It all started when I was travelling to Mysore with my cousin and he got a call from a random friend of his saying Tiger census(counting tigers & documenting its habitat) is ON from Dec 16th to 23th of December,2013.Having been part of a couple of Tiger and elephant census earlier, I didn't want to miss a chance to be in wild wild world again.So,I decided to write a mail to the Chief Conservator of Forests,Karnataka as per required process. My cousin & myself decided to do it together this time.We were not expecting a call as we heard there was a huge rush of volunteers this time round too.But few events changed the scenario later I guess. There were almost bi-weekly reports of a particular tiger which became a man eater and killed 3 people in a week near H.D Kote area of Kabini. There was immense pressure on the forest department to track and capture this particular man eater.SO, we thought the census was either postponed or cancelled. To our luck the tiger was captured and the census was ON.

Read this for more info:
 http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Man-eater-Spared-Bullet-Caged/2013/12/06/article1930855.ece

Its a dream for any wildlife enthusiast to spot a tiger in the wild but there are real dangers associated with doing so.Did we spot any tiger though? Yes, two..read on...!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we got a mail finally asking us to join the census from Dec 20th to 23rd in Anechowkur range of Nagarahole national park. I had been to the same place a few years back for previous tiger census and I knew it would be eventful again like last time where we had to fire gun shots in the air to run away from a tusker and thwarted an attempt by poacher to smuggle a sandalwood tree.I was all wound up and spoke to wife and convinced her about my adventure.Knowing me,she gladly accepted without a fuss.(Nice of her to let me go on her birthday!!).One of my other cousin who travelled all the way from USA also joined us.We booked bus tickets and we landed up at the Range Forest Office,Anechowkur at around 12:30 pm on Dec 20th.We met the range officer Mr.Devraj whom I should mention specially as he helped us all along till we got back.He was very patient & cordial and was happy to see us in his range.As usual, the plan as per the forest department was to lodge us in one of the anti-poaching camps which will have very basic facilities for 3 days when we would be part of census.

Day 1:
I scanned the office and found a map of the forest area and began to dissect which camp we should pick and we convinced the officer to allow us to pick "Sanna Gadde" (translation:small paddy field)as our camp instead  "Gadipalya" which I had been to earlier and wanted a change.This decision was a blessing..and you will know why soon!!! The camp was in an amazing setting with "Lakshmana Teertha" river flowing right next to the camp and dense forest around it.See the "X" mark in CPT-4 area.This is where we were headed to.The officer arranged a Willy's JEEP for us.We were joined by 5 more volunteers like us who were supposed to be dropped at "Gadipalya" camp.The driver of the JEEP was a very knowledgable guy and was driving the jeep in forest like he was an expressway!

Forest Map (Note the "X" on CPT-4)

"Gadipalya" camp

We first reached "Gadipalya" camp (see map and pic above) and dropped the other 4 volunteers. The driver got a message saying he needs to pick some forest personnel from a nearby village who are driving away 4-5 elephants which strayed into a lake.So,we were dropped in the same camp as well and our actual camp was about 5 kms away still.So,8 of us volunteers were left stranded here and it was getting dark.The keys to this camp was not with us and we could not get inside.As darkness set in, we could see the forest come alive. First it was birds with various sounds and then it was few wild boars right next to the camp grumping along.They are dangerous too and they target your thighs is what the locals say and you will be left with a broken leg in no time.Now we knew we were in for an exciting few days in the wild.We somehow managed to avoid them for about an hour and it was pitch dark.No sign of the Jeep driver. For few volunteers it was a first time experience and were nervous.Then we heard the sound of Jeep and in it were about 6 forest guards.So,4 of us (including two of my cousins) got on the Jeep and wished good luck to the 4 volunteers of Gadipalya camp and moved on with 6 guards.The jungle got denser and sounds more louder.After few kms..suddenly the Jeep driver & the guards started shouting and he pressed up & down  the accelerator frantically and what we we saw ahead of us explained the behavior of forest staff.There were two big elephants on our path and they were trying to chase it away!!We thought "Welcome boys!".After the elephants were chased away we barely travelled 100 mts and the jeep halted and the guards got down and told us ..you have arrived to your camp..the "Sanna Gadde" camp...we were like...WTF..elephants are right behind us..but this was a norm out here.We carefully entered our camp.It was pitch dark as there was no electricity in the camp, it was all solar.We had our meal and hit the sacks.It was biting cold all night.We woke up at around 6 am and warmed us around the fireplace which is a MUST here everyday and all night.

Our camp @ dawn..notice the trench around the camp

These camps have a 10 foot trench dug around them to avoid elephants getting in to the camps and a bridge connecting the camp to the forest.But these bridges do not deter tigers or bears crossing them.So, the only protecting we have are the iron doors & windows of the camp.

