After our last great sighting of the big male, "Ustad", we had a few slow outings, some alarm calls and fresh tracks, but only one glimpse of a young male sleeping in some dense brush... no photo ops.
We started our visit a few days back tracking a mating male and female with no success. I had a gut feeling about returning to this area of the park again a few days later. At our request we headed back to track this couple a second time. Tigers will mate for 5 to 7 days and these two had been together 4 days already. Another hot day on the brink of 50°C had us searching the watering holes nonstop and drinking alot of water.
As we stopped a few feet away from a small natural pool, Lisa commented on how beautiful the surrounding grasses were blowing in the hot afternoon breeze, to which I agreed. Immediately our guide jumped out of his seat and yelled, "There! The tiger is behind the grasses." Not just one, but two tigers, the male and female we were searching for. At a proximity of 50 feet away they laid there for a few minutes when the female started to stir. They will copulate every 15-20 minutes throughout the day and night for the mating period. The male will not allow the female to leave his sight, she moves... he moves. They stayed around this small watering hole for over 3 hours giving us some great shots and an insane experience. By the way 5-6 seconds, if you were wondering, is time the male's stamina was during the x-rated parts. We'll be returning tomorrow if all goes well.
We started our visit a few days back tracking a mating male and female with no success. I had a gut feeling about returning to this area of the park again a few days later. At our request we headed back to track this couple a second time. Tigers will mate for 5 to 7 days and these two had been together 4 days already. Another hot day on the brink of 50°C had us searching the watering holes nonstop and drinking alot of water.
As we stopped a few feet away from a small natural pool, Lisa commented on how beautiful the surrounding grasses were blowing in the hot afternoon breeze, to which I agreed. Immediately our guide jumped out of his seat and yelled, "There! The tiger is behind the grasses." Not just one, but two tigers, the male and female we were searching for. At a proximity of 50 feet away they laid there for a few minutes when the female started to stir. They will copulate every 15-20 minutes throughout the day and night for the mating period. The male will not allow the female to leave his sight, she moves... he moves. They stayed around this small watering hole for over 3 hours giving us some great shots and an insane experience. By the way 5-6 seconds, if you were wondering, is time the male's stamina was during the x-rated parts. We'll be returning tomorrow if all goes well.
