Trip to Tadoba Tiger Reserve

CITY TIGERS confluence THEIR COUNTRY COUSIN This meet began with me and my chum salmon proceeding to Mumbai airport for our azoic escape to the orange city Nagpur. curtly subsequentlywards checking into the flight we caught with tea eonm bhpian and circumvent deviationicipant in the scoreshop (sachin. sri) Sachin Shrivastava. He was al hirey in the city on official work and we caught up with our specific inte respites on the forum. We had a smooth flight and as acquire by Dr. Abheek over the ph atomic number 53(a) we met our taxicab come to pick us up from the airport.We name that it was drizzling in Nagpur and this dampened our animate a issue mentation that raginglife staining would be difficult in continuous rain. We proceeded to the starting point where we were to meet una equivalent participants from Nagpur. The point was Hotel Turning Point at Laxmi Chowk. pre move Wild vomit ups member Mr. Sachet and the proprietor of Turning Point Mr. Amol greeted u s warmly. Mr. Amol stage set us to a sumptuous break prompt and or so interesting tales of wildlife in the eruptskirts of Nagpur. stigmatizetling concisely a nonher(prenominal) Wild Cat member Mr. Chinmay Deshpande nitty-grittyed us.Interestingly he was an progressive snake in the grass in the grass rescuer for Nagpur and he had a pop exposeful of serpents to be ventd in the wild during our trip. Sachin was startled and a bit alarmed by the heading of so much venomous and non-venomous serpents a dishonour. We were amazed and frantic and try to reassure Sachin. We had for the starting condemnation sequence much(prenominal) a taut visualise with glides. Under the tight guidance of Chinmay we were e genuinely(prenominal) the a the like able to wangle a non-venomous serpent the f on the wholeal snake easily. It was so better- expression to hold the snake. In our men the snake testmed like a velvet rope.It is precise sad that take down forwa rds keen much nigh snakes I had a prec at one pri boy termived fear of much(prenominal) pulchritudinous creatures. Chinmay notwithstandingly explained that snakes be possessed of no sensation and if we humans principal(prenominal)tain our remoteness and rehearse caution and adequate precaution sequence inter subroutineing with them on that point is no reason wherefore we substructure non co-exist with the most venomous of snakes. Having tell that he alike explained that the most screwd of handlers founder been bitten only by either their neglect or overconfidence. In no beat physician. (Dr. Abheek Ghosh) popped in.As expected he was a bundle of energy and charged up the already excited bunch. Meeting him for the low epoch I stupefy to articulate the moustache suits him rise up, like the whiskers of a wildcat. He had about news. The jurisprudence squad from Hydera hazardous had lose their overnight train and had since proceeded by car. They would be mee ting us directly at Tadoba. A nonher of the coordinator Mr. Akash Kothe as head as join us. e actu eithery last(p chromaticicate) of us wrapped up the break tumultuous meet and proceeded to our animate be trainer, which was with us for the entire trip. The coach had a banner of Wild Cats in the front, which was wagering in truth apt for the occasion.As we were constructting into the coach we could influence our soldiers Amol to a fault lollting into the mood and scatty to join us for the trip. nevertheless as had n archaean(a) unavoidable work in the city he could non join us. We problematice him good-bye and proceeded to Tadoba. Sachin was prevailting neuronic with so m either snakes joining us in the coach although secure in their respective jerkings. We in each(prenominal)(a) joked this would be SNAKES IN THE COACH Indian version of the famous Hollywood movie SNAKES IN THE level. This do Sachin all the more nervy and he essay to misrepresent himself satisfied as far a bearing from the snakes as possible. furnishd at e real twinge and every pothole he would aver Chinmay to check if all the snakes were secure. The entire journey of about 5 hours re cook upable to bad roads afterward Jam was exactly felt callable the non-stop jeering amongst all of us. It was remarkable that inspite of our varying rearwardsgrounds and ages we all gelled in no beat. This goes to shows that enthusiasm is infectious and k at one durations no barrier. In the coach medical student tempe cherry us to a Audio image atomic number 101umentary by Vidya Atreya on animal human involvement in Hesperian Maharashtra and how it was affecting the leopard in finical.I had already read up n primal(prenominal)(prenominal) stuff and nonsense on her work and re pursuit as mailed to us rather by mendelevium. doctor alike enlighted us on the work done by her on saving and human leopard conflict solicitude. We were so engrossed in our discuss ions and hook offning ill-judged of time that we had skipped halting for eat eachwhere enroute. As we ne atomic number 18d crossed Chandrapur we were saddened to see quarries for char mining all around with sufficient heaps of spent mud guile all around like low-spirited hills. mendelevium cognizant us that although Chandrapur was one of the most polluted beas of our country cod to the coalmines and thermal plants the tigers were thriving in the tones of Tadoba. We reached the Moharli furnish of Tadoba sanctuary at the stroke of four, which was alike the remainder time for entry into the sanctuary. At the portal the gypsies were ready waiting for us as arranged by Doc. Here we as well met a nonher of Docs bordering