Tiger Tiger Burning Bright in Bori!

Th e relatively unknown Bori Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh is one of India's oldest protected forests and home to a large variety of wildlife, including the big striped cat!

The forest unfurled a green welcome mat for us, as our safari vehicle purred down red earth trails in Bori Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Yet, early that morning, an air of mystery hung in the air, as the slumbering jungle rested after the shenanigans of the previous night.

The relentless game of survival of the fittest had played out in the undergrowth and the king of the jungle, a majestic tiger, was probably snoozing near a kill - satiated. The sun filtered through sturdy soaring teak trees and tangled stands of bamboo and shone on multiple gleaming water bodies that dot this photogenic sanctuary. Herds of chital skipped happily by into its green depths, infused with a love for life.

Bori Wildlife Sanctuary, part of the larger Satpura Tiger Reserve, is a relatively unknown oasis. Home to sloth bear, leopard, wild dog, the bushy-tailed giant squirrel and a variety of Central Indian species of birds, including migratory ones from East Europe, it hands visitors the elusive gift of peace. In Bori, you will not encounter multiple safari vehicles whizzing past in the single-minded pursuit of the ultimate prize – a tiger sighting. This, despite the fact that it is one of the oldest wildlife sanctuaries in India, notified in the mid-19th century as a forest reserve, thanks to its valuable reserves of teak.

Only occasionally, we would come across another vehicle that would stop to allow its occupants listen to the calls of jackals that echoed with eerie intensity through the forest or to gaze at a crested hawk-eagle that looked down haughtily at visitors who passed from under his perch. In the distance, a barasingha (swamp deer) would lope past gracefully, carrying its branched antlers like a monarch would his crown.

“Kanha was the last bastion of the critically endangered barasingha,“ revealed Aly Rashid, director and CEO of Jehan Numa Wilderness, which owns and runs Bori Safari

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Lodge, a wildlife-centric sustainable abode in Bori. “The barasingha species was at risk in case of an outbreak of disease, so 16 females and 6 males were given a new home in Bori,” Rashid said. Today, there are well over 60 barasingha in the sanctuary.

Indeed, nature is nurtured, and in 2013, eight tigers (including three tigresses) were introduced into the sanctuary from Panna, Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks. They flourished in their new habitat, upping the tiger population in Bori to a healthy 35 or more, said Ramesh Pratap Singh, a wildlife conservationist. In his role as field director and chief conservator of forests (Satpura National Park) and other pivotal roles, Singh was instrumental in the many conservation initiatives undertaken in Satpura Tiger Reserve.

“Bori’s ample grassland, water bodies and prey population plus re-wilding of about 20-sq km of forests, have enabled the apex predator to thrive," added Singh. Today, tourists reap the benefits of those conservation efforts. While on a leisurely drive through the sanctuary’s Churna tourism zone, we were encompassed by a mind-blowing landscape of soft rumpled hills, tawny grasslands and teak forests that seemed to snag the clouds.

While the tiger was elusive like a camera-shy prima donna, our first sighting was of a gaur, said to be the largest living bovine, all 1,000 to 1,500 kg of undulating muscles and sinew. He was majestic despite his humongous bulk. He stopped grazing to glare at us and his eyes seem to bore into our souls. In an encounter, a gaur and tiger are an equal match, said our naturalistguide Malay Malcolm Fernandes. The bovine can gore a tiger to death!

Suddenly a black bundle of fur, hitching a ride on mama’s back, bounded into view. Even as we raised our cameras to capture this bonus moment that safaris so often serve up, the two started to forage for termites. Then both trundled towards our vehicle and glowered. The moment was taut as a guitar string. The duo then backed off into the forest, with an air of injured dignity, even as a langur’s warning call ripped the tranquillity of the forest. The call was to caution potential prey that a leopard, tiger or a pack of wild dogs were on the prowl. We felt a frisson of fear for Laila,

B ori Wildlife Sanctuary is around four hours from Bhopal a tigress with two 18-month-old cubs, learning to survive independently, was probably hiding in the undergrowth. After five tense minutes, Laila’s two adolescent cubs slunk into view, minus a kill. Their killer instinct had yet to surface! Here, the law of the jungle - eat or be eaten - plays out with unerring frequency.