After the first few days in Ranthambore NP, we had no tiger sightings. Many other beautiful things came across our path... peacocks, ring-necked parakeets, owlets, spotted deer and more, but no tigers. Right now is the best time of year for seeing these big cats, it is a cooking 45°C / 120°F and heading into the mating season. Potential at watering holes is very good and we hope things turn around.
Then our luck changed, our guide got information that a tigress and cubs was seen heading to a watering hole late in the afternoon. The next morning we headed straight there, but to our surprise we saw a huge male named "Ustad" (meaning Master) resting by the water. At 400 lbs he is one of the larger males in the area. Apparently the female with cubs made a kill overnight and Ustad stole it from her. She wouldn't risk injury to herself, or her cubs, defending it so she quickly moved away. Ustad gave us quite a show for almost 2 hours moving around and posing for this great photo shoot. One of our best tiger experiences.
All images are © by Edward Spera 2015
