that leopard. tell about that leopard. it is my favorite big cat.
Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan, 24th Jan 2016.
We were on a safari on Route 6 through the dry and sparse jungle. We were not too enthusiastic because of all routes in Ranthambore National Park Route 6 had lower possibilities of big cat sightings. In spite of that, we [there were 4 of us; 3 of us roomies and 1 other mutual friend] and a family of two, were in an open back Gypsy.
We started off the safari with loads of Spotted Deer, Nilgai, wild boar, sambar, and a couple of well concealed owls. We even caught a sight of two magnificent male spotted deers sparring with their horns, about 30ft from our gypsy. The sound from the horns striking each other resounded across the area. Unfortunately, I was not in a good position to capture any photos of the sparring, with lots of branches blocking the photo.
At the fag end of the route, our gypsy and a host of other gypsies and open topped buses turned around for the trip back to the starting point. Everyone was visibly dejected. Due to all the vehicles turning around and lack of space, there was a damn traffic jam in the middle of a damn forest. And couple that with the stack mechanism, First In Last Out, we were waiting in our gypsy for a long time, bored and upset and silently cursing the big cat.
It was during this time, when yours truly was scouting a rock at the base of a tree some 250-300ft in the distance, to the left of our gypsy, through some undergrowth and dry branch twigs. The rock did not much look like a rock. I was getting a bit queasy about the rock not looking like a rock when it happened.
the damn rock turned its head. Turned out that the leopard was looking directly at our gypsy the whole time and its body was hidden by the dry yellow grass. First thing I did was to fire off the shutter and the result is what you see.
What followed was totally unexpected. My roommate had noticed me looking keenly with my 70-300 Tamron at one particular spot and he had guessed something was up. When I clicked the shutter, he had finally seen the big cat. and then he stood up and let out a scream. I was aghast and tried to quieten him and pulled him down to his seat. By the time some other tourists too had seen him and a steady "Kaha hai Kaha hai" " wo raha Wo raha" started and begun rising in volume in spite of the drivers and guides trying to keep the volume down.
I went back to my viewfinder. the leopard too had heard all of this chatter and was getting nervous, looking at all of the buses and gypsies. After sometime, it rose from its palce and trotted off further back into the jungle, giving me one last glimpse at its marvelous pale yellow coat with black rosettes. Its movement was quiet and graceful, yet powerful as it vanished into the bush.
It was amazing how the leopard was there the whole time our gypsy and a load of other vehicles arrived and yet no one saw it. Speaks loads about its predatory senses and patience. Mother nature is one hell of a teacher.
And that, gentlemen, is how i shot my first big cat.