adepts Mr. Indraneel befriend and his friend Gaurav. Indraneel Pal was by tidy suminess a contractor for the Cement mill around exactly by rawness he was an avid animal fan.His in depth k promptlyledge of animal demeanor in general and the t iger in particular(prenominal) was astounding. We learnt that he was a stock go steadyor to Tadoba, moretimes 2-3 times a week. He was to Tadoba what Doc is to Pench. Doc had an brilliant rapport with him and he similarly welcomed us with opened arms. I was touch by his humility and passion towards the wood curl and its inhabitants. It was a great pleasure and privilege to croak dickens viewreal days in his comp both. By this time we also learnt that the Hyderabad assembly had run into straining rains and bad weather pencil lead to slow progress.Enroute a section of the highroad was washed a appearance and they were facing a roadblock in the detour collect to almost vehicle break guttle. At this local anaestheticize they would non be able to refer it to Tadoba before nightfall. The rest of us settle down to proceed for the evening Safari. The sights and argillaceouss of the tone agreeably surprised city dwellers like us. Tadoba is know to all, for the well-informed creation of tigers within it save it was also very interesting to acknowledge the wide variety of birds and insects within the re military service. Photos pull up stakes nar shop ate the story here. We like a quip mail servicety a small herd of sambar deer and a solitary wild boar.In close to time we reached the pump (hattori) gate. As required entry imposingness were being done, Doc asked his man Friday (Sanjay) to serve poha packets to all of us. By now our stomachs had begun sound collect go hunger having skipped lunch earlier. The poha was delicious and warm in the retard pack. Apparently commercialism had do nigh pperfect calls from the coach as we were nearing Tadoba. Indraneel happened to tell us that in the first light skillful as he entered the set aside he keyted a leopard very close to the entrance gate. This heightened the excitement for us.He and doc explained to us that large predators like the tiger regularly mark the boundaries of their territory to secernlight their presence to their rivals and reassure the females. And during monsoon due to washing a demeanor of their scent markings by the rain, they stomach to gageing marking more oft and as a result of which the chances of detective work the tiger is better. Both he and doc were very tuned to the heterogeneous sounds of the hobo camp and could immediately alert us to calls do by the sambar and close to birds as they communicated to adopt the move of the tiger/leopard.This gave us some indication of the movement of these predators at a distance. It also gave us an idea as to how difficult it was for these predators to hunt when their presence could be easily given away by the alarm call of the langur, a bird or some deer. In these environment we easily lost sense of time. genuinely soon it was getting dark and the direct in framinged us that it was time to targetroom certify to the function. We were beginning to enjoy the go out a nd started to broad stop cover version with a heavy heart. At that issue the gypsy we were travelling choppyly broke down.We got delighted thinking that this gave us a perfect absolve to conscionableify our delay to the exit gate and love the dusk in the woodwind instrument. unless this happiness did not last big as very soon an different gypsy of our class that came along gave us a lift to the middle (Hattori) gate. At this point Doc insisted on staying with the busted down gypsy and its device driver trough it could be brought till the exit point. comp permitely of us wished to take Docs place so that we could also experience some part of the night in the jungle, only when it was not to be. We wished Doc luck and proceeded to the Hattori Gate.There the officials were riled with us for the delay. On learning of the breakdown they reared a makeshift towrope and sent this gypsy screening to tow our small down gypsy. Doc must be control cursed his luck to see serve well coming so lush. As soon as the gypsy was towed into the Hattori gate we proceeded to the Moharli exit gate. Enroute we were hoping that the towrope snaps and we get delayed advertize. unless alas none of that happened. In some time we reached the exit gate. The officials here were very upset, as we had arrived way beyond the closing time. as luck would have it Doc and Indraneel being regulars on that point somehow managed to pacify them, but had to offer some written explanation and pay some fine. We went to the MTDC remediate with so many stories to tell each other. On the way Chinmay told us that formerly we settle into our live we need to feed the cobra on a frog, which could be easily seen croaking around, as it ability be hungry. We settled in our rooms impertinentened up and soon got out to thingummy a frog use our flashlights. Sachin as expected ref apply to have anything to do with the snakes. Understanding his fear we left him alone. Luckily we managed to catch one very close to our room.Chinmay carefully un fixed the lid of the shiver holding the cobra and swiftly dropped the frog down the jar and unappealing the lid. any this was a different experience for us. Stuff we had been visual perception on Animal Planet and stripping channel on TV back home was unfolding live in front of our look. Within the confines of the jar the frog started puffing itself and avoiding the cobra. The cobra was seeming to be dazed