Documenting the growth of 5 Tiger cubs in Pench Tiger Reserve : 2011-2013

Thanks Dr. Abheek for the pictures & the update on Pench. Many of the parks like Bandhavgarh have rotation basis for guide but not for gypsies. Has this changed only in Pench or through out M.P. parks ? Kindly update on this thread now what is the best way to book safaris since this new rule. Earlier it was easy with your help.

Ronak.

Dear Ronak
I will still be able to help out everybody in planning their visits but will no longer be able to give them a driver and guide of choice for all the drives until this new system of rotation of drivers and guides is in place.

The sightings of all the families in Pench is going on well and anyone planning a visit is requested to keep me posted atleast 15 days in advance so that I can help them out in their plan.

My travels these days are taking me away from commercial parks like pench and bandhavgad to non commercial places like melghat, nagzira, navegaon, satpura, bordharan and other parks in my continued quest to document the rare species like the Leopards, Black Panthers, Caracals, Rusties, Wolves, Foxes and other rare species apart from the Tigers in non commercial Tiger reserves.

I will continue updating this thread and documentary with the help of my volunteers who will continue monitoring the Pench Tigers.

regards,
Dr. A Ghosh
www.facebook.com/abheekg

@abheekg, thanks for your reply & updates. Will be keenly following your experiences in non commercial tiger reserves.

Ronak.

where is the sanjay gandhi national park??? just read about this on another thread. shahronakm, abheek, any idea??

I think it is on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Its at Borivali a western surburb of Mumbai. Very much within Mumbai city limits !

I'm afraid that I must take issue with the so-called misunderstanding. It's clearly beyond comprehension for a highly educated person like DAG to show such a disrespect and disregard of copy right, just for the sake of the enrichment of this forum. Are you saying that for the good of others (or for the good of yourself as you are the originator of this post), you can post other people's images without first obtaining their permission or giving due credit to such people. Only when such behaviour came to lihgt, were such excuses put up for explanations. You should be shameful for what you have done! Had I knew of such 'enrichment', I wish I had not have seen your post.

I have recently been to Pench Tiger Reserve, Nov 15 to 20, 2011 inclusive, having done 10 safaris drives.

For the benefits of the general public interested in visiting Pench, I confirm that the current rotation system is in respect of official guides ONLY; and does NOT apply to drivers/gypsies (as suggested by DAG). A gypsy with driver is currently at Rs1400 per safari. One could well understand how difficult it is for a rotation system of gypsies and drivers to be implemented.

Whilst in Pench in Nov 2011, there's no problem in getting a park entry permit; and gypsies and drivers were readily available. Many people were quite willing to help, e.g. owners/managers of hotels/resorts e.g. Kipling's Court (07695-232830, 232855) or Mowgli's Den (07695-232832, manager: Sanjeer Patel <094242327678, 09039410015>, owner: Samuel Powell <09893015679, 09424748204>, and also any middle men or gypsies plying at the entrance of the park. Mind you, Nov is definitely not a good time (in terms of tiger sightings) in which to visit Pench though.

The driver and gypsy for me (and also Didier Court for the 1st 3 safaris) in Pench had been arranged by a well-known person in this forum. However, the driver (B**b**) as promised never turned up as in the case of Tadoba. The replacement driver left much to be desired. Apart from inexperience, he chatted with the official guide most of the time and, worse still, also did his own photo shooting with a red Nikon Coolpix compact camera hidden under his seat. I'm not sure if this is permissible by the park authority as there is clearly a conflict of interests here. Two typical examples illustrate my point very well > 1. We were really lucky on Nov 16 at 09:45 in sighting the family of 6 tigers. We happened to be the 1st gypsy on the road; whilst we were shooting, the driver also did his with his compact camera; and, as a result, overtaken by other gypsies from behind. He should be doing what a gypsy driver should do and acting in the clients' best interest in making sure that we continued to be the 1st gypsy on the road. >2. We spotted a male tiger crossing a road very early in the morning of Nov 17; but the driver suddenly accelerated abruptly to stop close to the tiger possibly because he wanted to shoot with his compact camera. In fact, he should have stopped much earlier so that we, with our long telephoto lenses (300mm) could shoot with a wider angle and longer period of time.

The well known person who had arranged the gypsies and promised drivers just said that things were beyond his control. Whilst in Tadoba, he admitted to us (Didier and me) that the only advantages he got from such arrangements were that he owned a gypsy each in Tadoba and Pench. Oh, my God, he should have declared his interests to us beforehand, NOT just afterwards when problems cropped up.

@jkccheng, thanks for bringing to our notice that only the official guides have rotation policy & not the gypsy / drivers. Different drivers for different safaris would have been a nightmare.

Ronak.

Just to say that I went to Pench reserve last week and with the help of Dr. Ghosh, was able to do 3 safaris. We were very last minute in our bookings and as such could only get 2 nights at Kipling Resort. We did not see any tigers and had different guides/drivers each time but saw plenty of animals and birds! It was truly amazing experience and can't thank enough Dr. Ghosh for organizing and helping us on our way!

thanks for the update ..jkccheng
going there this newyears time n I booked the entry online..and since u mentioned gypsies and guide would be rotational there would be no problem

aRUN

oops gypsies not in rotational system?

@traveler1， yes, gypsies were not on the rotation system when I was there. Personally, I don't think such rotation system as mentioned by DAG would and could work, no matter what the gypsies union would like to do. Perhaps, after you get back from Pench for the new year vist, you will report the up-to-date situation there for the benefit of those interested going there.

Hello,

Would like to know more about the non commercial reserves that you have mentioned here. Have you visited any of the places listed here yet?

Regards,
roxy

Its been a very different winter for me as I have been away from Jungles and from my favourite park (Pench) because of differences of opinion with the park officials. The park ranger has infact banned my entry for sometime.

This has been very unfortunate but my young team members are doing the documentation on my behalf and we are also helped by many one off visitors to Pench who are glad to share their photographs with us.

Breaking my silence for about 3 months now, let me show you how big the cubs of collarwali have grown. Infact they are on the verge of separation from their mother and young Shahrukh has grown into a big hunk.

The following 3 photographs are of the Tiger cub we have named Shahrukh courtesy Rahul Alpheus who's a doctor and a dedicated wildlife and 4x4 vehicle lover. These pics are from January 2012







The following Tiger shot is of the Tigress we call The Baghin nala Tigress - who's again looking for a mate after her 2 now adult cubs (a male and a female have left her). This pic is courtesy my driver Bablu.



Bablu has been photographing Pench Tigers literally right, left and centre after I gave away one my cameras to him (as I was not venturing into the jungles as frequently as I used to earlier) and he has managed to photograph a new HUGE male Tiger. Check out these 3 pics. The third pic will give you an idea of scale of the Tiger's size.







A compendium of Pench Tigers will be incomplete without the pic of Majestic Collarwali - again framed excellently by Bablu. Here we see her crossing the rise at Beejamatta.



And here's another scoop by the youngest star on Wildcats' horizon - Tejas Parshionikar.

Scoop - Brand new adult male tiger (one of the cubs of the Baghin nale Tigress) doing the Flehmen response



Baghin Nala Tigress - Looking for a mate (Up close and personal)




..................continued to the next post.

Dr. A Ghosh