An Encounter with a tigress on foot

Ten minutes after I started my descent from the Bandhavgarh fort with two of my guest, while walking down, we heard warning call of a peahen followed by loud fluttering of its wings. This bird flew above us and descended on the other side of the track. Certainly a predator was around. I signaled my guests to be quiet and slowly follow me. Keeping our eyes locked in the direction where we first heard the peahen, we moved forward. After walking for about 20 meters I climbed a rocky outcrop on the right side of the track. A few seconds later, I heard a dry leaf crunch with the weight of a big animal. There she was, a big tigress, not more than 30 m from where we were standing. To my surprise, she was crouched out in open, still so perfectly camouflaged that we were completely oblivious of her presence. As I quickly pointed out this to my guests, she snarled at us and changed course. Monkey on the trees were going berserk. Expecting this tigress to show up again I led my guests to a ruined building nearby which is situated at a height and gives a good view of the surroundings. Besides, we anticipated this tigress crossing the track once again as she changed direction owing to our presence. We waited here for more than 30 minutes. Monkeys kept on giving warning calls since they could see her. We decided to leave the place, as we had to follow the park regulations. Tiger watching in India is one of the most exhilarating wildlife experience one could have but if it entails encountering a predator like tiger on foot, it certainly is going to give you goose bumps even after years of experiencing it.

Posted: Mahua Kothi by Kartikeya Singh Chauhan, Date: 5 March 2007