We reached Dhikala by 6:30 p.m. and must have covered nearly 40 km. in the whole day. It was a thrilling experience and just thinking and discussing about the events took our tiredness away.
 In our jeep we dropped the boys back to Khinanauli. From where I got another passenger for Dhikala who was injured while crossing the Ramganga in his slippers. It is amazing that the people insist on wearing slippers on all occasions even while tracking. I thought that I would be suggesting to the director to make it compulsory for the staff to wear boots/shoes on their daily rounds and avoid injury.
10.May.97
We woke up at our usual time and joined Mr. Aswal on our daily round of Chooha Pani. At the Kammarpatta Marg we came across the pug marks of a tigress whose stride measured 131, 132, 136 cms. She had walked the main road for a good distance and the marks were all around. I had a hunch that this was the tigress from Bichhoo Boji, i.e. Ajay's area since he had mentioned to me the stride being 133 cms and further down the road we saw the pug marks being encircled, which proved my hunch being correct.
We reached Chooha Pani and found no further pug marks but while we were resting an Emerald Dove or Green Pigeon had come to the waterhole for a drink. This was also a new discovery for me.
With nothing more to find we returned to Dhikala via the Bichhoo Boji sot. On today's beat we were accompanied by Mr. Tariq Hasan of press trust of India, who also seemed a genuine wildlife lover.
In the evening me and Ajay were put in the group with Puran covering the area in and around no.3 water hole and the Motasal area since his assistants had been called for a fire fighting errand at Gairal.
On the Thandi Road we came across the pug marks which Puran had sighted in the morning round. He mounted the plaster and we proceeded further for our rounds. We reached the no.3. water hole and were nearly startled to see a elephant watching us from bushes, on seeing us three he quickly vanished in the deep jungles, after covering our area and around dusk we sat for a couple of minutes at the watchtower. This watchtower is the best located towers of that I have seen. The tiger if within that area is sure to visit it once a day if not more. I made a resolve that next time I would definitely sit at this tower for a whole day.
Mr. Puran was a bit unlucky while taking off the plaster of paris from the pug mark. One of the fingers of the pug mark broke. We returned to the base via Thandi Road.
On a suggestion from Mr. Pant, the DYP ranger, I gave a slide show in the evening and also displayed the slides takes by Mr. H. S. Karmiyal. The clapping at the end of the show was the reward enough for me and Mr. Karmiyal, his work of taking slides of a tiger from a tree was much appreciated by the viewers.
11.May.1997
We got up a little late maybe the tiredness of the days was getting the better of us. After a quick breakfast went on the Sambhar Road where we were informed by the returning party that fresh pug marks of a tiger and tigress had been seen. We patrolled the area and sat for sometime at the watchtower without success and planned our return journey to Delhi since our assigned job was finished.
While returning back to base we were curious to observe an eagle flying haywire, like a airplane that has lost its control, on closer observation we saw that a group of bees were chasing it, and it was trying its best to avoid confrontation. The eagle might have chosen wrong breakfast this morning.
We picked up our jeep and went for a final round of the park, where we came across Mr. Puran with his group along with Dr. Das who is also a keen wildlife lover, resting at Mota Sal. We helped them to refill their water supply and returned back to base after stopping for a very short time at Chooha Pani, thinking that we might sight a tiger before going back.
Before leaving we had the honor of meeting Mr. Brijendra Singh, the Hon. Warden of CTR. After meeting him we realized that he is a real wildlife lover. Most of the time he is in jungle, even in monsoons he is patrolling the areas so as to motivate the people and to ensure that his presence can dissuade the poachers who are at present eyeing the prized white cheetal (a breed of deer found in India). He is a raja of famous place and has enough of wealth for the rest of his life to enjoy the comforts and to spend his summers in the comforts of an air conditioner but has opted for the tough life. If only a few more like him could exist then I could believe that the tigers and forest of India are not doomed to extinction. There is still hope.
We departed Dhikala at 12:00 p.m. and reached Delhi at 7:30 p.m. |
