A "Quiet" Tiger Sighting at Bandhavgarh

[Ken Watkins]

Slightly inspired by Andy Rouse's highly commended in WPOTY a couple of years ago. This is a normal crowd at a Tiger sighting in Bandhavgargh, good to see the new vehicle limitations are working. I could not get all the vehicles in as there were some behind us 22 in all. What makes this all the more remarkable is that the Tiger suspected of being in the area was seen over 6 hours before.

EOS 1D MkII

70-200mm F2.8

F2, ISO 400, 1/800

[peter delaney]

you got to be joking:S3: please tell not all indian/tiger reserves are like this??

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

thx for sharing Ken.....certainly tells a story.

Good thing is that they are all in their cars and on a road. All my tiger watching in Indian forests was in early 90s in reserves that allowed walking at the time. Believe me, I have seen a lot of irresponsible behavior from tourists from all over the world.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Ken, This certainly lets me know what to avoid. More of a photojournalistic image than a landscape since it tells more of a human story....

[Ken Watkins]

Peter,

I have not been to every reserve so I am not making any claims, but I have been to Bandhavgrah twice and it certainly has not improved.

Kaustubh,
There is as you say plenty of irresponsible behaviour even in the so called "up-market" lodges in Botswana, although there it is just endless talking (loudly) and impatience. The Mara is much the same if not worse.

Dave

Thanks, my intention was not to put people off, rather a small warning of what you may get. We talked to a lot of people who were very dissapointed.

[Kaustubh Deshpande]

Ken, what I was saying was that if these folks were not in these vehicles, they'd be wandering on their own, on foot and in their own vehicles, all over the jungles. In a way, it is good that the parks are controlling all that now. Am sure the balance between preservation and revenue that comes from tourists....is a a tricky one to strike.

[Andrew Merwin]

In YNP, we call these "bear Jams", "Buffalo Jams", or "Chipmunk Jams." What-ever–attracts -&– causes–people–to–stop–in–the–middle–of–the-road jam.

[Tom Rambaut]

Any self respecting Tiger would have packed its bags and moved out of the park with all this going on.

[Tom Graham]

Tigers don't have "all the fun". Africa, Tanzania, Serengeti, Feb 2011. A lone leopard caused this 14 or so vehicle jam. (10 here, about 4 more other side of me) - Tom
http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/d2e9241b2623993dc3fa46fc8e1eb182b5d11aa7a18a56b1a2 6104e88d3edeb66g.jpg

[Harshad Barve]

I have more worse pictures of than this of so called WELL MANAGED African parks Ken , Drives driving vehicles very close to Lions ( less than 1 meter ) and doing more worse than these

Best thing is to look at better side than worse which I generally do anywhere I go :S3:

big cats all across globe are in facing same JAMS

[Daniel Bailey]

I spent a week in Kruger National Park and only had one "lion jam" out of MANY encounters with several different prides. I went just before the World Cup and it still seemed liked I had the park to myself!

Glad to see so many people have the same passion for wildlife. I've run into a few tourists though where I wouldn't of minded them being put on the bottom of the food chain... at least it would make for a good photo op! :bg3:

[Chris Poole]

wow talk about crowed. I would rather shoot a lone butterfly in a field alone next to my home than participate in a crowd like that...

[Grant Eldridge]

I guess it is up to the guides and park rangers to ensure as much as possible they don't impact the animals. I see the dilema though, you have people paying thousands of dollars for these safaris and if the guide says "No we are not going to see the leapord/lions/tigers etc because there are already x amount of vehicles there" I'm sure there would be more than a few people that would have a fit.

Seems a lot of people say they love nature and want to preserve it until they are paying for something or really want that shot.

Grant