"How Panna got its Stripes Back"

Greetings Everyone,

From Ranthambore we were to take the night train to Katni and drive to Panna National Park, the third and final destination on our inaugural Vana Safaris Tour.  However, our plans were to take an unexpected twist.  We had found that our dear friend Saeedeh from Iran was coming to India on Nov. 1st.  We had not seen her in 16 years!  It didn't look like our paths would cross but Saeedeh would be arriving in Jaipur tonight, a mere 3-hour drive away.  I told Avi that it was too bad that we wouldn't get to see Saeedeh.  He said "Why not"?  We discussed various options and came up with a plan to drive back to Jaipur to meet her, spend the night there, drive to Agra the following morning, take the direct flight to Khajuraho and drive to Panna.  It meant a lot of changes and Avi set about to make it happen.  I had already sent Saeedeh a message that we wouldn't be able to meet her.  We sent multiple messages that our plans had changed and we were heading to Jaipur.  Now all that was needed was for Saeedeh to get our message!

We arrived in Jaipur and still had not heard back from Saeedeh.  Would she get our message in time?  Finally, around 6:00 we got a response from Saeedeh.  She would take a taxi to our hotel and join us for dinner.  Yippee!  While waiting for Saeedeh to arrive we watched a puppet show, sadly a dying art form in India.  

Puppet Show in Jaipur

Then there she was...  Even after 16 years I recognized her immediately!  We embraced for a long time and cried tears of joy.  Even though we only spent a mere 10 days together back in 2000 it created a bond that has lasted all these years.  We chatted for a bit and I showed Saeedeh photos from our 2000 trip.  They brought back many happy memories.  We had a traditional Rajistani meal and all too quickly Saeedeh had to return to her hotel.  Oh what a magical evening it was!

Peggy, Saeedeh and Marc

The following morning we drove to Agra where we caught a direct flight to the new airport in Khajuraho.  It was a short drive to Panna National Park and we didn't waste any time before going on our first game drive.  The Park is much like Gir with teak forest and tall grass and undergrowth - it was difficult to see animals here.  We did see Spotted Deer, Sambar, Blue Blue, Wild Boar and Southern Plains Gray Langur but no new mammals.  We had to be out of the park by 5:45 and went to nearby sanctuary called Jhinna.  We were able to do a night safari in the sanctuary and saw Asiatic Jackals, Blue Bull, Indian Gazelle, Small Indian Civet, Common Palm Civet and Wild Boar.  

Asiatic Jackal

We were up early the next morning for our full-day safari inside the park.  We saw a lanky Jungle Cat in the road but it disappeared in the grass before Marc could get a photo.  We didn't see much except for the usual cast of characters: Blue Bull, Sambar, a large herd of Spotted Deer, Southern Plains Gray Langur and Peafowl, so we returned to the lodge around noon for a little break.  

Herd of Spotted Deer

We returned to the park around 2:30 and I spotted a Common Cobra crossing the road.  We learned that a jeep had seen a leopard kill a sambar in the morning and drag it up a steep bank but there was no sign of the leopard now.

The following morning we returned to the Park and got a call that a tigress designated as P142 or Rani had been sighted on top of the plateau.  We raced off to see her.  When we arrived there were about 8 jeeps already there.  She was lying in the road and the jeeps were far from her.  

Rani in the Road

We drove to the head of the line but I wanted to go closer.  The other jeeps seemed afraid that she would charge.  We did go closer and she got up and scent-marked a tree. We got to within 100 feet of her but she did not charge, instead she moved off into the tall grass.  

Rani Scent-marking a Tree

Just 7 years ago there were no tigers in Panna National Park.  They had all been poached out!   In March of 2009, a tigress designated T1 was brought from Kanha National Park.  Since then T1 has given birth to 5 litters of cubs!  Rani is one of T1's daughters from her 4th litter.  She is 26 months old and her designation P142 means:

P - born in Panna

1 - to T1

4 - in T1's 4th litter

2 - 2nd cub

Her father is T112, her half brother from T1's first litter.  There are now 35 tigers in Panna so in 7 years, Panna went from 0 to 35 tigers!  To read more about this incredible success story go to:

Enter the tiger: how Panna got its stripes back

We left Rani and went off in search of more wildlife.  Our forest guard spotted a leopard crossing the road.  I completely missed it until he was in the tall grass on the side of the road.  Marc got some photos.  

