Tiger census - Day2

We planned it better today with a good breakfast before trip. Went deep inside the jungle today. The 4x4 was spinning its magic - G, the driver was having absolute fun with all the off-roading on the jungle terrain. We had our share of back breaking ride. Along with heat, the problem was dust. This being summer, almost the entire jungle was dry and the Ford wheels was lifting up all the dust off the ground. Soon, we were covered under multiple layers of dust - arms, face, head, hair - everything was disguised beyond recognition. Otherwise the program was a relatively relaxed today. We didnt have those many spots to cover. But no animals today either. We almost lost hope of any animal encounter. End of the day was spent in a local tribal village, interviewing the villagers about the jungle and animal encounters. We thought of getting hold of a couple of people and question them but the entire village gathered at the spot. I had a good time shooting some of the village life there.

HYTICOS officials told that the tigers are slowly disappearing from the sanctuary. They are estimating not more than 5 or 6 in the entire area - a count that is quite alarming. The fact that we found pugmarks and scats of tiger, leopard, panther, bear etc does prove that the animals are still in there. But even the local people have not seen any tigers in quite a while now. One of the animal trackers found fresh (and wet) leopard scat, which proves that the animal has visited the spot not too long ago - a thought that is exciting and scary at the same time.


Can you spot me here? :)