We all know that India is famous for its
history, culture, food and of course breath-taking landscapes. But India is
also recognized for its national parks. We have around 104 national parks in
India according to May 2019 study. Madhya Pradesh alone has 11 national parks
in its territory. One of the most well-known is Kanha Tiger Reserve, the
largest national park of Madhya Pradesh, a state in the heart of India. The
present-day Kanha area is divided into two sanctuaries, Hallon and Banjar. The
forest depicted in the famous novel by Rudyard Kipling, The Jungle Book is
based on jungles including this reserve.
As the golden sunlight touches the ground, the
forest awakens, and in front of you is nothing but jaw-dropping beauty. The
beauty of Kanha forest is so surreal that the ones who experience this scene
call it magical. I being one of those
experienced people would definitely agree.
I visited Kanha Tiger Reserve for wildlife
photography 1.5 years ago with Impressions Photography led by Mr. Sarang Mhaskar
and Mrs. Snehal Joshi, both brilliant photographers and mentors. Our day began
at 4 o’clock in the morning as the park’s gates opened at 6. As we woke up
before the sun, we witnessed the golden sunrise every day. We had two gypsy
safaris every day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Every safari was
a different experience. The one I’ll be sharing today is the most mind
captivating encounter of my life to date.
It was a pleasant morning and the sun was
above our heads. We heard a tiger’s morning roar and planned to wait for
another call. We waited for some time and decided to move ahead. But just when
we were about to start our engines, we saw a pack of wild dogs chasing a herd
of Indian Sambar deer. Yes, we witnessed an actual chase! (Like the ones they
show on National Geographic and Discovery). It was obviously breakfasting time for
the wild dogs. The deer being fast had an advantage but the predator was hungry
and hence not planning on giving up.
One of the deer jumped into a lake nearby and
swam to the middle of the lake and stood there. His herd ran into the jungle
and the wild dogs after them. At first, we thought the deer was merely taking a
dip in the lake but after observing closely we realized that it was a survival
trick. We assumed that the entire pack of predators chased the herd into the
forest but no, 2 wild dogs were hiding in the bushes waiting for the deer to
come out of the pool. The deer had obviously spotted the danger and hence
remained in the water. The predators refused to go in the water and attack
their prey. They kept circling the lake, pretending to go away and hiding in
the bushes. The deer stood there firmly and didn’t move an inch. The show went
on for an hour…
The wild dogs eventually lost patience and
left in search of new prey. The deer watched as the predator left but still
remained in the water. We enjoyed this live Nat Geo show and headed back to our
hotel. As we were on our way back to the hotel, I wondered how the prey didn’t
use his strength but instead, he used his brain to survive. Did the deer know
that the wild dogs would not jump into the lake to attack him? What if the
predator had jumped into the lake and attacked him?
So the rule of the jungle says, “Survival of the
fittest.” But in this case, we can say it was the survival of the smartest,
can’t we?
Thank you for reading my blog! Please leave your opinions in the comment section below.