Day 2:
We had our breakfast and prepared ourselves for a line transact survey which means we need to enter deep in to the jungle on a small & narrow clearing in the forest and document what we see around us every 400 m.This transact line was 2km long.

This is how a transact line looks like..

OK,all set but will we find a tiger??? There are many wildlife enthusiasts who have roamed around in the jungle for years and years without spotting a tiger.So, we were here for 3 days and the probability of spotting one was close to zero. Even though the forest we were in is famous for Tigers,we never gave ourselves any chance.But what's wrong in trying?? :)

We ( me & one more volunteer, my cousins went with other guards to another transact line far away) set foot in the forest accompanied by two guards Virupaksha and Diwakar and a forest watcher Mani who was a stalwart with 30 years of jungle experience.We were barely 100 m from our camp we find tiger droppings which probably was 2-3 days old.Are tigers around? Yes.Will we find one..Nah, we don't think so!!

I started my GPS/distance tracker (Motorola MotoACTV) and we crossed 2 checkpoints( 5 in total) on the transact line, each at 400 m and documented the habitat around.After about 800m we were wading through the shrubs and we suddenly hear a loud grump sound like "Wrufffffff..." we thought it was a tiger and ran in all directions...Mani shouted "Stop and stay still".We listened to him and after a few tense seconds something ran away. Mani clearly identified it as a Bison, we looked around in the bushes and saw a   2 tonne bison moving away from us.We were relived...Uff...such a scare! We continued our census and the transact line got narrower and narrower.It was probably only 1 or 1.5 ft wide with bushes all around us.It was thick.I was last in the line and the rest were well ahead of me.I was trying to spot something under these bushes and suddenly a golden reflection about 15 ft away...I concentrated hard...and I think I spotted a wild cat with spots which meant it was a leopard.Then I moved two steps back and set my sight hard on the cat...They were not spots...they were STRIPES....yes indeed it was a TIGER!!!!We met eye to eye...it was looking at me...all the guts I had till then was waning away..this is that moment...I was gasping ...I gathered myself and signaled to people ahead of me with a low whistle..I showed them what I saw..they were dumb struck...one of the forest guard was seeing a tiger in the wild for the first time too.Then came in Mani..and what he said I'll remember all my life...he said "Maharaja is resting....he has had a good meal"...thats experience.I took out my phone and turned on the video and realized how hard it was under the camouflage to get a good shot.By now, the tiger put its head down and was resting...I was taking a video and I could hear heart beat...I looked around and realized it was the heart beat sound from the fellow volunteer who accompanied me.He was tensed and was signalling we should run away.Thats when I realized how dangerous this was and agreed and told the guards.Even though Mani had seen the tiger in wild many times, he was very nervous too and said lets move away silently...we did not have the courage to move forward.We were without a gun!So, we abandoned the census and just sped away from that point in a flash.Lot of thoughts running around in the mind.Only after 10 mins we felt we were safe.Below is the video.It is not clear..but look at the center of screen for golden stripes.It was difficult to get a clear shot.Also,listen to the conversation which shows our fear and tension both.

The guards messaged to the central command centre using the walkie talkies informing we had spotted a tiger and we were famous volunteers by now.We then reached the camp and had our lunch.My cousins who had gone on another transact line returned 2 hours after we returned.They walked about 20 kms compared to 4 kms we did but they said they did not find even a rat :). What a difference...

We spent rest of the day at the camp resting and talking about life and wildlife of guards and forest.Another cold night passed by.

Day 3:
The next morning we got up early in the morning and went on a forest beat to try out our luck for the day.It was largely uneventful with only few elephants giving us the usual scare which the guards successfully chased away.But,the weather and forest was as its beautiful best in this route.See below.

Misty...

Me - with the guards and Mani

We came back to our camp by 10:30 am and decided to have a bath in the river nearby.We used some water from the river,heated up using firewood and had a liesurely bath for almost an hour.I can't remember when did I enjoy my bath so much ?? :) :)

Our water heater..

Gun & Knife!!

River next to the camp where we bathed everyday

We took some much needed rest and slept to our hearts content under a warm sun with chill winds and with birds chirping and watching two playful Malabar squirrels on a nearby tree.Such a pleasure! Got up after 3 hours had lunch and prepared ourselves for another beat which turned out to be lucky again as another big cat smiled on us.

