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Praveen aimed the D100 as soon as he spotted the wild boars, big sturdy ones and small shy ones, grazing on the wayside. He has not come across such a large sounder of boars in his years as a wildlife photographer. Tiny eyes above fatal tusks watched the intruders uneasily. As Praveen moved the car forward for a better view, tiny boars ran to their parents. Slowly the sounder vanished behind the undergrowth.

Where gaur and bear rule

Don Sebastian
2007-03-08 19:31:45

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came out at this time after their siesta. We drove past cows and dogs and cracked jokes. Suddenly, Babu shushed us. He has spotted something - an elephant, rather the top of it. It was grazing on a hillock beyond a ditch.

We get out of the car for a better view. There is only one elephant, partially hidden behind teaks. He stood there for some time, then raised its trunk. The wind has changed direction, our guide says. The beast vanished onto the other side of the hillock. The big beast has an incredible sense of smell. Babu checked the clearings beyond teaks for any animals on an outing as we resumed the journey.

Parambikulam houses many of India's prominent mammals: elephants, tigers, leopards, wild dogs, sloth bears, wild boar, barking deer, spotted deer, langurs and macaques. Parambikulam is also home to Kerala's largest population of gaur. Besides these, civet, chevrotain, pangolin, crocodile, jungle cat, porcupine and some 140 species of birds are found in the sanctuary.

The most fearsome among the beasts is of course the sloth bear. Babu tells us gruesome tales of man-animal conflict. A few years ago, a bear gouged out a tribesman's eye. He somehow fled the battle scene, but succumbed to the massive injury in the head three years later. Somewhere around the inspection bungalow, there was a watchman with only one hand, some early visitors had told me.

Car slows down. A herd of gaur past the ditch. They are slowly moving in our direction. Lenses are readied for the prize catch. The creatures are complacently grazing on the hillock. In small groups they move past us. Some unsuspecting animals come close to the ditch. Adults keep a watch. One of them looks at us unwaveringly. In a few minutes, as if alerted by him, the herd walks into the bushes.

Just when we thought we had finished with wildlife, we spot two more elephants. Two forest officers are keeping a watch on the road. We get out of the car and try to spot the big animals. They are moving towards the road we just drove past. If we were ten minutes late, we would have been stranded in the forest. Forest officers tell us to move on. It's time.

On the way back we spot a Brown fish owl. Then numerous peacocks. The national bird is a common sight in south Tamil Nadu. It's found in fields. But most of them are stripped of the beautiful feathers. Peacock feather trade has become a cottage industry in Tamil Nadu. Night descends. We leave the sanctuary to its rightful heirs.