Hail to the leopard, spirit of the forest

In the presence of two regal cats we watched mesmerised and awestruck. Some of that aura rubbed off on us


I have wandered only a handful of forests. Most wildlife enthusiasts might have traveled more in one year than I have over the last five. So I never complain about not having seen most of our mammals including the nation's heartthrob, the tiger.


But I have always worried about not having met His Highness the Leopard. The jungles I have roamed have plenty of leopards and I have come across ample evidence that pointed towards their activity. In some cases I have missed the beast by a hair's breadth: scores of pug marks, plenty of scat, but no leopard.


While I think of the tiger as a samurai -- bold, always in the limelight and powerful -- I equate the leopard to a ninja -- silent, cunning, unseen and deadly. Maybe I'm getting carried away here so let me cut to the chase and tell you about my first leopard! It's kinda obvious by now that I finally did see one, right?


A few weeks ago I was on safari in Mudumalai (it was in fact the first safari of the trip) along with some like-minded friends. Around 4:45 in the evening we were inside the tourist zone of the park looking at chital and gaur. We were talking in hushed whispers when, suddenly, the watcher who accompanied us called our attention to the other side of the vehicle exclaiming softly, "Leopard, leopard!" 


At the sound of the word the adrenalin rush I felt must have clocked 240 kph. I frantically scanned the area to which he pointed. I was afraid that the cat would slink away into the undergrowth.


Then, through the dense clump of bushes I spied rosettes. The driver inched the vehicle forward. And there it was -- a magnificent leopard bathing in the evening sun!

Half asleep and sunbathing

The scene was magical. The yellowish leopard dozing in orange sun-glow just a few yards away. Unbelievable. Unexpected. Lazing nonchalantly, it lifted its head and aimed a penetrating stare straight at us, or should I say through us!

In the leopard's piercing gaze

With the vehicle now silent, we sat watching and photographing the leopard for more than ten minutes. It regarded us as if to say, "I know you are ogling but I don't care" and continued basking. The cat was relaxed and seemed least bothered by our presence. We were relaxed because the leopard was.


While we gazed mesmerized, we were shaken back to reality by a sound from the other side. The distant roar of a tiger. The leopard looked in the direction of the sound. We took in the magical suspense of the moment: A leopard on one side and a tiger calling from the other. After a few minutes, before we realized it, the leopard melted into the undergrowth.


We moved on and completed the safari. We did not see the tiger that roared. And whatever we saw after the leopard hardly registered any impact. My thoughts had fastened to the glowing rosetted coat I had gazed upon for ten minutes, and its owner. I remembered the words of the veteran wildlife photographer TNA Perumal: "The leopard is like the spirit of the forest." And I had been blessed by it.

The spirit in all its glory

Text and photos: Arun

Will Master Sprinter suffer the same fate as Mr. Stripes?

Posted by Arun

We all know it, it's finally official. The Government of India has decided to import cheetahs to the country from Africa. 


Indian Cheetahs had disappeared from the subcontinent by the end of the first half of the twentieth century after relentless persecution for decades. They were also used extensively by Mughal emperors for hunting down gazelles. They are the only large members of the cat family (taxonomists don't place cheetahs with true cats due to their non-retractable claws) known to have been tamed and used for hunting. But by the beginning of the twentieth century their numbers started dwindling. 


The Maharaja of Surguja (today a district in northern Chhatisgarh, India) holds the notorious record of shooting down the last wild Indian cheetah in 1947. Ironically, while India won freedom from British rule in 1947, the cheetah was liberated from Indian soil!


Nice thing to bring back a hunter that once ruled the Indian grasslands. If they come back, India will be the only Asian country to have six big cats. Sounds good to the ears. But the fact is that instead of bringing back the Asiatic cheetah, the government plans to import African cheetahs, as Iran -- the only country that has a wild population of Asiatic cheetahs -- has refused India's request for handing over a couple of breeding pairs or even sample tissues for a cloning experiment. 


Although certain experts are of the opinion that African cheetahs bear only a slight genetic difference from the Iranian race, I have my doubts and feel that further studies have to be conducted in order to be completely sure. Otherwise, it will be African and not Asian cheetahs sprinting across our grasslands. 


But the pressing question here is: Does it make sense to reintroduce a species by spending thousands of dollars and trying to protect it while the rest of the big cat conservation is in shambles? Case in point: The pathetic state of tiger conservation in India. The number of tigers have fallen to an all-time low due to poaching, reduction in prey densities, and habitat loss. Instead of spending money on protecting the habitats of our surviving wildlife and reviving their populations, the government has come up with this preposterous idea of reintroducing an animal that has disappeared from the scene for more than half a century! 


According to the latest unconfirmed reports, eighteen cheetahs have already arrived from the Middle East and will be introduced shortly after some preparation. I had gone through the feasibility study titled "Assessing the Potential for Reintroducing the Cheetah in India", by Dr M K Ranjithsinh of the Wildlife Trust of India and Dr Y V Jhala of the Wildlife Institute of India. The report was an interesting read. They had surveyed seven landscapes and arrived finally at three suitable areas for reintroducing the species: The Kuno-Palpur wildlife sanctuary and Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, and the Shahgarh landscape in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. These sites have been finalised for introducing the imported cats. In the study, they mention a 'top-down effect' which will protect, other than the Cheetah, its habitat (grasslands), prey species (chinkara, blackbuck, etc.) and also sympatric species (Indian wolf, caracal, etc.). 


But wait, wasn't this the same plan in the case of Project Tiger? The tiger was identified as the flagship species of its habitat so that all other species in that habitat get protected along with it. But we all know what the situation is right now. The entire pyramid of Project Tiger, of which the tiger was at the pinnacle, has fallen like a stack of cards. So the question is not whether the cheetah can be reintroduced but if it should be, considering the plight of the other big cats in the country due to the laxity of the government and the officials in conservation efforts. 


Otherwise, the Master Sprinter will follow the pugmarks of Mr. Stripes towards extinction, or should I say 're-extinction' no sooner than being reintroduced.


Text by Arun Photo: Royalty-free image courtesy doc_ @ Stock.xchng.