Elephants and Tigers in Central India.

Using elephants for Shikar was a part of every royal hunt in India. Most of the Maharajas, even when they did not had enough forest for keeping elephants in , kept the elephants. I think there must have been some ego also involved in it like the Gun salute in England. More you pay better you get the respect.
Kanha got their first elephant from one of the Maharaja and in Bandhavgarh Maharaja of Rewa had an elephant kept in tala for his visit to fort and for hunting Tigers.
Presently most of the national parks in M.P. are using elephants for patrolling and for tourism. Even when elephant is used by Tourist they do some sort of patrolling in the park. Finding some tigers in the park while sitting on elephant back ensures

the survival of that particular Tiger till that day.
In India Bandhavgarh and Ranthambhore are the two parks where most of the Tigers comes under weekly patrolling and forest department knows about their wherabouts for sure.
When we asked them about Tulsi which was not seen in the park for two years we were told that she is surviving in Buffer but we never believed it only because our thinking was that if alive then some day this tigress would have come in core area, in her old territory.
After two years when we saw her inside the park, in her old territory we believed them. This time she came only to look for a mate. Once her purpose was solved she again went out and next we heard was that she has three cubs in buffer zone.
Elephants were sent constantly for whole monsoon to patrol her area and that ensured her cubs survival.
It's the patrolling in last three years time which has put Bandhavgarh as one of the most important park in the country. Tiger numbers here are the best in the history of Bandhavgarh and best in India too.
Last season total number of tigers (including cubs) seen by tourists were about 90 and the figure for this season should not be less than that.
Which other National park in the country can claim it???
  

Visiting UK is my nightmare only for one reason that in some nights I just can't sleep and then my mental condition goes worst. Whether I can slepp or not is not the question but my brain tells me that I can't sleep here.
I dont feel claustrophobic in plane or train or anywhere else but in those houses thats my problem.  My other problem there is those soft beds. I cant sleep in them.
Luckily this time in our 24 days stay I had problem only twice and both the times it was solved quickly.
Munmun was always chosey or lucky to have the best room all the time.
At farm house she had the room with best view of the fields where she use to sit on window sill to watch rabbits and cats in the lawn. One morning we saw Ginger cat carrying a baby rabbit.

 We landed at Birmingham by Air India flight. Air India system is a complete mess. Now when you book your flight ticket you need to pay for your seat also otherwise if you are more than one person flying together then there is no guarantee that you both will be sitting together. This is now an  International Cheating through legal system. Previously when you are booking your ticket at the same time you can book your seat too but now even after paying for ticket they want money from you for your preferable seat.
We had arguement after arguement with Air India staff for not being able to provide us the seat which we booked and for which we already paid in advance.
Their silly excuse was that the flight came from Amritsar and Amritsar booking clerk has already alotted these seats to someone else.
How it can be possible. Once we have paid and booked the seat through their system only then how come their staff didn't see that these seats are already booked from Delhi.
Our situation was that plane door was closed, some staff still holding our boarding pass and our passports and we three were standing near the pantry.
This was Munmun's first National or International flight which started with a chaos. Poor girl has no clue about the system and me and Kay were damn mad.
At last when plane started rolling the air hostess gave Kay the boarding pass and our passports with an excuse that our problem could not be solved so Kay and Munmun sat together on ther seats which has enough leg room and I sat away from them in a different row.
I am not biased about Air India but I know how good and cost affecting food can be served in air lines. We (M.P.Tourism) have run airport canteen for years in Bhopal and when I was Manager Hotel Panchanan often the Menu for different airlines food were decided there.
Air India served us a packet of Chana Murmura with tea. When you are serving food to an unknown gentry then food served should be palatable to all. I could not eat that Chana Murmura pkt and so the Munmun only because it was too spicy then question doesn't arise for Kay to touch it.
Meal was very poor. We had potato curry with jeera fried rice with few green pea rolling in them. Sweet was some in between of Rasgulla and Gulab jamun, hard that could not be cut by that plastic spoon. Only thing good in that meal was a pkt of yoghurt.
Looks like some A+++ class idiot must be looking after the catering department of Air India.
Air Hostess gave us the embarkation cards to be filled by all foreigners landing in UK so we also filled it but no one asked for these cards at immigration counter.
Reply was UK has stopped it. Its all digital now, we already have your information.
Munmun had to face few questions at immigration desk. Simple routine questions why you have come and how long you are staying. She said I have come to meet my aunts family and this is my holiday.
At Delhi airport I bought a Vodafone sim for UK. That was the best decision and best buy. I changed my sim in my phone at Birmingham airport itself and called the taxi man. We used Bromsgrove Taxi service where we met Turkish Pakistani and Indian drivers. They provided us good service.
It was still day light at 1900 and Munmun was just watching road traffic and speedy cars. Later on we found that she fascinated by sheeps. First ten days every time she saw them she use to shout sheeeeep.

