Leopard – The Ambush hunter!

 

It is rightly said and I believe it too – wild animals make their appearance or create a natural history when you least expect it. This was one such day at Kabini, (Nagarahole) during monsoons (June 2016). I personally believe that monsoons are the best time to visit forests simply for its soothing greenery and as a wildlife photographer one can make amazing images with lovely colors. However the flip side of this is the animal viewing can also be very low due to thick vegetation.

 And indeed it was a dry morning safari drive for the first hour or more and then as matter of luck a leopard was spotted relaxing on a bund on a popular location known as president road at Kabini. I was busy making portraits of this young male leopard; little did I expect, that a storm was all set to break. Refer (Image 1)

It was just about 8am and suddenly dark clouds were seen covering the sky, a storm was surely on its way. In the meantime the leopard decided to move and took cover inside the bushes. He had noticed that a large group of spotted deers (Chital) approaching in his direction. I looked at the deers they were over 50mts away, and completely unaware of the leopard’s presence.

Excitement began, I anticipated some action, and I kept my eye towards the bushes and the deers. The leopard patiently waited, stalked and finally the storm broke. The leopard popped out in a flash, putting his special technique on job, Precision, Speed and Power, he attacked one of the deers, didn’t even give a chance for it to react. Typically the leopard’s strength and strategy is to strangle her to death by choking her windpipe. And this is what exactly we witnessed, holding the prey by throat. The alarm calls given by large group of deers are still echoing in my ears. (Refer Image 2)

Initially the leopard tried dragging the deers utilizing the strength of his jaws and moving backwards, he realized it was taking longer than expected, as the deer was quite heavy. These cats avoid exposing their kill in the open for various reasons, like counter attack by other predators or scavengers hence will make all possible efforts to drag the prey into the bushes and later carry it high up on a tree.

The leopard continued to drag the chital, taking breaks in intervals of few seconds and it was interesting to observe the leopard taking cover under this small fallen branch of a tree surrounded with bunch of leaves. Infact these cats will make every possible attempt to avoid and expose them in the open,. (Refer image 3)

To ensure he moves quickly the typical strategy adopted by the leopard, he actually brings down the chital under his belly between the hind legs, yet holding it firmly with his jaws and walks fast and disappears into the bushes. (Refer image 4).

The action was not over yet, probably the Rain Gods too held their excitement during this hunt and suddenly clouds broke and it poured cats and dogs. I felt truly blessed to witness this fine and rare natural history, however one of my friends couldn’t control her emotions and tears were seen pouring from her eyes. This is the truth of raw nature; in order for one to live other has to die, that’s how life in our Forest Ecosystem is continues…

More information on Leopards -

Leopards use a combination of stealth and patience when hunting, moving in as close as possible to the prey before attempting a charge or lying in wait for the prey to come within range. The power of the leopard enables it to pull the carcass onto a tree away from other predators such as tigers and wild dogs. A leopard can lift 2-3 times more than its own body weight into the branches.

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Praveen Siddannavar's Blog: SCUBA Diving, exploring life under sea...

Praveen Siddannavar's Blog: SCUBA Diving, exploring life under sea...

SCUBA Diving, exploring life under sea...

 It was 3rd December 2011, Tsunami had hit Japan, and it was a big disaster, Japan is still recovering from this trauma. I and a few friends visited Wild Woods Spa Resort located near Murudeshwara off the NH17 highway. Mr.KP Shetty Owner of the resort had arranged Scuba diving lessons for us, you may wish to visit their website www.wildwoodsspa.com

 

Due to fear of Tsunami, the beach as expected was empty; no tourists whatsoever & the few that visited were seen around the temple. Even the Scuba Diving shop was with no customers and it is quite obvious that no one would like to risk their lives in such a situation. Even few of my friends backed out last minute, however I had my colleague Guru Prasad and we both were escorted by the resort staff. We were quite determined & had made up our minds so as per our plan we went ahead to take a dive. For both of us it was first time experience of Scuba dive. There are several formalities that we had to complete like our id proof, photo id and filling up some declaration forms. Once we had done our bit, the Scuba diving shop has to seek permission from the Police Dept, and this time the cops were reluctant to give permission. Our instructor Dhirendra Rawat called me and updated that it will take some time before he convinces and gets the permission, so he asked us to hang around for a while.

