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A blurred image of a tiger

Tracking a Tiger

Posted on May 1, 2014April 29, 2021

Have you ever wondered how do they go about tracking a tiger? We were sitting in a jeep deep inside the zone 5 of Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan. This was the zone where in the morning two tiger cubs had been spotted. Above the noise of the the Gypsy I couldn’t hear a thing. Suddenly the driver and Anish said, there was an alarm call of a langoor going on. The driver sprang into action and within no time we are close to the langoor which was giving the call. We could still see nothing. There was no tiger close by. As for scanning the area in front of us, it was vast, it included a nala and a hill as well. There was nothing even remotely resembling a tiger that I could see. All this excitement was happening on the Aircel’s #saveourtigers trip.

The driver, Vinod suddely said, “Woh kya hai?” He followed the gaze of the langoor and located the tiger. Leave me on my own and I would have not heard a thing, much less sight a tiger! All I managed was to botch up the shot when the tiger looked back for a fleeting second.You have seen the side profile of the same tiger before. When I looked at the pictures I was quite heartbroken, but then I learn another lesson. Earlier, before 2013 when I had not seen a tiger ever, I would often wonder if the signs the guide and the driver look for were of any use. The guide would always get excited about the pug marks. I had seen pug marks on almost every trip,it would just not lead to the tiger. So, after a while I completely stopped getting excited about the pug marks. Remember my first real safari was in 2009 and I saw a tiger in 2013. Now that was a long wait.

Then there was this business of alarm calls. I clearly remember my trip to Kanha. Deer were giving alarm calls like their life depended on it, well hold a minute their life actually depended on it. It was late in the evening, the tiger was taking its own sweet time in coming out in the open and it was the park’s closing time. So alarm calls or no alarm class, we were forced to head back.

Just managed to catch the tail of the tiger
Bhagte Tiger Ke Punch Hi Sahi

When Chhavi and I were at Sariska, the alarm call business was going on again. After a while it stopped. they told me the predatory decided to sit down somewhere in hiding. After all it had no obligation to anyone to come on the road and reveal itself! In Sariska the tigers are collared and yet nothing stops them from sitting deep in the woods rather than close to the tourist jeeps.

But then whenever I have spotted a tiger (a grand total of 4 tigers, managed pictures of two only) alarm calls have played a role. Even pug marks revealed the tiger moment at Pench.

So the next time your jungle experts talk about alarm calls and pug marks, don’t think of them as folklore just because you have not sighted a tiger yet. I have been in both situations where the experts tried to locate it via pug marks, calls etc and when they are collared. In the collared case, all the guide did was to make phone calls to various people who had tracking devices. I think the alarm call, pug mark way is much more fun. And remember as Anish says “a guaranteed tiger sighting is only possible in a zoo.” Now tracking a tiger is altogether a different game!

PS. Bhagte Tiger Ke Punch Hi Sahi means just managed to catch the vanishing tail of the tiger.

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18 thoughts on “Tracking a Tiger”

  1. Maniparna Sengupta Majumder says:
    May 2, 2014 at 1:29 am

    I really now don’t believe in alarm calls ..after failing to spot a single tiger at Bandhavgarh and Sundarabans ( 4 times ) 🙁 ..we had to make ourselves happy with the pug marks.. .. :-((

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:47 pm

      Next time Maniparna … I waited four years!

      Reply
  2. Pradip Kumar Biswas says:
    May 2, 2014 at 11:08 am

    Except Man-eaters other tigers can be seen most frequently during mating seasons. The monkeys while on a tree drop a lot more branches and this attracts the herbivorous animals like Deer. Seeing this the tiger also start approaching but can not escape the monkeys. So they put an alarming call. When the deer barks near a large bush cover or water shed area, 30% chance exists to see the prowling tiger from the hide out. In my whole life I had close encounter with tigers more than trice and I escaped safe. Only on one occasion the tiger was unseen and we narrowly escaped a fatal accident.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:47 pm

      I am happy to hear that you managed to escape every time. Stay safe.

      Reply
  3. Lady Fi says:
    May 2, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    You finally managed to get a good shot of a tiger!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:44 pm

      Lady Fi let us say I managed to catch a vanishing tiger 😀

      Reply
  4. Nikhil says:
    May 2, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    Congratulations on the sighting.
    Even I second your thought about alarm calls playing an important part. Some work and some don’t…that’s all! 🙂
    Nice write up. 😀

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:40 pm

      Thank you Nikhil. Now I want to see that elusive leopard! Have not sighted a single one.

      Reply
  5. Prasad Np says:
    May 2, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    Watching a tiger for the first time in wild is a life changing experience. I stil remember that evening in Corbett, when we spotted this huge male from the top of our Elephant…guess what I don’t have a picture to share because we were mesmerised by the handsome beast….

    Loved the comment about the Punch 🙂

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:39 pm

      First sightings are always going to be special. 😀

      Reply
  6. sangeeta says:
    May 2, 2014 at 6:58 pm

    I actually thought that the pug mark thing was a folklore…we had followed the pug marks of a tiger in Kaziranga for quite some distance but finally nothing came out of it. Then there was case of alarm calls and hundreds of deer running on the banks of the bhadra river, but still no tiger… not even the poonch of a bhagta tiger hahah!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:37 pm

      Sangeeta one day it will reveal himself/herself! Till then patience 😀

      Reply
  7. Rachel of Hippie in Heels says:
    May 3, 2014 at 12:24 am

    Lucky you sighting one! thats great. Hopefully when I go I can see one too.

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:38 pm

      I am sure you will, it is a matter of time.

      Reply
  8. Bikram says:
    May 3, 2014 at 3:54 pm

    One of the things I want to do before i die.. is see a tiger in the Wild .. seen a lot otherwise and sat with one too but there is a difference between the wild and tame ..

    you are lucky to see one

    Bikram

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:14 pm

      Bikram go on the safaris they are fun otherwise too!

      Reply
  9. Renuka says:
    May 4, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    Something is better than nothing! I could manage just the paw prints!

    Reply
    1. Mridula says:
      May 6, 2014 at 10:13 pm

      Renuka I waited for 4 years before I sighted my first tiger! I used to think they are a myth!

      Reply

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About Me

I am Mridula Dwivedi and I started this blog in 2005. It has been an amazing ride. I have visited 33 countries till date! I have worked with many tourism boards and prominent travel companies. My blog was featured on the BBC and the Guardian.

I did my Ph.D. from IIT Kanpur. I worked full time in academics till 2015! I quit my job as a professor, thinking I will take a break for one year, which turned into five.

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