On The Prowl

An average trip into the lush jungles of Kabini turns extraordinary when a leopard is spotted moving in and successfully making a kill. Here’s a first-person account.

- Sheshadri Vasan

Be patient in the jungle and take clues from nature. This is what we learnt from our recent trip to Kabini, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. It was a lush green morning during the monsoons – the best time to drive through a forest. This season is very challenging to sight a big cat. Just 30 minutes into our drive, we spotted a calm, young, healthy leopard sitting by the track. Apart from a few scars – an effect of fights – on his face and neck, he looked very focused and undisturbed by the presence of humans around him.

The forest’s green backdrop and the leopard sitting in the centre gave us great opportunities for excellent habitat shots. Just then our driver mentioned that the animal could possibly hunt soon. We were unsure of being so lucky to witness this and continued to focus on the leopard.

After a while, the leopard got up, stretched and walked along the side of the trail and disappeared into the jungles through the thick lantana. Our hearts sank as we thought the act for the day was over. We asked our driver to move ahead hoping to sight a tiger or elephant.

He again suggested we should wait as he had noticed the leopard focusing on a herd of spotted deer and could possibly hunt today.