It was quite hot and humid, we decided to pay visit to the Murudeshwara temple which is located on the beach, and here we worship Lord Shiva. I took this opportunity to make few images of the temple. As we were getting out of the temple I got call from Dhitendra and the good news was that our permission to visit Netrani Islands and Scuba diving was granted. After waiting for an hour or so there was something to cheer, probably even GOD was with us to make this happen. Dhirendra arrived with our permission letters and we all boarded the motor boat to reach Netrani Island, the ride is ~ over an hour’s journey in the Arabian Sea. During the journey we were given complete briefing about do’s and don’ts, basics of Scuba diving and other precautions that one needs to take. After the briefing  I wasn’t  sure if I can really do it, breathing with oxygen apparatus under sea was something new and of course tricky, SCUBA acronym – Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

As we cruised towards Netrani Islands my heart beat increased, I was really nervous. I was asked to be ready with the scuba diving gear, quite a heavy oneJ. I thought I can take a normal jump into the sea but as per the guidelines one has to fall on his/her back into the sea. The first 15 minutes were tough and I was practicing the technique of breathing with the Oxygen apparatus. After a while we both were a bit comfortable and now we were ready to go. We had 2 instructors Dhirendra for me and Kishore for Guru. And now I was all set to explore the marine life under the sea. My instructor Dhirendra was quite cooperative and guided me right into the deep blue waters.

As I swam into the deep waters, I couldn’t believe my eyes; I felt I was in a different world all together. I was surrounded by beautiful and colorful small fishes, they aren’t harmful watching them was a treat to my eyes. After a while my instructor asked me if I was ok, since we can’t talk all signals are done by hand. I responded him that I am ok he then guided me further down and believe me I hadn’t seen live corals before. This was amazing stuff to see different kinds of corals. Having been used to forest so much on bumpy jeep rides and sighting tigers, this was some experience, to my luck I also sighted a large shark at a distance. Later I was even excited to see few lobsters & large shrimps my mouth was watering seeing themJ, quite obvious for a seafood lover like me.

My instructor was taking my pictures and also filming, he then handed over the camera to me, it was an experience of my life to take few shots underwater. After about 20-30 minutes I was out and really exhausted, but believe me if you haven’t experienced Scuba Diving then you surely are missing something in life. I have uploaded a video clip on face book, kindly click the link to watch it.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=187715977938240&set=vb.100000995173647&type=2&theater

   

Info on Netrani Islands-

Netrani is a tiny island is located in the Arabian Sea. It is off the coast of Karnataka, situated approximately 10 nautical miles (19 km) from the temple town of Murudeshwara. This Island has some of the best sites for Scuba Diving easily accessible from Goa, Mumbai or Bangalore. 

Netrani is a coral island and, therefore, is very suitable for snorkeling and diving activities. Many varieties of Corals, Butterfly fish, Trigger fish, Parrot fish and more can be seen here. In addition Whales and Sharks are seen if you are really lucky. Normally diving/snorkeling is done from a boat which is anchored close to the island and usually visitors do not climb on to the island because of the sharp rocks and steep cliffs on the island.

This island offers diving suitable for professionals. The island adjacent to Netrani is used by the Indian navy for target practice. One needs to seek permission from Police Dept to visit and do Scuba Diving at Netrani Island. The best time to visit is between December and January.

My Encounter with a Jaguar - Part 1

I have traveled to most of the forests in India namely the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Nagarahole National Park, BR Hills, Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary, Ranthambore National Park, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve and Jim Corrbett. I was wondering what makes Pantanal in Brazil so special that most people around the world travel to South America to visit Pantanal. Honestly traveling to Pantanal was never my dream nor in my wish list, it was mere a coincidence I had to travel Brazil on business and this provided me the opportunity to visit Pantanal. Most of us are unaware of this place & invariably Kenya & Tanzania in Africa is the prime focal point in most wildlife destinations.

This is one reason why Pantanal is less known and is under severe threat. Pantanal is one of the most immense, pristine and biologically rich environments on the planet. Often referred to as the world’s largest wetland system, it extends through millions of hectares of central-western Brazil, eastern Bolivia and eastern Paraguay. With its extraordinarily concentrated and diverse flora and fauna, and a landscape spanning a variety of ecological sub-regions, the Pantanal stands as one of the world’s great natural wonders.