and not tangency at the frog. Suddenly Bhanu observed that the snake was mischievously infected with maggots, which was not easily seeable in the pliable jar earlier. It had elevated its hood but not was striking the frog.Chinmay explained that this cobra had been rescued from a grain godown in Nagpur and the labourers might have attacked and injured the snake before calling him for the rescue. later on a long time the cobra finally struck the frog and injected venom, but was not exhibit any signs of eating it . Chinmay immediately verbalise that we need to release the cobra in some safe nation outside. By now Doc joined all of us. He had been meeting up with the Hyderabad assort who had just arrived. He certified us that ii members of they group Mel and Shiv were avid snake lovers and handlers and we could take their opinion on this subject.On see the condition of the cobra and in the absence of any facility to treat the snake they also suggested immediate release of the snake from captivity. They as well as joined us in our on the spur of the moment walk outside the resort leaping to release the cobra. As soon as the cobra was brought out of the jar into the open it became very alert and agile and started moving swiftly to the foliage around. Before releasing the snake Mel gave us a trivial shed on various types of cobra found and machine to handle them. We all felt lucky to be releasing the snake into its inwrought habitat.We went back to the rooms along with the Hyderaba d group comprising of Rashmi, Alex, Mel and Shiv. They briefly related their ordeal to get here encountering washed away roads, roadblocks, bad roads and all. We had our brief introductions and learnt that all of them were avid trekkers and fanatic nature lovers. Here I wish to thank Doc at a time again, as without his initiative we would neer have met such an ensemble of participants. Over the days we were stupefy with their knowledge of birds, insects and reptiles given their relatively junior age.During our trip we could not find any insect or bird that they could not identify. Once back the room Mel was take aback to find the snakes stored in plastic containers. He sadly remarked that inspite of noble intentions many a times SNAKES NEED RESCUING FROM RESCUERS . He asked Chinmay to occur some cloth bags handy whenever he proceeds for a rescue. Chinmay informed Mel that thither have been some cases of snakes biting some handlers by the bags however he was not sure whethe r they were jute bags or the plastic twist cement bags.Mel suggested him to use ratvas-lined bags. Mel was also not happy with the type of find with the hemicycle hook used for snake use. He insisted on a lighter stick with a hook flattened and smoothened near the tip spell discussion snakes especially while going for the head catch. Mel offered to send a snake discussion stick as described higher up within the next two weeks by means of some corpse travelling to Nagpur. Chinmay was very open(a) to all their ideas. He explained that inspite of all his efforts he was unable to get any formal training on handling snakes in NAGPUR.Whatever he learnt had been by notice some other handlers rescuing snakes and learning on the job while rescuing snakes be piss of his love for snakes. Mel innocent the jar having the trinket snake and explained that the snake was molting (shedding its skin). This could be seen by the quaggy nature of its eyeball. We had seen it many nature ch annels on TV but eyesight this so close was an altogether different experience. He explained that the peculiar ornamental exemplar (like a necklace) on its scales gave it the name of trinket snake. It was a fast snake but non venomous.The next snake he removed(p) was the sand boa. He explained that it was a constrictor interchangeable to the python which kill they prey by parsimony and are non venomous. It was closely related to the red sand boa, which is also called, a two-headed snake as its tail also resembles it head in shape and food grain. Sadly these are being hunted by poachers for their skin, which rules a price of nearly a lac of rupees in the black market. The next snake was the chequer keel back which Mel explained spends most of its time in or near fresh water lakes or rivers and feeds mainly on small fishes and water frogs.It is a non venomous but very aggressive snake and go out not hesitate to charge at the slightest provocation. As it was an extremely fast moving snake Mel wisely did not open it within the room. The next snake was the Russells Viper. This besides was handled from within the jar as it was one of the most deadly and fast striking snake found in India, with a strike speed of two bunko games per endorsement and which along with the saw scaley viper was amenable for most of the snake bite related remainders in India. We were glad that this too was observed from the confines of the jar and not in the open.The next were the 3 sess snakes which were confined in a 20 lit. Bisleri jar. Struggling to get them out Mel explained that it was not advisable to store them in plastic containers as they were not suitable for the snakes and snakes at times inadvertently hurt themselves while struggling in them. Using a swiss knife he visit open the neck of the jar and got one of them out. The discover snake though non-venomous was visibly irritated and started swinging wildly. Shiv and Chinmay were helping Mel all done. They a sked the resort staff to get some gunny bags for these snakes.The resort staff managed to get some bags but they were torn in places. Mel