, gaurs, elephants and deers will be seen in abundant, along with one deadly predator Wild Dogs.

So when we visited Bandipur in December 2015, we did see this beautiful Indian Gaur. These are found almost in all the jungles of India. They weigh from 650 kg to 1000 kg. They are dangerous when they are teased. They can even fight the predators and on their day they can even kill them. One video went viral of gaurs fighting lions.

So we were into the forest and we bumped into a herd of gaurs, where one was a huge gaur and was looking straight into the camera. I did click few of them. It was very ferocious and was intensely looking at us and then suddenly it ran and we thought it was towards us, but it changed the course and ran into the waterhole nearby, maybe due to fear. But, if it was to bump us, it would have been a very deadly collision.

Have a look at this huge Gaur - Wildlife and Wildlife Photography blog ...............................

Indian Gaur - jungle_tales - Nimit Bhatt

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Indian Gaur - Bandipur December 2015

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Indian Gaur, Bandipur, Dec'15

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Bandipur Trip, March 2016

This was at Bandipur, March'15,we were into our fourth safari, and we got a tip that there is a sighting of leopard. We immediately sped off in that direction and we saw this leopard on the tree having breakfast of deer and it was there for almost 30 mins and gave us good time for photography. As soon as more vehicles dropped it went down into the bushes.

Our naturalist said to wait and it will come back, all the other jeeps and buses went to the other place. We waited and to our surprise this leopard, just jumped from the bushes onto the tree and vanished into the bushes on the other side.

Before it vanished, I got this shot - Wildlife and Wildlife Photography Blog..................


This was clicked from - Nikon D750, Nikkor 70-200mm lens

I'm also attaching the same Leopard on the tree picture just for the reference - It was clicked from Nikon D4S, Nikkor 600mm lens.

Leopard, Bandipur 2016 - jungle_tales - Nimit Bhatt

Leopard - Bandipur March 2016

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Bandipur, March 2016

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Leopard, Bandipur, March 2016

Let me tell you, In India, we have four predators found - Lion, Tiger, Leopards and Wild Dogs. Asiatic Lions are found only in Sasan Gir - Gujarat. No other country has got this pride of having Asiatic Lions.

Tigers are found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerela, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and in East India. Leopards are found all over India, same as Wild Dogs as well or Dhole as they are known.

We were into our fourth safari at Bandipur on 26th March 2016 morning, we entered with the hope that we do see Prince, Leopard and Wild Dogs. We were capturing the images of Crested Hawk Eagle or Changeable Hawk Eagle, when we got a tip saying a Leopard was spotted. We sped off in that direction.

We saw like 6 vehicles converging in one place and were pointing towards a tree in opposite direction. Then we saw a Leopard some 100 mtrs away on a tree having breakfast of a deer.

It was a beautiful sub adult leopard, shiny fur and was looking very intense while having break fast. He had managed to take his prey on the tree all alone. It gave few poses while eating and then it went down the tree into the bushes.

Our naturalist said that lets wait because he has not gone very far and it will come back to the tree, as they do not leave the prey unprotected. After 15 mins, it came from the backside of the vehicle and I managed to click a picture (yet to be processed). It went into the bushes never to return not even in he evening.

Please do have a look at this Leopard pics - Wildlife and WIldlife Photography Blog .......................

Leopard, Bandipur 2016 - jungle_tales - Nimit Bhatt

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Leopard, Bandipur March 2016

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Prince, The Unsung Hero of Bandipur, March 2016

Please welcome the Hero of Bandipur - Prince, a handsome 12 yrs old charming Tiger. Brave and most feared Tiger of Bandipur.

We were on our first safari at Bandipur on 24th March 2016, around 6 pm we were capturing a bird when we saw a jeep and a bus speeding off in one direction, obviously we were curious and wanted to know what were we missing on, we sped off in the same direction. On the way we came to know a Tiger was spotted in one area called Katte.

Now my heart was pounding, as my dream of seeing a Tiger was about to come true and this was around 6 pm in the evening. We were the last jeep to arrive & ahead of us were 3 jeeps and a bus. I was ready with my Nikon D750 70-200m lens to shoot the lovely animal.

Two minutes later, Prince - Tiger, the national animal of India makes the entry in the frame. The light was low and it was a perfect timing where he entered. Lovely, majestic and just out of a muddy waterhole. It was having a majestic walk and marking its territory and gave us a time for lot of photography and I was thrilled and awestruck though I did capture some fantastic images of him. At one moment, he just looked at me and suddenly my hands and legs were stuck at one place in the jeep, as he was just 5 mtrs away from the jeep.

Well after his act of marking his territory was over (of which I have the images), he just retreated in the bushes never to be seen again in that evening.

What an animal ! Majestic and I was like did it really happen ! We cannot go and pinch Prince to see whether he was really there or not. But, that safari I will never forget in my life. It was my first sighting of Tiger ever ! I had missed narrow chances of spotting it in Kabini and Bandipur earlier in Dec 2015.

Again, we saw him on 26th March 2016 eve, from the bushes coming out and then sitting lazily. He made few sounds to call a female as our naturalist said. He then went into the waterhole and was there till we left around 2 hrs. That was the most scenic picture I could have.

My trip ended on 27th March 2016. It was the most memorable one, though my brother was missed a lot.

Prince - the Hero of Bandipur: He is 12 yrs old, has fought five fights and has killed Tigers which were powerful than him. He fought his last fight in March 2015. He was not seen till November 2015. He was weak and had lost his two cannines, which meant he now could not hunt Gaurs which he used to before fight and his favorite food. Now, the forest department officials say, he can survive one more fight and maybe after that we may not see him again.

Now, he is the owner of his territory and two tigers are roaming in the periphery of the Jungle and waiting for him to die or fight him to claim his territory back.

Here are the pictures of Prince our Hero, and we might not know, will we see him next time we go or not ! - Wildlife and Wildlife Photography................

Prince - jungle_tales - Nimit Bhatt

Prince - Unsung Hero of Bandipur

Wildlife and Wildlife Photography - Prince, The Unsung Hero of Bandipur, March 2016