Leopard in the Grass

We returned to the lodge for brunch and one of the staff showed us some Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats roosting in a nearby clump of bamboo.  Very cute!

Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats

The park was closed on Wednesday afternoon so we left at 4:00 for Jhinna Sanctuary to spend the night.  On the drive we saw 5-striped Palm Squirrels, Southern Plains Gray Langurs, Blue Bull, Indian Gazelle and a Sloth Bear sow with a cub!  They were in the forest so we didn't get a clear view.  We stopped at the camp for a nice dinner.

Camp Dinner

After dinner we went on a night drive and saw Common Palm Civet, Asiatic Jackal and Indian Fox.

Common Palm Civet

We were up early the following morning in order to leave at 4:30.  As we were getting into the jeep we heard Blue Bull alarm calls close by.  Not far from camp I spotted a leopard on the side of the road.  He crouched, startled by the spotlight, but slinked off into the forest before Marc could get a photo.  As we were looking for him we spotted another smaller leopard not far away.  This must be a female, the mate of the male we had surprised.  We were amazed at how close they were to camp, less than a quarter-mile away!

We left the Sanctuary and drove to Panna National Park for the morning safari.  We saw all the usual characters: Wild Boar, Sambar, Blue Bull, Spotted Deer, Southern Plains Gray Langur and a magnificent Crested Hawk Eagle.

Crested Hawk Eagle

At the junction of two roads we paused to check out a Sati Stone carved in the 10th Century.  Sati is when a widow throws herself on the funeral pyre of her deceased husband, a tradition that thankfully is no longer practiced.

Sati Stone

We returned to the lodge for brunch and a bit of rest before the afternoon safari.  We had great views of Plum-headed Parakeets on the drive back to the Park.

Plum-headed Parakeets

We spotted our 36th species of mammal on this safari, a Four-horned Antelope, and some of the usual: Southern Plains Gray Langur, Spotted Deer, Blue Bull plus one of our favorites, a Yellow-footed Green Pigeon. 

Yellow-footed Green Pigeon

We stopped in the vicinity of the tracker following Rani and the few jeeps that had gathered hoping for a view.  While we were waiting we heard what sounded like a pig squeal.  Had Rani just killed a spotted deer?  Frustratingly we could see nothing in the tall grass.

We did our final safari in Panna the following morning.  We didn't see any tigers or leopards just the regulars: Spotted Deer, Sambar and Southern Plains Gray Langur.   A beautiful Indian Roller posed nicely in a nearby tree.

Indian Roller

We were driven to the airport for the flight to Delhi where we spent our final night in India.  The next morning we said a teary-eyed goodbye to Avi.  We were so happy to be the first clients of Vana Safaris, the inaugural tour was a big success.  We saw 36 species of mammal including 16 species that were new to us!  We learned about some of the challenges of protecting wildlife and their habitat in a country with a burgeoning human population and met some conservation heroes.  We were able to meet up with our Iranian friend Saeedeh after not seeing her for 16 years.  Thank-you Avi and Monika for making all this happen.  We wish you much success with Vana Safaris in the future.  We look forward to our next adventure with you!

Peggy, Avi and Marc on Safari

We hope all is well with everyone.

