Ever since the famous character of Sher Khan from Jungle Book – the tiger, our national animal has caught my imagination. Its no surprise that I dreamed of witnessing this majestic cat in the wild during my every outing to the jungle.
And boy I did !!! Got a glimpse of the ‘Panthera Tigris’ or the ‘Bengal Tiger’ on new year’s eve (31-Dec-2011) at Kabini, Karnataka; the very first time I saw a tiger in the wild – a moment which lasted for about 3 seconds; one which shall be cherished in my entire life-time.
Those 3 seconds made up for all the time I had spent hoping to witness the elusive tiger.

Little did I know what the first day of 2012 had in-store for me and the boys.A last minute decision to take a safari in Bandipur is by far the most instinctive decisions and it paid, paid off pretty darn well.
We were blessed with the company of Gowri, a very well-known female tiger near Tavarekere in the Bandipur National Park for over 30 minutes .
Its like a 30 minute video of which I can recollect every single frame and has been running in my head all day and night long ever since.

There is an aura surrounding the tiger – just its sheer presence and to share space with this wild cat is out of the world.
Special Thanks for Angad Achappa, Vinay Laksman, Vinay Venugopal and Vivek Kumar for capturing the undisputed King of Cats.
Special appreciation to Aditya Gunvanthe and Vinay.S.Kumar
For high-resolution and more images, visit:
Vinay Lakshman’s Wildlife Photography
Angad Achappa’s Wildlife Photography
I pray that this majestic cat never run out of forests and prey 🙂
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