AQHA. TIGER HUNT A safari in the Tadoba Tiger Reserve will drive you wild, says APARNA NARAYANAN. Photographs by Arut Loxe T. silhouetted deer is so massive and still that it seerns almost sculptural in the thinning dark. Even when our car draws level With the full-grown samibar, it does not flinch or flee. Its curiosity matches our awe, and I have time toobserve that the flaring three-pointed antlers end in white tips, And to think: ‘This is my "tiger moment’. the highightof my trip to Tadoba. I's fair to say that most visitors to the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserveconsidertimespenthere without glimpse of the beast as time wasted. Forest officials frequently remind guests that they “can’t guarantee a tiger” because their policies don't allow ‘staged sightings. But people frequently stop each other to ask, “Tiger mila, sir>* They crane their heads out of car windows to scrutinise the roads for pugmars. 1am somewhat bemused by this endemic hankering after the animal. I'm happy just to be here, grinding along dirt roads thar cut through endless teak trees and bamboo, |-marvel at ‘ghost trees’ whose white bark and bare, flailing branches appear almost eerie in certain lights. ‘The encounter with the sambar leaves me slack-jawed. ‘When the deer finally darts into the bamboo thicket, we con- tinue driving in near silence tothe core forest. The day feels too ‘young. theair toobitterly cold, for conversation. Then wearrive at Pandharpauni, one of nine viewpoints in Tadoba. Its exten- ‘The Blve indian Roller admires the view a spotted deer and fawnsive meadow came up when a tribal village of the same name bras relocated in 1972: the abandoned fields turned into grass- Hand. Climbing an iron watchtower, we immediately begin to appreciate the diverse wildlife drawn to its various microhabi- ts. Spotted deer and peacocks feed in the sun-bleached grass, which tums tawny as the sun rises. Egrets speckle the tops of trees, and wild boar root inthe swampy edges the lake, ‘The gilded meadowand placid animats seem to defy the fact ithat Tadoba is a jungle that has been part of Project Tiger fora iccade. I think to myself that a tiger of leopard appearance ould merely be a bonus after this view. But 2 companion joans our lack of luck. “We should probably have brought ‘Tiger biscuits,” he wisecracks, then mocks his own ense of humout."Now you sec how desperate Lam.” tought to be easy to see wild cats in Tadoba, a national park since 1955 that has approximately 40 tigers and 25 leopards. ‘But it is winter, and the trees—mohua, ain, jamun—are at their verdantbest. The undergrowth ofbambooisasriotousas itis green. The wild grass rises sixtocight feethigh, Waterfalls, rock pools and streams emerge everywhere, o tha the water- holes that attract big cats in the summer lie forsaken. ‘After Pandharpiuni, we visit the other ‘points’ of this reserve forest. They vaty widely in topography and wildlife, Dur each has a watethole of some sort, natural or man-made, Where animals congregate in the dry season. Dhauna, where ‘we spot.a crested hawk eagle and crested serpent eagle, is no ‘morethan adirt road flanked on eitherside by a steep vegetat- ed cliff and the Bhanuskhindi river. The birds start to call out (Outtooktireveiior JANUARY 2008] 95yTadoba Tiger Reserve. we forest rest houses to cach other te pirvclaien their territories, and their cries ‘sound, axymoronically, like melodicass shric! ‘At Jammunbodian elevated praaaland descending sharply to pool ringedDy tees, Wemeea wild bisonaliost totally obscured by soaring grass and a wild boar skulking among the trees. At Panchdlaraa small eating We spend two fiotrrs up in a rick- ety watchtower, watching bisek faced langgurs scale jamun trees and pond heronfish ita rivilet. Akambarappears but sees our guide and dashes back-witha tinny ofalarm. ‘AS we drive front Wiewpoint to viewpoint, we sec groups of iand women alonigthe toadsider, hacking grasses and low branches with anand si¢kle. They are local villagers, hired to make “frelines’ oF open swathes of land that serve to stanch forest fires and to provides front from which to launch fire fighting operations: Tacoba’s tendu and mola trees—used ‘to make beedis and liguor respectively —are often the cautse of Forest fies, Locals are sald to start the fires because it eicour: ages new growthioftendu leaves and because the mola flow. rs arc easier toseeand pice torn the ashes on the forest floor. Officially, harvest ofaihy gort—of peacock fea thers or honey deer antlers or timnber—is prohibited here. As par of Project Tiger, this forest merits the higheststandard of protection and management. We ané not allowed to alight from our vehicle inside the jungle, except near the designated viewpoints. Bet ‘ween rramand 3pm, our smoup illest the visitors’ centre:and canteen near Tadoba lake because itis mandated ‘rest time’. ‘The stuffed man-eating tiger that iathe prize exhibit atthe vis- itor’s centre holdslitle sppest.so we wall dawn to the lake. I's deceptively idyllic body of Water uriderneath whose shimmer. ing surface kark mmarstt crocodiles. A sign posted here warns, "Swimming is strictly probibited-Survivors will be prosecut- ex” We fil toseeaxinglereptile, but find a small white temple