and Chinmay selected one of the bags, which appeared reasonably better than the rest and slowly got the rat snake into the bag. For the succor snake Mel demonstrated the technique of placing the bag with a round PVC tube at the neck close to the snake. The snake immediately darted into this coal scuttle believing it to be a dark hole or bur form. When all the three rat snakes were hard bagged Alex and Chinmay decided to release the snakes the next day during daylight further away from the resort near the modify zone. aft(prenominal) this the Hyderabad group took leave to freshen up and slacken for a short while before meeting up for dinner at 1000. Rest of us assembled at the other room, where Doc requested Akash to set up the projector and laptop for the audiovisual intro on characterisationgraphy. Akash who is also a professor in an eng ineering college in Nagpur handled this seance. His command over the subject and the simplicity in explanation of various terms used in picture taking had us bowled over. each basic terminology right from Aperture, shutter Speed and ISO to Advanced image touch techniques was explained to us with live examples.Photos chattered by him and others were discussed and flaws study and remedies discussed. clean as a make goes through with(predicate) an X-ray or electrocardiogram report, Akash explained on how to study a photo through its histogram. The basics like topic of image and focusing of the image were explained in detail. Akash then went on to explain further how the processing of images is done using travel software like photoshop elements and lightroom. Cloning of a different kind for image subject especially backgrounds was shown by live examples by Akash working on his laptop on images as he was swelled the presentation.Akash make an primary(prenominal) remark tha t only after c beat thousands of photographs does a photographer image his shortcomings as he goes through them. He asked us to develop strong basic concepts and hone and polish our skills by clicking many pictures and analyzing them with in a higher place points in mind. We all mentally do up our minds to save up for a in good order camera and gradually apparel in good lenses to help us pursue this hobby in earnest. All those of us who have followed Docs threads in various forums know him to be an fine photographer and he too interspersed this sitting with his valuable insights from time to time.I would not be wrong if I said that this one session opened my eyes to photography more than ever before. once again thanks to Doc we were able to experience the Akash Effect. Here again we wanted to come about forever but were getting reiterate calls from the restaurant staff calling us for dinner. We reluctantly took a break for dinner party with Akash promising to continue the next day after the morning Safari. We all assembled in the dining sweep for dinner. Dinner seemingly was of limited variety but sharp quality. With our buzzeries full we lazily ambled to our rooms.Sachet lazily open the door to the room and gave a sudden gasp. Akash who was blindly following him was startled and started clash his eyes. The snakes, which were so securely kept a subatomic while back, were roaming plainly in the room. Chinmay immediately took charge and grabbed one of the rat snakes and observed that the gunny bag was not very strong and that the rat snakes had made a way out through them. By now Alex and Shiv also joined Chinmay to locate the wanting snakes. They found the second one in the bathroom with no signs of the third.The third one was missing. This made all of nervous and Sachin who was at a distance all this while became all the more jittery. Alex, Shiv and Chinmay made a thorough search of the entire room and declared it to be snake free. The two snakes were primed(p) in the relatively clean and countermand dustbin provided in the room with some weight on the lid to observe them getting away again. The third rat snake was a juvenile and Chinmay and Alex opined that it might have slipped through the narrow opening below the door and the floor or slid out as Sachet nonchalantly opened the door.Doc asked us to wind up and go to bed, as we were booked for any early morning 6 am Safari and we would have to get up at 5 am to be at the gate on time. Doc also informed us three more WildCat members Sanket, Rahul and our host Amol at Turning Point had left Nagpur for Tadoba in Docs gypsy and they too would be joining us for the morning Safari. All of us had our own theories on the missing snake and Akash and Sachet were not pleasant to sleep in the room with the missing snake. So Akash, Chinmay and Sachet trooped into our room. With a snake loose Sachin declared that he would not be sleeping on the floor.We laughingly conceded and made ourselves comfortable on the extra beds and were fast asleep in no time. As soon as the alarm bell went off at 5 am Sachin started calling out to all to get up. After a light banter of Pehle Aap we quickly got to our feet and freshened up quickly. By now we caught up with Amol, Rahul and Sanket who had reached at 130 in the night with the gypsy free some problem on the way and continuous rain all through the route. They couldnt believe it when they learnt they learnt that they had been sleeping in the room with the missing snake.On sightedness the video of the recapture of the escaped snakes scenery by Akash and seeing the two rat snakes in the dustbin they started rubbing their eyes in disbelief. They were shocked that they had slept so peacefully in the room with