She is called the Enchantress of Tadoba and the Queen of Tadoba! Born to Leela and Hill Top in Pandharpauni, Maya has blossomed from a cub to a princess and finally a Queen whose glory surpasses the boundaries of the Tadoba National Park. Maya lost her mother Leela very early to snake bite but she has grown up to take up her mother’s throne and since then expanded it to cover the largest territory in the national park.

#wildartworks, #wildlifephotography, #canon, #tiger, #wildlife, #conservationphotography, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #maharashtra, #trackingwildlife, #tracking, #Tadoba, #Moharli, #MoharliGate, #pantheratigris, #scentmarking, #bengaltiger, #royalbengaltiger, #bigcats, #Maya, #enchantressofTadoba, #queenoftadoba

The endangered and reclusive Red Panda has been a primary bucket list item for me for an excruciatingly long time. But with the help of Ismail Shariff - a great friend and like minded spirit - it finally boiled down to this, our maiden trip to these pristine forests - a dream come true. All my - I should say our - expectations were blown away with the monumental support of the team at Firefox Expeditions India led by Sourav Mondal and Amardeep Thami.

The beautiful Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a carnivore native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat albeit with a slightly longer body with a bear-like body and thick russet fur. The belly and limbs are black, and there are white markings on the side of the head and above its small eyes. It is arboreal and feeds mainly on bamboo, but also eats eggs, birds, and insects. A solitary animal, it is mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day. It is also called the lesser panda, the red bear-cat, the red cat-bear, and the fire fox.

#wildartworks, #wildlifephotography, #singalilanationalpark, #westbengal, #Manebhanjyang, #Tumling, #canon, #redpanda, #jungle, #wild, #forest, #wildlife, #conservationphotography, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #endangered, #Ailurusfulgens, #lesserpanda, #firefox, #firefoxexpeditions, #redbearcat, #himalayanredpanda,

Pench National Park, nestled in the heart of India in the lower southern reaches of the Satpura hills, sprawls a massive 758 sq. kms across the states of Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra. Named after the pristine River Pench it was immortalised by Rudyard Kipling in his Jungle Book. Every year millions make their way here to spot Akela, Baloo, Bagheera and Shere Khan.

Our story revolves around two young male tigers who have made their home in the small hills and well-stocked teak mixed forest of Rukhad. Let’s track and watch the two tigers - from first light to last light - living, patrolling and marking the same territory.

Tigers, like many large mammals, are believed to have a mental map of their territories and they are also extremely territorial so to have two young males patrolling and marking the same territory is not observed very often. The presence of two males in their prime invariably leads to drama and multiple fights till one emerges supreme.

#wildartworks, #wildlifephotography, #penchnationalpark, #pench, #rukhad, #masoonalagate, #canon, #rukhadgate, #kurai, #seoni, #tiger, #jungle, #wild, #forest, #wildlife, #conservationphotography, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #bbcearth, #natgeowild, #natgeoindia, @awpc.hk, @globalcapture, #madhyapradesh, #trackingwildlife, #tracking, #kingfishermale, #kuraigadmale, #kuraigarhmale, #safari, #nightsafari, #monsoon, #filmingintherain, #pantheratigris, #scentmarking, #bengaltiger, #royalbengaltiger

The Indian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur), also known as the Indian Onager and called Khur in the local Gujarati language, is a subspecies of the onager native to Southern Asia. It is currently listed as Near Threatened by IUCN with only 6,082 individuals left.

#wildartworks, #canon, #wildlife, #wildlifephotography, #Dasada, #RannofKutch, #LittleRannofKutch, #Gujarat, #SaltFlat, #TravelPhotography, #WildAssSanctuary, #WildAss, #FlatLand, #SaltMarsh, #Ghudkhur, #IndianOnager, #Khur, #natgeoindia, #NearThreatened, #ConservationPhotography, @awpc.hk, #indian_wildlifes, #indianwildlifeofficial, #wildlifeonearth, #planet_untamed_magazine, #bbcearth, #natgeowild,

The presence of a tiger changes the jungle around it, and those changes are easier to detect. Bird calls darken, small deer call softly to each other. Herds do not run but drift into shapes that suggest some emerging group consciousness of an escape route. A kind of shiver seems to run through everything, a low hum that sounds — literally, in the whispered Hindi conversation of the guides —  like sher, sher, sher! This zone of apprehension follows the tiger as it moves. Often, the best way to find a cat is to switch off your engine and listen. You might then hear, from a distance, the subtle changes in pitch and cadence that indicate a boundary of the zone. But even then, it is impossible to predict where, or if, the tiger will appear.

#wildartworks #kabini #jungle #bigcats #wild #forest #wildlife #wildlifephotography #tiger #tigress #nilgiribiosphere #nagarholetigerreserve #kabinibackwaters #conservationphotography #indian_wildlifes #indianwildlifeofficial #wildlifeonearth #bbcearth #natgeowild #natgeoindia @awpc.hk #bigcatswildlife @bigcatswildlife

The elusive leopard, a ghost of the forests, is often hailed as its most elegant dweller. Its gleaming rosettes catch the sunlight as it prowls through the brush or stalks down a tree. Shy, bashful and elusive, it demands numerous hours spent searching in the forests and, more often than not, one returns unsuccessful. The very lifestyle of a leopard has it living on the run from the larger predators like the royal bengal tigers and intelligent, vicious pack hunters like the dhole in India. Here is one of the magnificent leopards of Kabini.

#wildartworks #wildlifephotography #kabini #jungle #wild #forest #wildlife #nagarholetigerreserve #nilgiribiosphere #nagarhole #kabinibackwaters #conservationphotography #indian_wildlifes #indianwildlifeofficial #wildlifeonearth #bbcearth #natgeowild #natgeoindia @awpc.hk #animalsofinstagram #bigcatswildlife @bigcatswildlife #leopardsofkabini #leopard #pantherapardus #pardus #landofleopards #leopardess @globalcapture #nammakarnataka

The Dhole, also known as the Asian wild dog, Asiatic wild dog, Indian wild dog, whistling dog, red dog, and mountain wolf is a canid native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. A highly social animal, it lives in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females. Such clans usually comprises of 5 to 12 individuals but sometimes much more, groups of over 40 have been known. 

It is a superpredator, able to feed on a large number of prey. A pack hunter competing with the tiger and the leopard.

#wildartworks, #tadobanationalpark, #dhole, #wilddog, #asianwilddog, #wildlifephotography, #wildlifecentury, #kabini, #jungle, #wild, #forest, #wildlife, #nagarholetigerreserve, #nilgiribiosphere, #tipeshwar, #tipeshwarwildlifesanctuary, #kabinibackwaters, #nagarhole, #conservationphotography,

The Gaur is the largest species among the wild cattle and attains a shoulder height of 1.8 m (6 feet) or more. It is heavy-bodied and typically blue-eyed and has curving horns, a high ridge on the forepart of the back, and white “stockings” on the legs. Bulls are dark brown or blackish, cows and young reddish brown. Greatly reduced in numbers, gaurs survive only in scattered herds in India, Myanmar, West Malaysia, and Thailand. In Malaysia, it is called seladang, and pyaung in Myanmar. The domesticated form of the gaur is called gayal (Bos frontalis) or mithun.

#wildartworks #kabini #tadobatigerreserve #tadoba #jungle #wild #forest #wildlife #nagarholetigerreserve #birdinginthewild #wildlifephotography #nilgiribiosphere #kabinibackwaters #birdphotography #nagarhole #indian_wildlifes #indianwildlifeofficial #wildlifeonearth #conservationphotography #gaur #indianbison