There is no organised photoshoot in a reserve. It is a combination of patience, skill, instinct and luck that often leads to awe-inspiring wildlife photographs, something Jeetendra Chaware from Hyderabad experienced when he froze in his camera the moment a magnificent beast brought down a bull in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit Tiger Reserve last week.
“The Sharda Main Canal (75 meters wide) flows through the tiger reserve. Along both edges of the canal are two trails—one a tar road (pakki patari) and the other a regular jungle trail (kachchi patari). Most wildlife sightings happen on these two trails,” said Mr. Jeetendra, better known as Jeet Aman in wildlife photography circles, during a chat with The Hindu.
“On one of our safaris, we noticed a sub-adult bull, which had strayed into the forest. We tried to chase it out of the forest [and] onto the main road leading away from the forest,” he said.
“To our surprise, this bull again strayed into the forest on the same tar road behind us. The only way for it to come out of the jungle was to walk six km [down] the road, as one side was a water canal and on the other side dense forest. Apparently, with the tigers around, it was in potential danger,” said Mr. Jeet, who is the MD of Enviri.
A few moments later a large male tiger (S2) charged towards the bull from about 100 meters behind it. The bull, however, noticed the tiger and started running towards the vehicles. The predator and the prey exchanged stares, and the tiger withdrew into the thickets.
“The bull continued to stray into the jungle with no option but to walk down the tar road even as another male tiger (popularly known as Baraahi) was lurking around the bifurcation point of the canal point,” Mr. Jeet said.
Some time later, Baraahi appeared on the road (the third time that day) and charged towards the bull, which was unaware of the ambush.
“By the time the bull noticed the tiger, it was too late. The tiger dragged the carcass deep inside the jungle,” concluded Mr. Jeet.