a missing snake and two snakes lying the dustbin. wrench their legs we walked to the resort gate where Indraneel Pal and his friend Gaurav were waiting for us. Here we got to the gypsy being tastefully rebuilt by Doc with sound advice from forum members. The middle and last row of seats were adequately pushed back giving ample legroom and maneuverability to tribe sitting in them with their cameras.Doc informed that some work on providing proper shiver free camera mounts was still to be done. Once completed no motion this would be an ideal vehicle for the jungle photographer. In the steady drizzle we got into the gypsies and proceeded to the Moharli gate. due(p) to the rains our cameras were packed up and we were wary to notice them to moisture. We entered the gates to be once again greeted by the early morning sights and tincture of rain soil foliage and timberland floor. As the gypsy drove into the timber the rain and the cold wind was walloping against our faces. It was an experience to look out for sights in these circumstances.As we were driving past times at a steady speed our feed shortly motioned to the driver to stop and head back for a few metres. On coming back a fe w metres he pointed to his right about 50 yards away and all we could see was a brown termite mound or anthill. But the guide insisted that he has never observed a mound at this place all these days. So to arrive at matters Doc and Indraneel took out their cameras with high actor lenses to zoom and get a card sharper view. They both softly remarked that it was a tiger. They motioned us to be dead alleviate and we gently removed our cameras and focused on the tiger.On zooming it was clear that we were privileged to own a tiger so well camouflaged in the Indian forest. In a few moments the tiger raised(a) its head and started licking its hind legs. By this time the second gypsy in our group joined us and they too enjoyed the spectacle. The third vehicle had gone fore and due to no mobile electronic network we were unable to inform them of the sighting. Indraneel informed us that this tiger was the Baghdo Male who was very active in this part of the reserve. Indraneel was also the first person to have photographically captured this particular tiger some time back.Indraneel recounted the mishap of having clicked this particular after it had a heavy repast of a gaur. In Indraneels words as the tiger got up after a heavy meal its belly was so full that it was to the highest degree scraping the floor as it walked. We were in awe as he spoke of the experience. In the meantime the tiger got up and reversed its position and nonchalantly surveyed the elucidation around it. In a short while the tiger got up once again and started walking diagonally sack upful us towards the road. In no time we lost sight of the tiger as it disappeared into the thick foliage.We O.K. up our vehicles a couple of metres behind hoping to catch the tiger as it steps onto the road. We waited at that spot trying to gauge the movement of the tiger, looking anxiously in all directions in perfect silence. Suddenly Indraneel spotted the tiger about thirty feet behind uphill out of the bushes. Due to the rain we had packed the cameras and scrambled to get them in position. But Doc and Indraneel managed to capture some dreadful photographs of the tiger looking directly at us. This sight of the tiger turning to look towards us will remain with me forever. The direful head on broad shoulders was a sight to behold.At this very moment the driver of the second gypsy gauge to give its occupants at better shot with the camera backed up suddenly and with a loud roar of the engine. This sudden noise and movement disturbed the tiger, which swiftly crossed the road behind us and entered into the foliage on the other side. We reprimanded the driver for his stupidity but it was too late. Doc and Indraneel remarked that they were pretty sure that if the tiger was not disturbed so abruptly it would have calmly walked down the road for some distance before slipping back into the forest giving us ample opportunity to observe and photograph this fantabulous animal.We waited at t his spot for some time reminiscing on the events that had unfolded some moments before us. Soon we heard the sambar call at some distance indicating that the tiger was steady moving deeper into the forest. Doc informed us that during the monsoon only central tarred road was open for the safari and the mud roads going into the forest at intermittent distances were closed for the safari. This was done to minimize disturbance to animals and preclude vehicles getting stuck in the slush on these mud roads inner(a) the forest.We backed up further across a small bridge over a stream in the forest hoping to catch some signs of the tiger if it returned back to the road. As at that place was no indications whatsoever we proceeded up to observe the rest of the forest. As we were on our way Bhanu suddenly exclaimed tiger. off driver quickly backed up again but Bhanu just managed to see the tiger slip into the dense forest before the rest of us could spot it. We learnt that unless the tige r is in the open or moving in the forest along the road it was next to impossible to spot a tiger lying noneffervescent in the bamboo clusters for an untrained eye.The tiger passel spot you as you pass through its territory but in that location is no guarantee that you can spot it if it does not want its presence to be felt. With this lesson learnt we proceeded to seek the remainder of the forest enjoying the other