Big foot!

Bengal Tiger (Panthera Tigris Tigris) - Declined numbers in the population of these majestic creatures has made it increasingly hard to spot them in the wild. One can consider themselves lucky with a spotting of the elusive big cat in its natural habitat these days.

During one of the Tiger census I participated in, I was lucky enough to accidentally catch a glimpse of a fully grown adult Male Tiger in its territory from a distance of less than 25 ft (only 2 jumps away from the Tiger) - on feet! It was at least 9 ft in length (excl. tail), and was planning a hunt of the Gaurs that were on high alert, only a few yards away from us! Our presence disrupted its plan to hunt, and the Tiger went in to the bushes after staring at us for a few seconds, and then disappeared.

We later tried to find him, but had to find happiness in locating one of its PUG MARKS, as seen in the picture, after a heavy rain the previous day. The pen is for the size reference. The pug mark was over 15 cms in length easily!

Location - somewhere in-between the Mudumalai - Bandipur forest area (more towards Mudumalai).