Peggy and Marc

Mammal List for Inaugural Vana Safaris Tour: Oct. 22 - Nov. 12, 2016 

No.	Species	Scientific Name	Notes
1	Gray Mongoose	Herpestes edwardsii	Gir, Rann of Kutch & Ranthambore
2	Southern Plains Gray Langur	Semnopithecus dussumieri	Gir,  Ranthambore & Panna
3	Spotted Deer (Chital)	Axis axis	Gir, Ranthambore & Panna
4	Sambar	Rusa unicolor	Gir, Ranthambore & Panna
5	Blue Bull (Nilgai)	Boselaphus tragocamelus	Gir, Rann of Kutch, LRK,  Ranthambore & Panna
6	Indian Leopard	Panthera pardus fusca	Gir, Ranthambore & Panna
7	Wild Boar	Sus scrofa	Gir, LRK, Blackbuck, Ranthambore & Panna
8	Five-striped Palm Squirrel	Funambulus pennantii	At Gir, Rann of Kutch, LRK, Ranthambore & Panna
9	Indian Hare (Black-naped)	Lepus nigricollis	At Gir, Rann of Kutch, LRK, Ranthambore & Panna
10	Greater Indian Fruit Bat	Pteropus giganteus	At Gir, Rann of Kutch, LRK & Ranthambore
11	Asiatic Jackal	Canis aureus	Gir, Rann of Kutch, Ranthambore & Panna
12	Indian Desert Jird	Meriones  hurrianae	Rann of Kutch
13	Jungle Cat	Felis chaus	Rann of Kutch, Ranthambore & Panna
14	Little Indian Field Mouse	Mus booduga	Rann of Kutch
15	Grey (Asian) Musk Shrew	Suncus murinus	Rann of Kutch
16	Bengal (Indian) Fox	Vulpes  bengalensis	Rann of Kutch, LRK, Ranthambore & Panna
17	Indian Desert Cat	Felis silvestris ornata	Rann of Kutch & Ranthambore
18	Pale Hedgehog	Hemiechinis micropus	Rann of Kutch
19	Greater Mouse-tailed Bat	Rhinopoma microphyllum	Rann of Kutch and Little Rann of Kutch
20	House Mouse	Mus musculus	Rann of Kutch
21	Rat ?		Rann of Kutch
22	Indian Wild Ass	Equus hemionus khur	Little Rann of Kutch
23	Desert (White-footed) Fox	Vulpes vulpes pusilla	Little Rann of Kutch
24	Small Indian Mongoose	Herpestes auropunctatus	Little Rann of Kutch
25	Blackbuck	Antilope cervicapra	Blackbuck/Velavadar
26	Indian Grey Wolf	Canis lupus pallipes	Blackbuck/Velavadar
27	Ruddy Mongoose	Herpestes smithii	Ranthambore
28	Bengal Tiger	Panthera tigris tigris	Ranthambore & Panna
29	Chinkara (Indian Gazelle)	Gazella  bennettii	Ranthambore & Panna
30	Common Palm Civet	Paradoxurus hermaphroditus	Ranthambore & Panna
31	Striped Hyena	Hyaena hyaena	Ranthambore
32	Rhesus Macaque	Macaca mulatta	Ranthambore
33	Small Indian Civet	Viverricula indica	Ranthambore & Panna
34	Sloth Bear	Melursus ursinus	Ranthambore & Panna
35	Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bat	Cynopterus  brachyotis	Ken River Lodge
36	Four-horned Antelope	Tetracerus  quadricornis	Panna

Key:

LRK - Little Rann of Kutch

Our route map:

Man-eaters of the Mangroves

Greetings All,
After our visit to Tadoba National Park, we drove back to Nagpur and flew east to Kolkata.  A bustling metropolis of over 14 million people, Kolkata is the capital of the Indian State of West Bengal and the staging point for our visit to the Sundarbans.  Every since seeing a documentary on the Sundarbans twenty years ago I have been intrigued by this vast mangrove forest along the Bay of Bengal with its legendary man-eating tigers.  Now, here we were on our way to explore the Sundarbans for ourselves.  We drove for about 3 hours from Kolkata to the town of Gadkhali where we boarded our boat for the trip down the Durga-duani River.