We dont know how much she grasp from this visit. It could not be a culture shock for her because she was seeing foreigners since her childhood but yes how people live here was far far different than our living. We survive on servants and maids and there people finish the job then and there.
I was wondering that why she did not shown any interest in seeing the dish washer that how it works. Probably she must have been shy to ask.
 First sixr nights we stayed at The Durrance Holiday Farm House. We had a three bedroom Bungalow . A bedroom kitchen and dining hall on ground floor and two bedrooms on first floor.
Ms Helen owns this property. We didn't knew that she knows Kay's sister well. She made a huge Chocolate cake for us.
First night we had some snacks with tea and Chocolate cake. On the last day when we were leaving we asked Munmun to finish the cake because in last 5 days we could not finish it. It was superb. Munmun relish it and so the we.
Kay organised this trip very well. She printed the footpath map from Durrance cottage to Bromsgrove which we explored in next few days.
Sleep quality in Durrance cottage was very good. Munmun had no jet lag problem. She could sleep any where.
Next morning I cooked omellette for Munmun and we had Fruits cereal and toast. Tetley tea in UK is far better in taste then what we get here. Although same company, Tata..
Munmun and Kay loved free range egg served at Durrance cottage. They have few chickens in a pen where Munmun has to feed them with our kitchen waste.

Munmun was amazed to see cow grazing in fields and footpath going through these fields. Once she learnt the footpath sign then quite a few times she found the footpath exit or entry gate.
Footpaths are legal there but still farmers dont like people to walk through their fields. Their fear is all the disease what a walker can bring from other fields in to his.

Munmun liked meeting Sue, Kay's sister. She found Sue a very jolly person. Yes Sue is always smiling. While walking at Sue and Pete's land munmun was just watching all the machinery lying there.
After having some Cake, Chocolate and Tea we walk to Bromsgrove market.
To an Indian standard Munmun was given tons of money by Kay for her shopping in UK.
In fact Munmun's visit to UK was entirely paid off by Kay. Munmun had no clue what to buy and where to buy. She was just walking and window shopping.
She did some shopping here and Kay told her to wait for tomorrow when we go to Worcester.
Next morning we took a train to Worcester city.
Munmun was seeing the time table display and arrival of the train . 10.13 means 10.13 and train moved.She did not speak much in train but amazed to see the clean train and seats. Often we were traveled in quiet coach. Munmun always tried to get the window seat to see her favorite animal sheep.
We walk to the river to see those Bricks which marks the flood marks of different years. Best way to keep the flood record. I knew that one person who was Principal in Saint Johns College Agra was from Worcester and buried here in Worcester Cathedral.
Here only paid cameras are allowed in cathedral.
Munmun had great fun in Worcester. Kay took her in all the shops to look for clothes for her. Her shopping includes Bag, shoes, Jeans and some tops, some for Mahi and something for Mini.
Had a nice meal in M&S and then back to Durrance Cottage for over night.
Munmun enjoyed her shopping in worcester and Kay was busy for whole night thinking What to do tomorrow.

elephant release

Hust after exact 111 days a male elephant is brought out of caroll yesterday in Bandhavgarh.
This elephant was caught in Sidhi district near Parsili by team Bandhavgarh.

Wild Elephants in M.P.

A toatal number of 5 wild elephants entered the state through Chhattisgarh from Jharkhand.
Jharkhand has a very small population of wild elephants in Palamu National Park but due to loss of habitat these wild elephants are forced to migrate to Chhattisgarh for food.
All 5 are captured in Sidhi district by the Team led by Sh Mridul Pathak Field Director Bandhavgarh National Park with the field assistance provided by Mr Vincent Rahim FD, Sanjay Tiger Reserve and DFO Sidhi.

