Panna Tiger Reserve

 My Singapore based friend  was very keen  visiting Panna Tiger Reserve for long but due to   COVID restrictions placed by Singapore government he could come to India only in December 2021. I made arrangements then and we are were off to Panna.

We drove to Tenduleaf Resort , our stay at Panna ,   which is about 312 km from my place. Leaving early in the morning we covered Kanpur in 90 minutes but thereafter traffic up to Ghatampur and 30 km beyond was horrible. We wasted about 2 hours in the traffic jam, reaching our destination around 5 pm.

Panna Tiger Reserve is located in north MP and spreads in districts of Panna and Chatarpur over an area of 1645 km of which about 542 km is the core area. Only 20% of the core is open for tourism. River Ken meanders through  for about 55 km from South to North acting as a lifeline to the Reserve and dividing it in to two. It is a picturesque deciduous forest with large open Savanna grasslands.

Panna enjoys a very special place in the history of tiger conservation in India. From zero tiger count in 2009 to 70 tigers of now ,  Panna is the testimony of  brilliant and determined work done by the forest personnel under the leadership of Mr. R S Murthy , the then Director of PTR. It became a Project Tiger Reserve in 1994. 

PTR houses a very rich and varied wildlife right from Tigers to Leopards , incidentally Panna has richest concentration of Leopards among all wildlife parks in India , around 270 ,  Sloth Bears, Wild Cat, Dholes, and a variety of Deer . Some of the most healthy Sambhar Deer specimen can be seen here. It is also very rich in avian life and is a breeding place of red billed King Vultures.

My 27th December morning safari started from Madla gate with the sighting of a male Leopard who was on the prowl in the  early hours.

                                                                      

That was a good sighting. Moving further and after about 25 minutes we came across Tigress T-151 with her two 10-11 month old cubs. She came upon the jungle road and sat down hardly some 15-20 feet distant from our jeep. One of her more playful cubs climbed up upon a nearby tree branch.

                                                                                  

                                                                                        

We met Tigress T-151 and her cubs again in the late evening near Chauka Rapta area . They were crossing the river on their way to the other part of the jungle.

                                                                            

                                                                                  

                                                                                      

Thus the first day was quite entertaining. But the weather God brought rains in the night and that wet spell continued for the next two days. Rains and poor light made photography difficult. However on the the third day morning, when the rains had subsided a lot and day light  improved somewhat ,we met the cubs of Tigress T-141. These two cubs are almost adults but still accompany their mother. So the expectation was very high that the Tigress T - 141 may also be somewhere in the vicinity.

                                                                         

                                                                                    

                                                                                  

In the afternoon, search for the trio continued and ultimately all were spotted in a thicket by the side of the jungle road. In no time all safari jeeps converged near the spot on the narrow  road in order to have look of the T-141 family when they cross the road.

My Guide did some smart thinking. He estimated that it would be some time before the T-141 family comes out of its hide and cross the road and in the meanwhile he would approach from the other end of the road so that we get a front view when the tiger crossing takes place.

I must admit his estimation was 100% accurate. In 10 minutes we made a turn around positioning ourselves on the jungle road about 25 feet distant and just opposite the rest of the safari jeeps waiting for the grand spectacle to happen.  And lo, the family crossed the road after about 10 minutes ; first the mother T-141 followed by her two cubs.

That moment I decided to rest my camera and give a chance to my phone. Enjoy the video. Click the blue.

                                                                             

Tiger Family

                                                                          

                                                                          
                                                                    

                                                                     

<script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-2331515138562989"
     crossorigin="anonymous"></script>