The lush green acres of sun-kissed grass and fresh tree leaves with arching canopies, the forest was captivating and full of life, upon our arrival at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, TopSlip. The afternoon sun was shining bright and the forest was bustling with activity after the monsoon rains.
Harish and I went on a trek that was part of the eco-tourism activities provided at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve. We often venture into these forests on wilderness treks in search of the long-term calming effects, adventure and the solitude that it offers. The Anamalai’s offers excellent birding opportunities on such treks but any mammal sighting meant an added bonus.
I’ve been a regular visitor to the Anamalai’s since a kid, but for the past 2 years, my trips into these forests have been a revelation.
I have never experienced the jungle, this way before. Every trip into the wild is exciting, new and thrilling. Thanks to my recently acquired admiration for birds and the lesser known wildlife. But the jinx remained unchanged. No big cat sighting yet, here. Not one in 15 long years. And then, it all happened.
The hauntingly chilling alarm call* of the Chital echoed through the forest as we rushed past the tall teak trees, vaguely hoping to catch a glimpse of the most exciting event inside a forest. A LIVE HUNT! The hypersensitive Chitals broke into a cacophony of alarm frenzy that was erupting through the jungle.
“A big cat, is on the prowl.”
The forest terrain here is dense and thick and that makes the sight of a big cat quite uncommon and exceptional. Within just 5 minutes of walking into the forest canopy, we heard the Chital alarm call again. With every sense tingling with excitement and bewildered eyes, we stared at each other. We called it our lucky day and tried finding a vantage point to manage a sighting. The call grew louder and this time it became almost continuous. There was no time to waste. With adrenaline rushing through the body, we followed the guide who kept assuring us that we were in for a treat today.
“A minute later we saw a group of anxious Chitals running towards us, from the opposite side.”
Unsure if we should proceed, we quickly decided to walk a little bit further, to get us that vantage point. The sound was getting louder and louder, and with my heart racing, it crossed my mind, after all these years this could be my day. It may seem exaggerated but the rarity of the sighting increased the thrill of the chase!
Upon reaching a waterhole, we finally spotted the chital, looking in the direction of dry bamboo thickets, with their tails raised up, ready to flee at any time. Maybe it wasn’t a hunt after all, we realised. The predator might have sneaked out to the waterhole to quench its thirst. We stood there perplexed and bewildered, awaiting for something to happen. The astonishment was just uncontainable. And suddenly there it was.
“Leopard, Leopard!” said the guard and Harish, in unison. I stood there motionless, stunned and excited. There was nothing between us and the leopard – the most gorgeous, magnificent, elegant creature I have ever seen. She ran towards a bush, upon seeing us and the forever curious, intelligent cat that she is, she suddenly turned and looked straight into our eyes, getting caught in Harish’s camera, before disappearing.
The rush and feverish excitement produced a sense of godly euphoria inside of me. It was indescribable. We sat down behind a tree, desperately hoping, she would come back and a minute later we heard a distant alarm call of a jungle fowl. We knew she had gone away from us. The chital alarm hadn’t subsided yet. We decided to leave the place, not wanting to create further disturbance. While the guard was boasting about his luck on our way back, I was beaming with happiness. He said, nobody has ever seen a leopard with just 15 minutes into the trek and that we were truly lucky.
My prayer has been finally answered, I felt truly blessed! It was that emotional and deeply satisfying, contrast to the sighting among the jeep crowd that circles the magnificent animal, like a picnic circus, with their “chuk chuk” bazooka cameras and their noisy chattering.
The whole experience further drew me close to nature and has propelled the urge to conserve, stronger. From the many things I learnt from the trip, one seemed overwhelmingly certain –
“If you want a true wildlife experience, Walk the Jungle!”
* Chital Alarm call – A spotted deer raising an alarm, a high pitched ‘ack ack’ and a loud ‘wow’ bark, which will be joined by the herd, a behaviour usually accompanied by the raising of its tail, exposing the white rump underneath, which sends a strong visual signal of alarm to the nearby deer that might have missed the approaching predator. The proximity of the nasty predator can be gauged by the number of deer in the chorus. A serious predator like a tiger or a leopard will elicit a strong, desperate alarm call with the herd looking in the direction of the danger.
