Where Tigers Prowl

[chris dees]

Beautiful images Ann, especially the white Tigress; those eyes!.

Another place for my bucket list.

[Ann]

Chris:

They have Cheetahs there as well but we didn't have enough time to spend with the Cheetahs on that occasion because our next night was to be spent in the mountains of Lesotho and the Border Post was at least four hours away and it was due to close at 4:00 p.m..
(We made it; but with just minutes to spare).

[David H. Hartman]

The photograph of the white Tigress, Tiger Bomb is spectacular! What a beautiful creature.

Thank You!

Dave Hartman

[Fons Baerken]

The photograph of the white Tigress, Tiger Bomb is spectacular! What a beautiful creature.

Thank You!

Dave Hartman

Indeed, very much so!

[John Geerts]

Great detailed series of the Tigers.  That White Tiger is something special !

[David Paterson]

Superb series, Ann.

As for re-introducing animal species to Scotland, some re-introductions have already taken place - beaver and white-tailed eagle to name just two - but these things have to be very carefully thought through. There are always unplanned consequences to such actions, and the individuals who want further re-introductions here - wolf, lynx and even wolverine - are, I believe, deeply mistaken. Large predators were hunted out in Scotland many centuries ago and this has created one great benefit - there are no dangerous animals in the Scottish countryside and consequently our remaining forests, moorland and mountain wildernesses can be wandered and enjoyed without fear or extra precautions. Of course I don't advocate the extermination of predators elsewhere just to create "safe" environments for hikers, but in Scotland we are where we are, and a new equilibrium amongst our remaining wild species was established a very long time ago.
 
Once when walking a jungle trail alone, in Nepal, I heard a tiger - that unmistakable gutteral, coughing grunting vocalisation - and on a trail in Zion Canyon, in the USA, I came across a warning notice stating that there had been lion attacks, and what to do if attacked by a mountain lion. Both experiences were deeply unpleasant.

[David H. Hartman]

I've seen a mountain lion in the hills behind my house in Glendale, California. I was a kid flying a kite. The wind direction was such that the mt. lion didn't detect me. It was chasing a rabbit (a snack). It had been forced down from the Angles National Forest as fire had destroyed it's hunting range. At first I though it was a German Shepard but the catcher's mitt size paws, long tail and short ears compelled me to drop the kite string and back as quietly as possible from the ridge. The cat was about 30 to 40 yards across a gully. It was about 10 yards lower than me. I walked as quietly as possible most of the way home but panicked and ran the last 100 yards. I was 12 years old.

There had been a fire storm as three brush fires burned into one. 125 house burned down, more than 400 lost their roofs. The area where I was flying my kite was burned clean of the chaparral. Yucca looking like pineapples dotted the landscape.  There were sticks of burned but not fully consumed sycamore which later grew leaves from the roots and recovered.

Dave Hartman

Anyone who lives in So. California knows what follows brush fires.

[Ann]

You showed both enormous courage and great presence of mind in the way that you reacted.

Cougars/Mountain Lions are reputed to be most efficient killers of all of the big cats: they apparently go straight for the throat.

We do have them here in the North East too but their numbers seem to be small and they are only rarely seen.

We had one in our own garden about 38 years ago but I have never seen (or smelt!) her again since then.

I had been gardening all afternoon, had noticed the strong smell and assumed it was some plant which I had never come across previously. I also had the impression that something was moving around behind the wall behind me all afternoon but couldn't see anything and never went over to investigate.

Later that evening she emerged into clear sight and went down to the pond to drink.

I did go out with the camera the following evening and sat and waited by the stream which feeds the pond but she didn't return.

[David H. Hartman]

Once when walking a jungle trail alone, in Nepal, I heard a tiger - that unmistakable gutteral, coughing grunting vocalisation...

That trumps any frightening experience in the wild I've ever had.

[Ann]

I mentioned a rather ferocious and dangerous Tiger called Corbett earlier in this thread and you might be interested to learn how that story ended:

http://www.jvbigcats.co.za/newsletters145.htm

[Michael Erlewine]

When I was younger, in 1964, I spent a year in Berkely, California studying with a political science professor. One day while walking my Italian racing bike up Grizzly Peak from the town of Orinda (where I lived) to Berkeley, I encountered a wild mountain lion, which was huge, and only a few feet from me. As I cowered behind my bike, the mountain lion slowly walked across the road just in front of me, slowly turning his head only once to casually look at me, and then simply continued walking on across the road. Terrific!

In 1997, while breaking trails while riding on elephants in the jungles of Western Nepal, where there were tigers, I did not see one, but the elephants would shudder when they sensed one. I remember the shuddering and the rain of falling insects as the elephants (with their movement) shook the canopy from high above as they walked.

[armando_m]

I mentioned a rather ferocious and dangerous Tiger called Corbett earlier in this thread and you might be interested to learn how that story ended:

http://www.jvbigcats.co.za/newsletters145.htm

What a story ! Thanks for sharing it

[Frode]

In all of history there have never been wild tigers in Africa — until now.

In a distant Karoo Canyon, miles from any large city (about eight-hours drive from either Durban or Johannesburg) 20 Bengal Tigers now roam wild over 1,500 hectares (nearly 4,000 acres), hunt for prey and breed.

This is the brilliant concept developed by John Varty with the hope of preventing the extinction of this species.

Estimates of the remaining population of wild Bengal tigers in India varies between a maximum of 3,000 and a more probable number of only 1,000 animals. Compounding the problem is the fact that another Tiger is currently being killed every day by poachers who supply the lucrative Chinese Traditional Medicine market.

My great friend Pepe Jones (who runs NatureUncut Tours from Cape Town and who has arranged all of my wonderful trips to Southern Africa where we have shared some fairly wild adventures together) and I were very privileged to spend a morning photographing some of the Karoo Tigers.

We travelled inside a jeep enclosed in a heavy steel cage (strong enough to support a tiger should it leap on the roof) and with openings at both seat and ceiling-height through which we could poke our camera lenses — while being ready to jump back and close the lower windows when a tiger came just a bit too close.

Tigers hunt by hiding and then ambushing their prey. You would imagine that a Tiger would be extremely visible but their markings blend so well  with sunlight and shadow, and with the soil and vegetation that I didn’t even see this one who was crouching in the long grass until we were within a few feet of him.

Must have been a wonderful experience to be able to watch these wonderful (and dangerous  ) animals from close range. You`ve managed to capture many great portraits of them, one gets to see their "personality" through your pictures. Well done!

[Mongo]

Some wonderful images showing a great variety of activity and characters. The series seems to be quite "intimate" taken with proximity and patience which only the Jane Goodall of tigers could produce. Thoroughly enjoyed this series.

[David H. Hartman]

Regarding King Corbett: I have a hard time celebrating a cat that kills females of it's own species. I understand it's normal for a males to kill cubs that are not his own and I know the males fight and sometimes kill each other but killing a female when the species is in danger doesn't pass with me.

I understand that even domestic tomcats will kill cubs as lions do when they drive off a rival. The life of any male cat is difficult. I read the 10 year of lions is only 2 to 3 years, at least that's my memory.

Dave