In Search Of The Elusive Tiger

The engines roar and the dust explodes into the air as the jeeps speed off again. The Rangers have all heard the alarm call from a barking deer and that could only mean one thing, there's a tiger on the move.

This is the jungle, the same jungle Rudyard Kipling wrote 'Jungle Book' about, although he never actually visited here but he had heard many stories about it for a friend who had. In those days it was much bigger and encompassed the three sights that are known today known as Bandhavgar, Kanha and Pench.

There are about ten jeeps here in Banhavgar zone 2, Magdhi, the competition between the drivers is fierce, they are all fighting to get there first and all fighting for prime position just in case the elusive tiger should appear. This is our third drive and definitely the most exciting one yet, the jungle has been quiet in the Tala region, the prime zone, the expensive zone one where most tigers are reputed to be seen but we didn't even hear a whisper. The jungle was quiet apart from mating calls from the hundreds of deer that reside there and the many monkeys up to their hilarious antics.

We were fortunate enough to see a leopard, an extremely rare sighting by all accounts, but it was quite a distance away.

The safaris are exciting although hard work. Hard on your eyes from desperately searching for even a fleeting glimpse, it's brutal on your muscles as you hang on for dear life, especially for me with an already seriously injured back as I try to protect myself from the constant barrage of body shocks.  These jeeps scream up and down hills, they fly over bumps it's like a jeep Grand Prix.  The relentless dust is choking, the jeep drivers frenetic, it's totally crazy but my biggest fear right now is that time is running out for us and I can feel despair beginning to wash over me as the minutes tick by without a sighting. I am not religious but I hear myself praying to gods of any name for just a small glimpse. I darn't blink as I once again search near and far and I hear myself whisper ' Where  are you Shere Khan, where are you, please please let me see you, even if only for a moment.'

We scream to a halt, the dust explodes once more and we sit and wait but the jungle is silent once more, the tiger have stopped moving, there is too much noise coming from the trucks and unbelievably there is a woman with a baby in the jeep next to us. We had spent five hours on each safari and time is running out again.

This is the zone where tigers had recently been seen, the BBC have been filming here, this is the zone where I thought we had the best chance of a sighting but it seems the tigers have eluded us yet again. We now really have only one last chance, only one more drive in the cheapest zone where tigers were rarely seen. It really would be a miracle to see one there.

I almost didn't want to go on our last drive in zone 3, Khitauli, I genuinely believed it was a lost cause but I couldn't give up and I knew I couldn't go on another drive even if we changed our plans, I couldn't have taken another drive, not physically nor mentally. 

We screamed around Zone 3 with the worst driver yet, a real boy racer who charged from one water hole to the next, spinning and sliding the jeep at every opportunity. There didn't even seem to be as many monkeys or deer here that we had seen in the other two zones.  The ranger sat in the back looking totally disinterested with an air about him as if he had drawn the short straw. Even when we saw tiger footprints I didn't dare hope. We stopped by a water hole, the driver played with his mobile phone and the ranger hung his head. There was about 20 minutes left until we had to leave the park for the last time and I was almost glad it was nearly over. Then we heard it! An alarm call from a spotted deer, then another. My eyes widened as hope was renewed. The few monkeys that we had watched playing suddenly disappeared and the jungle seemed to freeze in silence. 

Then to my utter disbelief I heard someone whispered the words I had yearned to hear,

 'She is coming!'

I looked at them in utter disbelief as they pointed far into the jungle. I strained my eyes, searching for any movement and suddenly I saw her, so extraordinarily beautiful, so imperial, majestically gliding towards us, her head held high and her cub running behind her. I was stuck with such emotion that I felt my eyes burst with tears.

She was more beautiful than I had ever imagined, her feline grace, her presence so overwhelming powerful and probably the most amazing creature I have ever seen.  Her colours and her markings so totally unique. She continued towards us, she owned this jungle and she knew it. I tried to focus my camera through blurred vision, I wanted to capture this moment but I could hardly see. My eyes were stinging and everything looked so dark through the lens. I took a few photos but I just wanted to watch her, to cherish every second, to languish every moment, a moment I had felt I had waited for, for so long. Through twenty hours of brutal jeep rides, so much hope had been followed by so much disappointment.  I heard myself whisper please keep coming, please please keep coming but she had heard a noise from one of the other jeeps and simply disappeared into the grass. I looked at my camera and realised it was completely covered in dust, I had forgotten to clean the lens, no wonder everything looked so dark.

The jeeps roared and all backed away from the water hole in the hope she would still decide to return, she didn't disappoint us this time. We watched in amazement as both her and her cub moved stealthily towards the water hole before disappearing down into the fissure and out of site.

The jeeps all moved forwards, our driver stopped approximately three to four meters away from where they were but we couldn't see them with the bank in the way. To our absolute delight the cub decided to climb up out of the water and sit and pose for everyone on the rock opposite but Mum was watching.

Her ears and eyes appeared over the bank, in one leap she could have had any one of us a a snack. The strangest thing is that I had no fear of her. She was protecting her cub and I knew as long as we didn't move in their direct we were safe. A few moments later she joined her cub and they both walked back into the jungle and disappeared once more but before she left she stopped and looked straight at us. It was as if she had looked into our soul and searched it for any threat. She didn't find any there, what she found was utter awe, complete respect and total amazement.

I will never forget those few moments in the jungle, I feel completely emotional remembering them. When I close my eyes I still see her with her penetrating stare. There is nothing that stirs my soul in the same way as being that close to completely wild predator. It's raw, it's dangerous, it's unpredictable and it's never guaranteed. Thank you Shere Khan for those moments with you, I will cherish them until my last breath.

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