INTRODUCTION | PHOTOGRAPHIC GEAR | TECHNIQUE | TRACKING WILD TIGERS | SAFETY & RESPECT

RESPONSIBILITY, SAFETY AND RESPECT

Please do not be taken in by the fencing and gates that surround these parks. This is a wild habitat not a sanctuary. These tigers are not rehabilitated from zoos or a circus and have never been domesticated. They are wild and can be very dangerous. A defensive mother with cubs will not hesitate to defend them and will kill a human if you leave the safety of the jeep and approach them.

For some reason, most wild animals, with the exception of monkeys, cannot discern between a jeep and the passengers within it. If you make sudden movements or stand up and break the outline of the jeep you will then attract a wild animal’s attention. It’s probably best not to attract the attention of a tiger, no matter how the guides try (by imitating alarm calls). Most wild animals will flee. Most tigers will simply keep walking, completely indifferent to your presence. However, I have heard 1st hand accounts from passengers that have encountered inquisitive tigers... tigers that want to know what a passenger smells like and have leant right into a jeep to sniff them. I’ll leave it to your imagination as to what the tiger could probably smell!

I know of only one account of a tiger leaping into a jeep. This case involved Mohini, one of Sita’s many daughters. In 2002 Mohini was struck by a vehicle as she crossed the main highway that borders the park. Having had her cheekbone, jaw and teeth smashed she returned to her cubs within the tourist zone.

In the morning she was spotted by a group of jeeps that managed to block her path. Two French photographers insisted on waving their cameras in her face even though they could see she was stressed and injured. What follows has been subject to great exaggeration and embellishment. In defence of her cubs and probably out of defence of herself she leapt into the French photographer’s jeep and mauled them.

The wounds they received were superficial as she had few teeth left and a broken jaw. But she clawed them nonetheless. After this incident Mohini was never seen again. It is thought that she climbed up to the rocks to die in peace. However, I am happy to say that her cubs survived the ordeal with the male making kills for his two sisters. Now, they do not enter the tourism zone and are rarely seen.

I’ve detailed these risks so that you are more aware and hopefully can now respect the wildness of these parks. Watching tigers in the wild is a thrilling and hugely emotional journey. They are stunning creatures and deserve our every respect.