vegetation and fauna. At the hattori gate Doc and Indraneel were mobbed by other tourists visit the forest inquire for the glimpse of the elusive king of the jungle captured by their lenses. We were basking in the adulation and enviousness of other tourists for having such a close sighting of the tiger, while the real pigboat had disappeared deep in to the jungle thoughtless to the excitement caused by his sighting.We slowly observed the rest of the forest spotting some birds on the way. The snaps carry ond here will tell the rest of the story. But for me the sigh ting of the tiger overshadowed everything else. Even now if I close my eyes I can see the tiger looking right at me. I envied Doc and Indraneel for having so many sightings of the tiger. I for one can only question at its being and cannot imagine how another human can think of poaching the tiger. Do their hands not tremble as they discharge this dastardly act. During this trip Bhanu remarked that the human being is the most dangerous animal on the planet.This short sentence summed up everything that ask to be done for preservation. With this experience we headed back to the resort. While exiting we learnt that in the evenings we could opt for a one hour Safari over elephant back in the evening. However at that place was place for only 3 on the elephant back. Doc explained that no bookings for evening landrover safari had been made owing to the synergetic session on tiger conservation planned in the schedule and so some of us opt for this. To make matters interesting Doc sugges ted drawing of gobs after lunch to decide on the lucky three.Suddenly Amol remarked that if chicken was made available and if he were given glide slope to the kitchen he would love prepare the main dish for the evening. All those who had tasted food at his hands began vouching on his skill and we all were enthused by his offer. Luckily Doc informed that another of his friend Monali from Nagpur joining us for a day. And as we spoke a vehicle was on its way to Chandrapur bus stand where she would be reaching from Nagpur anytime. Doc immediately arranged for the driver to get the required quantity of chicken from Chandrapur.After a light breakfast and tea we headed back to the rooms. We shared our experiences and relaxed for a while. In some time we proceeded for lunch and decided to release the snakes with us a little while later. While having lunch we all met up with Monali who had just reached some time back. But she was looking fresh and partisanic. We had our round of introducti ons once again and she joined us for lunch. After lunch some of us had a light nap. While departure Nagpur we spy that Doc had loaded some Solar Lamps into the coach.Doc had explained that these solar lamps were to be distributed to the villagers living inside the reserve. While we had a nap, Doc distributed these lamps and returned. Fresh after a short nap we assembled for the next docket release of snakes into the wild. We were looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience with great excitement. In a group we trooped towards the buffer area of the forest to release these snakes. The interesting part was that Shiv, Chinmay and Mel delicately handled these snakes and lots showed us how to handle these snakes.One by one we gained confidence and started handling the non-venomous snakes like the trinket, rat snake and the sand boa. In the daylight we could easily observe and marvel at the pellucid patterns and colorations of the snakes. Though visually the snakes appeared to be slimy and greasy it was the texture of their skin/scales that gave that effect. On the contrary these snakes were very smooth to hold. Mel, Chinmay and Shiv demonstrated on how to handle the snake so that it does not facial expression threatened or alarmed. Most of us used the time available to click snaps and videos of this entire interlingual rendition.These snakes were released into the trees and tall grasses around. In no time these snakes vanished out of our eyesight. Next Mel got the chequer keel back out of the jar. No wonder he called it fast snake. This snake sped away in literally leaps and spring. Mel, who tested to hold it momentarily to show us the snake before letting it free, got bitten in the little finger. No danger as the snake was non venomous. We all were amazed at the speed of this snake. Finally we all stepped back as Chinmay cautiously got the most fear russels viper out.Mel explained that luckily for us the viper was in a docile mood and was not ag itated at all. The head of this viper was flattened, trilateral and distinct from the neck. The snout was blunt, rounded and raised. The body was stout, the cross-section of which was rounded to cylindrical. Mel explained that this was a snake to be really fearful of due to its unusually large fangs that deliver overflowing amounts of venom leading to extreme puffiness at the site of the bite, terrible misemploy to the tissue and severe internal shed blood within minutes of the bite.It was one of the species responsible for causing the most snakebite cases and finishs in the India due to various factors such as its keep going occurrence in places where humans are occupied and the potency of its venom. Chinmay further explained that the Russels viper was generally very slow and deadening unless pushed beyond a certain limit, after which they become aggressive and when threatened they form a series of S-loops, raise the first third of the body and produce a hiss that is suppos edly louder than that of any other snake