A Call. A Kill. And then, silence...

It was our second day at TATR and our first safari for the day. We were driving past the Teliya lake when we spotted an Indian Gaur grazing. We slowed down to take pictures of it. But something was off about it. While grazing, it kept looking up in the direction of the thick bamboo trees. It would look up every 30 seconds…it sensed danger.


And then we heard a loud and clear call of an animal, something small, most likely that of a deer. Yes, the guide confirmed it was a deer. And then we heard the same call again. And again. And again. And then suddenly, the gaur that was grazing, ran in the direction of the bamboo trees. It had no idea of what was lurking behind the thick cover of the bamboo trees. All the jeeps waiting on the trail had switched off their engines and were waiting in anticipation. What will happen next? Will the gaur run back out upon seeing the tiger? Will the tiger chase the gaur out? No one knew that this was the silence before the storm…


It was silent for about 30 seconds. And that’s when we heard it. An animal had screamed, as though in pain. The same sound was heard thrice after that. And then, silence…

This was Tigress Sonam’s territory. She had two cubs about 10 months old. It was possible that she was training her cubs to hunt, or that she had to feed her cubs.


Our guide speculated that based on the scream, it might have been a wild dog that was attacked, and most likely, killed. All the jeeps started their engines in unison. There was chaos as all the jeeps were rushing to get to the main road on the other side of the bamboo thicket to try and spot the tigress and her cubs. Our jeep got onto the main road and neared the place from where all the sounds had been coming- it was eerily quiet right now. Another jeep told us that a wild dog had run into the thickness of the bamboo trees before all the sounds had started coming. So we then knew for sure that it was a wild dog that had been attacked.


Everyone stood up in their jeeps, craning their necks to try and spot a flash of fiery orange. Everyone was waiting silently, holding their breaths. But nothing happened. No tigress walked out with her killing trophy, the carcass of an animal, in her mouth. No cubs walked out from behind the trees, following their mother with nothing but admiration in their eyes. Nothing. Just absolute stillness.


We all drove away disappointed. Everyone had hoped to sight the tigress and her cubs within the first hour of the safari. We know for sure that the wild dog had been attacked. But whether or not it had been successfully hunted and killed, is a secret that only Sonam, her cubs and the bamboo trees would know. The cubs would now have a story to tell to their younger ones in future.



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