Epic tiger sighting at Sundarban

It's not an everyday affair in Sundarban that one get to see a tiger for 4 and half hours. But when you have the blessings of Bonbibi and excellent tracking skills combined with the wholesome understanding of swamp tiger behavior, miracles happen.

It was 22nd December 2015 9:30am when we were about to come out of Sundorkhali and join Borogaji, we saw one boat already in front of us scanning the banks of Pirkhali 3. Instead of following the same path, I asked my sareng (boatman) to go to the other bank i.e. Panchamukhani 3 island. 9:55am and I suddenly saw a thin tree bending and the moment I moved my eyes below the tree, I saw 4 big fat white legs. "Tiger" I shouted in a very low voice and asked everybody to be ready. The big cat was moving in the same direction as that of our boat, so there was no need to turn back. The slow pace of our boat matched that of the tiger and within moments he was out in the open, peeping at us.

After looking at us for sometime, he started moving towards the Choragazi river. We knew that he would cross the river and our plan was to position the boat in the right place to capture some decent images.

As soon as we positioned our boat at the mouth of the river, he emerged out of the thickets, sat down to investigate the surroundings, snarled and got into the river. At a brisk pace, it took him just a minute to swim across the 50 foot wide river. He climbed onto the opposite bank i.e. Pirkhali 5 island, shook the water off his coat and moved into the thickets.

Few of us thought that the show is over. But NO. We know the behavior of these swamp tigers. They like to walk along the river bank and patrol their territory. As anticipated, we caught him again at the next canal.

After climbing up the bank, he started walking into the forest, still visible to us. All the cameras kept clicking some dream images.

Then we again saw him at the next canal. This and the one before were shallower canals, so neither did he wait to survey the surroundings before getting in, nor did he snarl before entering the water.

After crossing this canal, we expected him to cross the next one too. But out of the blue, while majestically striding through the grasslands, he turned around and started moving in the opposite direction. It was a peculiar behavior and we could not judge what this tiger was up-to. We thought that he probably wants to cross the big river and not to be a hindrance to his movement, we moved our boat back to give him sufficient space to make his crossing. However, that didn't happen and he moved back to his original path. Since our boat was further away, we could not reach the 3rd canal in time to capture his crossing.

At that very moment, we thought that we had lost the tiger. The forest was dense and he was not to be seen anywhere. We were in a dilemma whether to move forward or wait for him at that point. But then one of us suddenly whispered "there he is!" and he was there peeping out of the Hental (Phoenix paludosa) forest.

After this point we actually lost him. Forest was pretty dense and we could not judge his movement, as it seemed rather erratic. For almost 30 minutes we stood clueless, when a fishermen's boat shouted at us "Babu jachhen" (He is going) pointing their fingers towards the direction they saw him. And lo, we got him again. We now saw him cross a dry canal and noticed some elusive behavior. We saw him drinking the saline water from a small puddle but could not photograph it as only the rear half of the tiger was visible.

We caught him crossing another dry canal where he jumped across the mudflat. Our guest were delighted to capture some action packed moments on still film. In between, he took a few moments to stare at us too.

Thereafter, he rubbed his cheek and spray marked a Passur tree (Xylocarpus granatum). This was another unique behavior which I captured for the second time, in a short span of 3 months.

Now it was time for some rest. By this time, we had been accompanying him for almost 9-10 kms.  He selected an open spot near the bank and sat there for a while, surveying the surroundings.

We had noticed that he had a wound near the left eye. On closer inspection on our camera LCD, it was concluded that it was a healing wound and might not be a great threat. But it was our duty to inform the concerned department and so we did. After few moments he started moving again. This time he walked on the snake-roots, giving us some unique photography opportunities.

It was almost 1pm now and we had reached a place where all the boats from Dobanki will cross on their way back. Here the inevitable was bound to happen. Boats started flocking from all directions. Over 20 boats accumulated to catch a glimpse of the most elusive ghost of this mangrove forest.

However, the tiger didn't seem to be perturbed. He looked very hungry and all the boatmen kept their boats at a safe distance. Sundarban tigers have a history of preying on humans and it would be a walk in the park for this massive male to take one from the boat if they got too close. The tiger seemed to be at a strategic position too. Due to the low tide, boats were at a lower level and the tiger was higher. These agile cats can jump great lengths very easily.

It was almost 10-12 kms that this tiger had walked with us. During this time we were blessed with numerous opportunities to photograph him and his different behavior. Now it seemed he was tired and hence we too decided to leave him and move deeper into the forest to check out his other denizens.

Out of my 9 sightings (8 in 2015 itself) in Sundarban, this will remain etched in my memory for ever. Tiger sightings are rare here and most of them are nothing more than a fleeting glimpse. We were lucky on this occasion that this elusive ghost blessed us with so many wonderful moments, and that too for such a long duration. This sighting has made me fall in love with these mysterious mangroves in a much deeper and more meaningful manner. Keep following my blogs for more interesting bytes from this less explored wildlifing paradise.