Marc on the Upper Deck of Our Boat

About 2 hours downriver we entered Sundarbans National Park.  Declared a National Park in 1984, the area encompasses 2600 sq km. We had to stop at the office to pick up our permits and while there saw an Indian Gray Mongoose chasing a domestic cat. "Oh no, I thought, that mongoose is going to kill that poor cat!"  Surprisingly, the cat did not run away and the two began to play.  What an unlikely friendship!

Unlikely Friendship

Two young Rhesus Macaques were also frolicking under the trees.

Rhesus Macaques

As we were leaving the dock I spotted some curious looking mudskippers on the shore.  They are completely amphibious fish that can use their pictorial fins to walk on land and they have the ability to breath through their skin.

Mudskipper

We took a short cruise into the park but other than some shore birds we did not see any of the Sundarbans elusive inhabitants.

Indian Pond Heron

White-collared Kingfisher

We returned to our lodge where some of the local villagers performed a folk dance for us.  The women danced while the men beat drums and played a flute.

Local Village Tribal Dance

After the dance, a "tiger" paid us a visit. The kids in the audience were frightened but their parents urged them to shake the "tiger's" paw for a family photo.

Shaking Hands with a "Tiger"

The next day we spent the whole day plying the waters of the Sundarbans in search of their most infamous inhabitants.  According to last year's census conducted via camera traps, there are 103 tigers roaming the Sundarbans.  Tigers here do hunt and consume humans that venture into their realm. Every year villagers are allowed into the park for two weeks to gather honey.  They wear masks on the back of their heads to trick the tigers into thinking they are being watched.  It is believed that tigers only attack from behind.

Back of the Head Mask

They masks aren't always effective and people are still being killed by tigers.  Last year 45 fatalities were reported.  This year the most recent attack occurred only two weeks ago.   A woman was fishing with her husband and son when she was attacked by a tiger.  She told them not to try and rescue her and put their lives at risk.  She sacrificed herself to save her husband and son.  We were safe in our big motor boat but the fisherman use small rowboats and go down narrow channels where they are vulnerable to tiger attacks.

Local Fishermen

There are several theories why tigers here are man-eaters while in other parts of India tigers do not hunt humans.  The most plausible is the low prey base in the Sundarbans.  The tigers only prey consists of spotted deer, Rhesus Macaques, wild boar and sometimes even fish and crabs.  The tigers are always hungry and people make easy targets.

Rhesus Macaques on River Bank 

Spotted Deer on River Bank

Other theories seem more far-fetched like tigers are in constant pain from drinking saline water which makes them more aggressive or that they developed a taste for human flesh by eating dead bodies washed up from people drowned during cyclones.

So why do people venture into these mangrove forests and put their lives are risk?  The biggest reason is to collect honey.  This time of year the mangrove flowers attract millions of bees.

Mangrove Flowers

Some were flying around our boat and landed on us.  As long as you stayed calm they did us no harm.  I asked if the locals ever considered placing bee hives in the villages so that they didn't have to venture into the forest.  The answer was some did consider village hives but the highest quality honey comes from the forest.

We searched all day for the man-eaters of the mangroves but did not spot any.  We had to settle for some pug marks onshore as proof that the man-eaters are more than just a legend.

Tiger Pug Marks

I felt somewhat guilty for desperately wanting to see a tiger from the safety of our boat when everyday people risk their lives in order to make a meager living.  The last thing they want to encounter is a tiger.  Yet, it's the tigers roaming these mangroves that have saved them from development and protected the local inhabitants' livelihoods.

As the sun set over the Sundarbans I knew the tigers would be on the prowl.  I hope that humans and tigers can somehow learn to coexist in this fragile and unique environment.

Sundarbans Sunset

We hope all is well back home.
Peggy and Marc

Where Have all the Leopards Gone?

Greetings All,
After leaving Myanmar we flew to Colombo, Sri Lanka via Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  We had a few days before meeting up with our next trek group so we visited Yala National Park in southern Sri Lanka.  Yala is Sri Lanka's second largest national park and is said to have the largest leopard density in the world.  We set out to explore the park with our guide, Arran, hoping to find a lot of leopards to photograph.