Tigers seen in Bandhavgarh in 2017-18 season

Surprise surprise. Total 70 different tigers were seen in this season in Tourisn zone of Bandhavgarh.

Golden Jubillee Celebration

On Golden Jubilee celebration of bandhavgarh day I heard somebody saying that in mid 70's the only policy they had was leave it to nature.
The comment was in a sarcastic manner. I thought to reply then and there but that wouldn't have been an appropiate time to reply.
So here is my answer for your knowledge.
By 1970's Madhya Pradesh had only 3 National Parks. Kanha Shivpuri and Bandhavgarh.
In late 1800 hundred the Kanha forest got noticed by British Govt and they found it very useful for supplying timber for railway sleepers. Chiraidongri and Balaghat were two major ports for transporting timber from Kanha.
By the time in 1955 when Kanha was declared as National Park the forest was already on an average more than 100 yrs old and many trees which were not mature enough for railway sleepers that time were already 400 yrs or more old.
Shivpuri was a shrubland. Although heavy exploitation of Acacia catechu trees thinned the whole forest of that area and National Park was not an exception. So at the time of declaration of Madhav National Park in 1958 there was literally no Forest.
In 1982 when Late Sh M.N.Buch did the survey of Shivpuri for Acacia catechu trees ,because of some complaints against Kattha Mill in Shivpuri , there were hardly few trees left.
Then Bandhavgarh. Declared in 1968. At that time Bandhavgarh did not had any good forest left except few Sal trees in Hardia area but they were not also not big enough to be used as Timber. Use of Sal trees as Balli is shear wastage of timber wood.
Till 1968 the villages were using the forest as per their need without any control on them. Maharaja himself was selling bamboo to Amlai Paper mill who were doing clear felling in the area.
When you have a policy of no plantation in National park then what option you have except to leave it to the nature!!!
A sal forest area of Bandhavgarh became Mixed Forest due to this policy only.
Last month I went on each and every tourism road of Tala and Magadhi zone to look for 70 yrs old trees.
I found very few.
According to sh J J Dutta, who signed the Bandhavgarh treaty between Govt of M.P. and Maharaja of Rewa in 1968 told me that till 1968 there use to be cattle camps around Chakradhara, Rajbehra, Sehra, Dadra, Bathan, Aamanalah, Sukhi Patiya and Hardia area.
One can go to these places today to find out that average age of the forest of this area is around 40 years or so.
So i hope I made my point that in that situation that was the best policy to adopt.

B2 aka Sundar.

B2 may not be as popular as Sita or Charger or Banka were. Only because these tigers had the benefit of early film making on wild tigers in the country. B2 came in after Sita and Charger. He was not as aggressive as Charger but he was as docile and jeep friendly as Sita was but at the same time he learnt the tricks of the trade very early in his life to maintain the distance from the crowd. In late 1990's B2 along with his siblings B1 and B3 dominated the Tala Range. 
This was the time when Charger was getting old. He had catract. He was losing hld on his territory. In his last few years of his life he did not faced any challange from any other intruder. We saw him surviving on scraps.
This made things much easier for B2 and his siblings to get the control of the area.
They all formed their territories in Chargers land even when the dominant male was still alive but surviving in very poor condition.
Charger spent last few months of his life in a man made pan.
A tiger who could not see properly was found in a ditch near village Mahaman, starving , unable to move so initially a temporary pan was erected then and there for him.
Once Charger gone in to a pan B2 got a chance to flex his muscles without getting any challange from any other male.
This young cub who was born in Tala range and useto to the tourist jeeps startedmoving in Chakradhara meadow to form his territory.
He use to walk parallal to tourist jeeps. This made him very popular amongst the tourists because in those days Tala was the only zone in Bandhavgarh and whole park and all the roads were open for tourism.
People strted coming year after year to look for B2. Like Charger and Sita, B2 aka Sundar too became a symbol for Bandhavgarh.
In those days noone asked to look for any other Tiger except B2.
Every tourist wante to posses a photograph of B2.
B2s popularity in the tiger world can be judged by this too that a complete book was written on him (Tiger Jungle By Iain Green ) .
Once he became the dominant male he had never faced any other male or allowed any intruder to steal any part of his territory.

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