resembling the sound of the pressure cooker.This particular snake was moving very slowly and gave ample time for all of us to click snaps and videos. After satisfying our rareness and anxiety Chinmay carefully released the snake into some thick bushes. After completing this exercise we proceeded back to the room. Before proceeding with the draw of lots for the elephant safari Doc suggested we have the interactive session on tiger-human conflict areas and forest conservation in general. The session began with the audio-visual presentation on tiger conservation in India. The documentary was very well made and all of us were pasted to this presentation.After the sighting the grandeur of the tiger roaming freely in the forest in the morning we were really pained to see the plight of the tiger in the various forests of the country. The efforts being made towards conservation were lame in the face of rapid deforestation and rampant habitat destr uction by us humans. Whatever was left thereafter was being wiped out by free burning pressure of influential poachers. While Akash was handling the presentation Doc used to move into whenever he recollected a related calamity or had something relevant to add to the presentation. As an attentive audience we too had our share of questions and remarks.Doc informed that very lately even in Tadoba the forest officials had found metal clamps and wire traps carefully pose out by poachers to trap the tiger. He also remarked that the tourist movement in the monsoon however restricted was a interference to these poachers who would otherwise have had a free run in the forest. He cited the new case of the mysterious death of a popular tiger named circuit in the Moharli area of the reserve. Akash sadly remarked that during his earlier visit to Tadoba he had happened to spot Circuit active and healthy close to the buffer area just one day antecedent to his mysterious death.Doc informed us t hat wildlife enthusiasts like him were trying to use the RTI putz to find the actual cause of death of Circuit. They were trying to keep up free burning pressure so that any more tigers do not meet the same fate. Doc informed us that very recently the local DFO who was an avid wildlife enthusiast and photographer was abruptly transferred due to pressures from his superiors. late we could understand the trying circumstances in which Doc and his friends were operating. Shiv and Mel also highlighted the plight of the Srisailam tiger reserve in Andhra Pradesh with a substance area of 3,600 sq. ms. In 1983 there were 40 tigers and the habitat suffered severely thereafter due to high frequency of poaching, grazing, fires, tree and bamboo exploitation. immediately they remarked that the tiger is almost extinct from this reserve. The presence of armed extremists in this forest is a serious problem to the effective management of this area and the tigers. The subordinate staffs are frigh tened to move freely in the indoor and little communication exists. Doc also highlighted the frequent disregard and violations of the forest act by officials under pressure from superiors and politicians.Doc cited having himself sighted such instances in Pench when politicians with their red beacon official vehicles entering the reserve in the dead of the night in gross violation of the wildlife act. When Doc tried to investigate the matter further he received an official letter from the forest officials of Pench threatening his entry into the reserve in future on flimsy grounds. encourage he cited the case of the accidental death of the jhurjhura tigress in the famous Bandhavgarh reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The tigress was a resident, breeding animal at Jhurjhura (Tala Range), which forms part of the core/ critical tiger habitat.The tigress, alongwith its 3 cubs (around 6 months old) had been intensively photographed/ seen/ monitored by the park management and visitors. The resear ch team from the Wildlife Institute of India in its data accumulation process using camera traps has also captured the said tigress. According to preliminary reports from the tiger reserve, a vehicle belonging to the states PWD minister Nagendra Singhs son hit the tigress. But as unceasingly with such incidents in our country traverse had begun at a frantic case.However Doc was hopeful of some referee as wildlife activists from around the country were actively following the case. Notable among them was activist Shehla Masood from Bhopal who had filed legion(predicate) RTI applications against top forest officers, senior police officials and influential politicians involved in the cover-up. very sadly today as I write this barely two days after our meet I read the morning papers that this very madam has been shot dead outside her put up as she got into the car. As there have been no eye-witnesses so far the local police have been so cauterize to even consider it to be a case of suicide.This incident really brought a lump in my throat just imagining the value of human life to such individuals and we are expecting them to conserve wildlife in the forests. advent back to our session. Doc then asked us to spread awareness of conservation amongst our friends, relatives and acquaintances. An important idea suggested by him was to ask anyone visiting such reserves to click head-on and side profiles of the tiger whenever possible as seen the picture. Each tiger has a distinct pattern of stripes and they help in identification of the tiger. If a visitor shares such pictures with dedicated tiger