There are plenty of other animals and birds in the park to enjoy.   Yala harbors 44 species of mammals and 215 species of birds including 6 endemics.  One of the first birds we encountered was this Malabar Pied Hornbill.

Malabar Pied Hornbill

We rudely interrupted two land monitor lizards in the process of mating.  They reared up on their hind legs and embraced lovingly or so I thought.



Land Monitor Lizards

There was a lot of hissing going on and when the male started getting rough, the female had enough and made a hasty retreat.  Yala is also home to herds of wild water buffalo.  Around the periphery of the park most of the water buffalo contain genes from domestic stock.

Wild Water Buffalo

The Little Green Bee-eaters were especially prolific.  They flitted back and forth across the road alighting on branches nearby which made for a great photo.

Little Green Bee-eater

There are four species of deer in the park.  By far the most common are the Spotted Deer.  This handsome buck posed nicely for us.

Male Spotted Deer

There are more than 90 species of waterfowl that inhabit Yala's wetlands.  We observed Cattle, Little, Intermediate and Great Egrets, Red and Yellow-wattled Lapwings, Gray heron, Black-headed Ibis, Indian Pond Heron, White-breasted Water Hen, Lesser Whistling ducks and this beautiful Painted Stork.

Painted Stork

The Asian Elephant herds of Yala number from 300 to 350 individuals.  Most of the males are tuskless owing to the British shooting out all the large males with tusks in colonial times.  We did spot Nalaka, one of the few males with tusks.

Nalaka, male Elephant w/Tusks

The breeding herds containing the females with calves were more difficult to spot.  They tended to stay hidden in the jungle.  One small herd of about 7 individuals came out of hiding for a mud bath.  The adults sprayed muddy water on their back to cool down.  A tiny calf tried to emulate mom without much success.  He had not yet mastered the numerous muscles in his tiny trunk.  When the herd left the waterhole we got a good photo.

Asian Elephants

Almost everywhere you look in Yala you see Peafowl.  One Peacock was doing his best to impress a Peahen.  His tail feathers were extended in a brilliantly colored fan which he shakes violently to attract her attention.  At first she seemed interested but soon turned away and strolled off.

Peacock Displaying

There are two species of monkey in Yala.  The Toque Macaque is endemic to Sri Lanka.  They hang around the rest stops looking for an opportunity to steal food.  We managed to hang onto our breakfasts.

Toque Macque

Not wanting to miss anything we spent two full days in the park.  It gets really hot around noon and the animals tend to be less active.  Most people take a break around midday and return to their lodgings to rest.  We found that you can still spot animals when they come to one of the park's many waterholes to drink.

Spotted Deer Drinking at a Waterhole

One of my favorite smaller animals was the Grizzled Giant Squirrel.  They are found only in Sri Lanka and India.  They are near-threatened due to hunting and habitat loss.

Grizzled Giant Squirrel

Another small mammal spotted at dawn and dusk is the common Black-naped Hare.

Black-naped Hare

We were nearing the end of our second full day in the park and had yet to see a leopard.  We were getting desperate.  Others staying at our camp were getting good sightings but we always seemed to arrive minutes too late.  We decided to bend the rules and stay in the park past sunset in the hopes of getting a sighting of one of the cats that had been eluding us the past couple of days.  One of the top guys in the wildlife department, Chandre, was with us so weren't too concerned about staying late.  He wanted to see a leopard as badly as we did.  Finally, success!  A beautiful female leopard slinked out of the jungle to get a drink at a nearly waterhole.  Despite being some distance away and the growing darkness Marc was able to get a descent shot.

Female Asian Leopard

Time to head out of the park before it got much darker!  Thank you Arran, Chandre and our driver Koshala for being so patient and willing to remain in the park for 13 hours two days in a row for us to get good sightings and photos of Yala's elusive inhabitants.

We hope all is well back home,
Peggy and Marc