India: Winter '08
India is the first of many new destinations to be visited by Chris as he starts the Animals on the Edge project, photographing the world's most endangered species. Follow his adventures through the jungles of central India, in search of tigers.
Three little cubs
19th January 2008
An amazing morning! I marvel at the brilliance of our trackers, as they syphon every sound of the forest and manoeuvre the elephants in a seemingly random manner that turns out to be a well planned pursuit of the big cat. Today we really do hit the jackpot as we finally encounter a mother with three cubs, which we were aware was around the area but had until now eluded us. The cubs are, at first, nervous. But they soon lose their inhibitions and, with mum watching over them close by, they begin to play. Therre are times when the camera is a liability and I take moments out to simply observe these magnificent animals at close quarters. It defies me how anyone could humt this creature - a question I will seek an answer to before long, when I interview a tiger poacher for the project.
Two steps behind
20th January 2008
We sit in the vehicle, engine off, listening for the tell-tale akarm calls of langurs and monkeys but especially sambar. There's a loud bark and we're away, following the sound in search of the elusive tiger. The skills of the trackers are impressive but the big cat stays two steps ahead of us and we're thwarted yet again. It's provong to be a long day that ultimately will end in disappointment. There's always tomorrow.
Bellies full
21st January 2008
We get a call on the radio, our cubs have been sighted. We speed to the pick up point and switch from 4-wheel drive to 4-legged drive. The elephant heads deep into the forest and we spot mum under a bush, asleep. Close by is the carcass of a sambar, enough food to keep her and her three cubs fed for the a week. The cubs are nearby, too full to play, their little bellies full. Photography proves difficult, as they cat nap under the thicket. In the end our patience is rewarded as one cub emerges and belly flops onto a log in the only area of open ground. Later, the afternoon again proves disappointing, the forest asleep.
A merry dance
22nd January 2008
We're back in the forest on our elephant, which is proving far more reliable when it comes to finding tigers than our vehicle. We find a lone male deep in the forest and begin to follow him. He leads us through thicket, down into dry riverbeds and up steep banks, criss crossing the forest floor. It's a merry dance and I get the distinct impression the tiger is just playing with us, a game of hide and seek. The game lasts an hour before the big cat seemingly bores of our presence and slinks behind a bush ... and is gone. It's victory to the tiger but I'm not disappointed; the photography has been good and I'm not the first and won't be the last person to be outwitted by the true king of the jungle. Later, we give up on the afternoon search for tigers and concentrate on photographing a herd of upland barasingha, a deer that is more endangered than the tiger.
The people have their say
23rd January 2008
It's my last full day in Kanha and today, as part of the project, I travel to a local village to interview the Forest Committee. Fifteen members of the committee show up and we are shown kindness and warm hospitality. Nanda translates my questions and repeats back the villager's answers, which mirror the information I gleaned from pre-assignment research. What is most disturbing is that the answers this committee gives are the same as the answers to similar questions asked ten years previously by Latika Nath, one of my tiger consultants. It seems that, despite their protestations, nothing has changed in a decade. In terms of the project, the interview is a success but I leave despondent. If nothing has changed in ten years, what makes us think the next ten will yield any difference in attitude? And if nothing changes, what hope has the tiger?
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