Love Is In The Air...

This was our last core safari in Moharli . As usual we first drove past Teliya lake hoping to spot Sonam and her cubs. Again, we didn’t. We drove to the main entry gate of Tadoba. We entered the gate, and soon heard tiger roars coming from the jungles on both our sides. We immediately stopped and sat waiting in complete silence. The tiger on our left was getting closer with every roar. On the other hand, the tiger on our right kept going farther away with every roar, and completely stopped after a while. We assumed it had gone deep into the jungle. But the tiger on our left continued roaring. We sat and listened to it for a good half an hour. It seemed like it was sitting in one place, resting, basking under the warm morning sun.


We got tired of waiting under the sun for so long, so we left that spot for a while and drove further into the jungle. We saw a peacock dancing with its feathers spread open, courting a peahen. It felt like we wouldn’t sight anything noteworthy that day, so we returned back to where the tiger was roaring while resting. We again waited for almost an hour hoping it would show itself, but to no avail.


Apparently there was movement of two tigers further down the road. A tiger had been spotted the previous day crossing the road with a supposed new tigress. We reached the spot where they had crossed. There was a small well and beside that was a man made pond. We waited patiently for another 30 minutes. We hadn’t sighted anything at all so far. Not even a single bird. We were all beginning to lose hope.


That’s when my mom jolted upright. She’d seen some movement behind the sun dried golden grass. A tiger walked out, with slow and heavy footsteps. He was Chota Dadiyal. He, like most other tigers, was big, and had a lion-like mane of hair around his face. He slowly walked to the edge of the pond, bent his knees, and lapped at the water. His shoulder blades were so evident. He looked so strong, so masculine. He then turned towards us upon hearing the noises that the jeeps made as they hustled around to get the tiger in their view. Chota Dadiyal then turned around, with his back facing the pond and slowly step by step, went backward and sat at the edge of the pond. But he kept looking in the direction of the tall trees in front of him as though expecting someone or something…


Another tiger walked out, we were told it’s a tigress. Tigress C-3. She was bright orange in colour, unlike Chota Dadiyal who was pale orange. She too walked towards the pond, and bent down to lap at the water. Even the tigers aren’t able to bear the immense heat! As she was drinking water, Chota Dadiyal got up, his fur black from the mud, and followed her movements. He kept trying to sniff her tail. But she’d constantly walk away from him. He’d again follow her, and she’d again walk away. This went on for about 10 minutes. This was courtship at its finest!


After a while she disappeared behind a cluster of bamboo trees and he tried following her there too. But she’d walk away from him. So instead he chose to pose for the cameras that were pointed at him. He bared his teeth and yawned, sticking his tongue out. Soon C-3 got up, went and sat behind a tree. He followed her there too. And for the first time, C-3 let Chota Dadiyal come closer to him…he had her approval! They were now ready to mate.
We had to leave as we were out of time, but we hoped that the next time we were to return back to TATR, we’d spot a tiger or tigress and we’d be told “This is Tigress C-3 and Chota Dadiyal's daughter/son”. We let the two felines have their privacy and rushed back to the entry gate. Love was in the air...









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