This area is an unparalleled wildlife sanctuary of spectacular beauty, an ecological paradise containing hundreds of species of birds, thousands of varieties of butterflies, myriads of brightly colored flowers, and shoals of fish. Capuchin and Howler monkeys, capybaras, toucans, anacondas, caimans and tapirs help create an aquatic and sylvan theater of sights and sounds. The endangered jaguar, and increasingly rare Hyacinthine macaws and giant river otters, all make their home in the Pantanal. The Pantanal also provides incalculable economic benefits. It offers a huge area for water purification and groundwater discharge and recharge, climate stabilization, water supply, flood abatement, and an extensive, transport system, among numerous other important functions. And yet, despite the region’s beauty and remarkable environmental and economic value, the Pantanal remains poorly unknown and faces an uncertain future stemming from a myriad of socioeconomic pressures. While the Pantanal remains comparatively untouched, without correct understanding, timely action and wise management, its future could be seriously compromised.

There have been so many images and stories to share from my Brazil trip; however I am not finding the time to process & compile them. Today finally the time has come to share the most awaited “My Encounters with Jaguar”. Having seen and photographed plenty of Tigers and Leopards in Indian forests, I was wondering what makes a Jaguar so special that people from all over the world travel to South America especially Pantanal in Brazil to just have a glimpse of this cat. 

It was Saturday the 24th Sept’11, I was on the boat safari ride and the time was around 12 noon, the boatman and my guide were insisting that we stop for lunch. It is quite obvious we start the day quite early at 5:30am with breakfast and one feels hungry by noon. We hadn’t spotted any Jaguars since morning and I knew that I didn’t have all the time in the world, was here for a short stay in Pantanal, I requested that we take another round on the three brothers rivers & then break for lunch. As we were heading towards the three brothers river, suddenly a capybara from the bank that was on our right, jumped into the river. The capybara swam across and started making loud sounds. I told my guide that it’s an alarm call, to my surprise he wasn’t aware what an alarm call is? My experience in Indian forests helped me to understand the situation better.

Capybara is the largest living rodent in the world; its main diet is grass and vegetation. They belong to the wild pig family and of course cousins of wild pig. Coincidentally capybaras are the favorite meal for Jaguars, Caimans (Crocodile) & to the dangerous Anacondas. I was 100% sure that the capybara had seen the Jaguar somewhere in the bushes hence the alarm calls. Later this capybara joined a small group of other capybaras who also got cautioned hearing the alarm calls, they all were looking in one direction, as seen in the image.

Now my guide and boatman too were convinced that somewhere a Jaguar is hiding. Choku my guide used a powerful binocular and managed to spot the elusive cat. But how can I photograph this cat behind the bushes, sharing the image just that you get an idea how this beauty was nicely camouflaged & hiding.

All this while our motor boat engine was switched off, now since we spotted the Jaguar from a distance we had to start the engine to move in closer. The boat movement was in our favor as the Jaguar too started to move behind the bushes on the edge of the river bank. I remember I had only 3 or 4 occasions when he came out partially in the open I took the opportunity to shoot few images. The sighting lasted only for few minutes and the Jaguar again disappeared into the bushes. Believe me it isn’t easy to shoot in a moving boat, but fortunately I managed few decent shots. We waited for a while, but with temperature almost ~40 degree Celsius chances of Jaguar coming out were almost nil.

Without wasting much time I celebrated this sighting by having a chilled SKOL:), a Brazilian beer and we then proceeded to have our packed lunch. What happens post lunch is very unique and even more interesting, but unfortunately you have to wait for some time. I will share it soon, so stay tuned!

How does one differentiate between a Jaguar and a Leopard?

While the Jaguar closely resembles the Leopard, it is sturdier and heavier, and the two animals can be distinguished by their rosettes, the rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, fewer in number, usually darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks. Jaguars also have rounder heads and shorter, stockier limbs compared to leopards. Unlike other big cats, jaguars kill prey by crushing the spinal column and must have a much stronger bite in order to do so. This means that the shape of their skull is unique among the cat species. As a result, they have the strongest bite-force of any member of the cat family--even stronger than lions and tigers. The jaguar weighs twice as much on average than a leopard. A fully grown male jaguar can even weigh up to 160 kilograms almost equivalent to a Tiger.