We went to Satpura Tiger Reserve and spent a couple of days staying at the incredibly amazing Bori Safari Lodge, a property of the Jehan Numa group situated near the gate of the Bori Wildlife Sanctuary. Chinmay, the manager of the Bori Safari Lodge took us on a full day drive into the Churna region of the Bori Range. The Churna region is known for its Tiger sightings and that was exactly what we were looking out for. We spent the whole morning scanning the park for signs of the Tiger and while we did see pug marks and Peacock alarm calls, the Tiger remained elusive. It was almost time to head back to the Churna forest resthouse, Chinmay was sharing one of his wildlife experiences, when suddenly he looked behind the jeep and said…”Oh Tiger”. A Tigress has slowly crept upto the jeep and it was shocking as to how none of us saw it coming. As the Tiger walked past the jeep back into the lantana, we moved forward to get a better look at her. She willingly obliged and came back onto the road which is when we noticed the Porcupine quills sticking out of her face. It was clear that the Tigress had been in a fight with a Porcupine and looked badly bruised. As she went back into the lantana, we rushed back to the Churna resthouse and informed the forest authorities about her plight. The forest department of the Satpura range acted at lighting speed and mobilised a team to attend to the injured Tigress. It was indeed an incredible sighting, one of the first where a Tiger spotted us and came knocking on our doors, or should we say jeep.
Thomas
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