A Kill in the Kabini!

It was a morning during the monsoons, the best time to drive through the lush green forest. This season is very challenging for a big cat sighting. Yet, just 30 minutes into the drive, we spotted a calm, young and healthy leopard sitting by the track. A few scars of territorial fights were visible on his face and neck, as he looked very focused and was unperturbed by the presence of humans.

The foliage with the leopard amidst the greenery, gave us a great opportunity to take excellent habitat shots. Just then, our driver mentioned that the leopard could possibly make a kill. We were unsure of this luck being graced upon us and continued to keep our focus on the big cat.

After a while, the leopard got up, stretched and walked along the track before disappearing into the jungles. Our hearts sank as we thought the act for the day was over. We asked the driver to move ahead hoping to spot a tiger or an elephant. He suggested that we wait, as he had observed the leopard focusing on a herd of spotted deer in the surrounding bush, indicating the possibility of a hunt.

The deer moved in closer and we weren’t sure where the leopard had disappeared to. The herd remained calm and there were no alarm calls sounded by the birds or langur in the surrounding, so we felt that the leopard had returned to the forest. Just when we were dejectedly discussing the lost opportunity, our driver told us to look at the direction of the wind. He went on to explain that the leopard could still be close by, and the wind was blowing away from where the deer were grazing, they wouldn’t have caught the scent of the leopard.

As we noticed this, our hopes were renewed. In our hearts we knew this could be one great safari if luck was on our side. Many minutes had passed since the leopard moved into the lantana as we patiently waited. We suddenly heard one quick alarm call and the rest of the deer echoed the same filling the forest with the calls. In a flash the leopard came charging out of the bushes with the caught prey. The camouflage was so perfect that it took us several seconds to realize the hunt that happened right in front of our eyes.

The leopard held the massive sized doe by its throat as the rest of the herd alerted the entire forest with their loud alarm calls. The calls still ring in my ears sounding like the bells from a hallowed place.

The leopard latched on to the jugular of his prey as we watched the doe struggling to escape, until it finally gave up. Once the leopard was certain that its prey was dead, he started to drag it towards the bushes. As the catch was quite heavy, the leopard changed his position and dragged the kill into the foliage.

Just before he disappeared, he stopped and turned around for a few seconds as if he was giving us one last glimpse of his victorious hunt.  For us, watching the eyes of the prey and predator together ‘one victorious and the other hunted’ was definitely one of the best moments in our wildlife experiences. The stronger of the two had survived and Darwin was proven right again.

I have been visiting the forests for more than a decade now and have never come back disappointed, as each time we learn something about nature and our connection with it gets deeper. While, this experience was definitely the best, We had learnt to be patient in the jungles as it is critical to take clues from nature. The naturalists and drivers who have spent most of their lives in the forests have abundant  knowledge and we as urban humans need to respect them and must be willing to learn from them.