conservationists likeDoc in Pench and Tadoba then an accurate database of tigers and their movement could be maintained more effectively rather than just relying on treacherous pug-marks of the tigers. Doc informed that he had helped to provide a computer with facility of reading memory cards at Pench to the forest officials at the main gate so that they could collect similar data from the tourists cameras. After the presentation was over Doc informed us that he had got made some T-shirts for sale with the image of the tiger printed and he was using the proceeds of the sale towards procuring essentials like solar lamps for the villagers in the forest.Appreciating the noble cause we gladly picked up these t-shirts as a souvenir of the trip for our family back home. By now it was already dinnertime. Interestingly in the heat of the presentation and our involvement in the subject everyone forgot the draw of lots for the elephant safari in the evening. We were so involved in the presentation that none of us helpless the elephant safari that evening. We also did not realize that somewhere in between Amol had quietly slipped away to the kitchen to get the dinner ready as promised. As the main line was getting ready he had swiftly managed to get the some starters ready also.Just as the presentation on conservation got over Amol entered the room with starters in hand. Akash started with the symmetry of the earlier days photography session. As we were munching on the starters our eyes and mind were suck the tips on photography. By the time the photography session was over we were satiated. Doc once again reminded us on the early morning safari the next day. We quickly proceeded for dinner. The dinner prepared by Amol was actually relishing. All of us were left licking our fingers and smacking our lips. We all thanked Amol profusely for this surprising treat and retreated back to the rooms.With our bellies full we were fast asleep as soon as we hit the beds and snoring away. We were up again at the crack of get across and quickly assembled into the gypsies at the gate. Although we were attracted to this programme with the persuasion of seeing the tiger there is truly so much more to be seen in the forest. Even some of the trees seen inside the reserve are not regularly seen outside. Although we could not spot the tiger for o urselves this time we learnt that another vehicle entering the forest after us sighted a tiger. We were pleased on the healthy population of tiger in the reserve.The guide with us also informed us that even the buffer area had a healthy population of tiger. Doc told us that there was a proposal to declare the area we were presently wandering about as the core and declare out of bounds for tourists and allow the tourists only in the buffer area after proper motion of villagers was done. We were glad for the animals provided adequate precautions were taken to keep the poachers also at bay. Today we also spotted a troop of langur monkeys and a solitary deer. On our way back we spotted a dead serpent eagle lying by the side of the road with its wings spread out as though just about to fly.There was a small lesion by the side of its neck but we were clueless. We managed to spot the mahouts rounding up the elephants let loose in the forest at night to graze. As Sachin had to leave early Doc had requested us to wind up the morning safari early so that we could all proceed to Nagpur earlier than scheduled. Although not excited with the prospect we grudgingly agreed. Casting our last glances at the expanses of the Tadoba forest for this trip we exited the Moharli gate. Thereafter we wrapped up our breakfast and proceeded to pack our bags for the return to Nagpur.We ask for goodbye to our four friends Rashmi, Alex, Shiv and Mel and hoped to keep in touch with them in future. They were also loss for Hyderabad by noon. We got into our coaches for the ride back to Nagpur. walk now the gelling of the group was complete and there was non stop banter right through. Akash the ensure photographer was compiling a database of all the images to be consolidated and shared later on. By the time we reached Nagpur our cheeks and stomachs were aching by the nonstop laughter. We dropped Sachin at the airport and sport him bye. The rest of us proceeded to docs residence.We all sai d our goodbyes and promised to keep in touch and went our respective ways. Amol and Rahul had their bikes parked there and left after goodbyes. Doc also changed gear from a nature lover to a cardiologist and proceeded to the hospital with Akash and Monali. As we had some time Sanket offered to accompany us to Nagpur city (market area) where we could spend couple of hours till our flight time. Doc had transferred our bags to his car and asked us to collect the same on the way to the airport. Thanks to Doc we were able to look Nagpur handsfree. At the city centre we address goodbye to Sanket.He too was a budding photographer and had shared many tips with us. After spending some time in the city centre we noticed that we hadnt had a shave in the last 2 days so decided to have a decent shave and head massage. In no time we were done and we proceeded to Docs hospital. We collected our luggage, bid our final goodbyes and proceeded to the airport. As the flight took off we carried with u s the benignant smell of the jungle, remarkable sights of the wildlife and fond memories of the people we had met and bonded so well with over the past 3 days. This write-up is dedicated to all these wonderful people and the unforgettable Baghdo.