THE COOL CATS!

Tales from the land of Kabini. Meeting the incredible big cats, as well as other wildlife, in their natural habitat, is truly fascinating. The author takes us along on his journey to spot these beauties!

- RAMANA KAILASH C. R

One of the ambitions of most wildlife enthusiast is to see a tiger or any big cat in its wild environment but it is always governed by probability and “luck”. I have travelled to more than six tiger reserves and various wildlife sanctuaries in south India, on multiple occasions, but I have failed to sight these mysterious animals time and time again. Big cats have always captured my imagination. It is more than a ‘charismatic’ animal for me; an unexplainable admiration lies in my heart when it comes to big cats. That is the reason my first ever novel, Fire of Sumatra, had Sumatran tigers as the main characters.

To increase the possibility of spotting them, we decided on a plan to cover three tiger reserves of two states in four days with the help of six safaris. Despite my positive intuitions, I was cautiously optimistic.

Our first stop was Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka [one of the earliest reserves to be designated as a tiger reserve] and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu, both a part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. It was the end of May, the setting was perfect with clear weather but lush greenery due to rainfall the week before. Travelling through the green vegetation, we saw herds of elephants, guars, and spotted deer. They were everywhere in the region. When we were on the way to our residence in Bandipur, we saw a pack of dholes consisting of three individuals trotting across the road. It was totally unexpected and exhilarating. But I was not fortunate enough to experience the sight of a tiger or a leopard.