We were told by the guards that there is a "playground" for animals nearby called "Kumbarakatte Hadlu" which will have all kinds of animals almost all the time and tigers are frequent visitors here apart from elephants,bisons and bears.We decided to go to this place at dusk as it is the best time to spot animals.We reached this place in about 30-40 mins.The place was beautiful and indeed looked like a playground and hunting ground for tigers.But,we saw nothing here,no animals.We decided to lay low and wait in silence.Next 20 mins about 7or 8 of us did not speak to each other and were just waiting for some action to happen.My cousin,Sudheer who had missed the tiger the previous day as he was on a different trail was the one who saw some rumbling among a distant bush .He then saw a majestic tiger walking towards him about 100 m away in evening sunlight.He alerted the guards ,who then alerted me as I was sitting little away from them.I ran towards them and by this time the tiger had turned away and only partial body & tail was visible.Nobody had the courage to move towards it.But,suddenly two guards decided to take a chance and suddenly rushed towards the tiger.I thought they were crazy.But what they did was amusing.When they were close to the tiger , each of them decided to climb a tree close by and tried to chase the tiger away and indeed they were successful.What a day!!

"Kumbarkatte Hadlu" - the playground where we spotted the second tiger

We again messaged the control room about our second sighting of the tiger and all of a sudden we were the "lucky" volunteers.A batch which came 3 days prior to us roamed around in the forest for about 50kms and found nothing.So,it indeed was luck by chance.We got back to our camps and grouped around a camp fire and chatted about our experiences for the day.But lot of the adventure was yet to happen for that day.After we finished our dinner one of the volunteer decided he will go with few guards and sleep in a "Machan" all night. This "Machan" is nothing but a small shelter on top of a tree to oversee movement of elephants and other animals.It will be set up in a very strategic place where elephants cross regularly.Luckiliy,this "Machan" was only about 200m from our camp and one volunteer and guards were going towards the "Machan".They were barely 50 m from our camp in pitch darkness and we here loud screams and howling because they were a big group of elephants which were already crossing the forest towards a nearby village with banana & other crops grown.These people were shouting to chase those elephants away and they failed.Finally,they had to burst some crackers to herd them back to the forest again.It was literally like chasing away street dogs.Elephants were so common and their menace so repetitive & amusing.We could also hear shouts from villages who stay put in their farms till midnight to chase these elephants away.They curse the guards so badly and in such filthy language which is not worth writing here :) Man-animal conflict at its peak.The villagers have stumbled upon a unique idea of chasing elephants away by keeping a huge truck on he farms and pressing the accelerator vigorously while keeping lights ON .They did this almost every night for about 2 hours. Shouting & howling continued till about 3am in the morning.What a world!

Place where lot of elephants roamed almost everyday..50m from our camp

"Machan" - risky place to spend a night!!

I did not get much sleep past 4 am and woke up and went near the fireplace where Mani was sleeping.He sleeps outside the camp and has been doing so all his life.He alerted me that there is bear nearby and asked me not to go beyond the trenches or better go inside the camp.I promptly did so.

Day 4:
We woke up knowing there would be no more jaunts in to the forest and it was our last day.We freshened up and a forest department vehicle arrived at 10:30 am to pick us up from the camp and drop us back to the range office.

The range office has an "Elephant camp" attached to it and has about 30 elephants which are tamed and some "to be tamed".One such "to be tamed" elephant had already killed 4-5 people.It was ferocious and did not allow us to go anywhere near it.However, the forest department uses some expert tamed elephants to make such rogue elephants surrender to them. One such expert is "Abhimanyu". They say that this guy is such an expert,fearless and powerful that all other elephants however rogue simply bow in front of him and obey his orders."Abhimanyu" was not huge but he was a "punter".He is routinely called upon by neighboring states as well to tame rogue elephants in their forests.He also participates in the world famous "Mysore Dasara".All these elephants in the camp are let into the jungle usually in the morning and they return back by dusk all by themselves.So simple!

"Killer" elephant on the left in its prison

"Sri rama" - the tusker

"Abhimanyu" - the expert tamer elephant

After watching many of these elephants play around, we, this ended our 4 day adventure in the forests of Nagarahole.We must be proud that we have such a haven for wildlife so close to us near Bangalore and must do all we can to protect such wildlife.Along with Africa,this region is the top place which has animals from the BIG 5 (Elephant,Tiger,Bison,Leopard,Bear)  in the same forests roaming about together.

My special note of thanks goes to the Forest department(and Mr.Devraj RFO,Anechowkur range) for allowing volunteers like us to be part of tiger census and giving us a chance to get a peek in to the real life in a forest full of wild animals.Normally,we get to take a safari bus at a maximum which does not go in to the core areas of the jungle.The way they conducted this whole census thing deserves an applause.

Also, we should be ever grateful to the forest guard and watchers (Yogesh,Virupaksha,Diwakar,Ravi,Rajanna,Mani and others) who are the actual foot soldiers protecting our rich flora and fauna.They toil very hard in not so easy conditions .Hope the government provides them with better facilities.On our part, we left back all food,medicines and wollen wear back with them.We plan to help them with more whenever possible.

Me with guards and other volunteers with "Mani" on extreme right