Never had I imagined that an unknown trip into the wilderness would lead to an encounter with the majestic beast. The unbelievable happened when we travelled to Sariska Tiger Reserve on 14 April, with a safari guide and a spotter. At 3 pm, we got into the safari jeep to start our adventure. The Reserve is 850 km square in area and holds only 29 tigers in its borders. We knew that to see a tiger was a chance-sighting, so we had low hopes and simply went to see the wildlife and flora of the reserve. From 3 to 6 pm we were travelling in the jungle and saw lots of animals – sambhar, deer, cheetal, neelgai, peacocks, peahens, kingfisher, golden warblers, humming birds, turtles and varieties of insects like dragon flies, bumble bees and wasps. We were content with having seen such beautiful creatures. And began to heading back to HQ.
Suddenly our guide was informed by a local spotter who was surveying the area that ST-9, a young female tigress, was resting in his vicinity. Immediately our guide drove like the wind, whizzing us past termite hills, flowering plants and flames of the forest. On uneven terrain I would be jostled into the air. We went at this speed for a few minutes when, suddenly, the guide slammed the brakes.
There, in all of her glory, the young tigress was lying in the shadow of the trees. It was a sight to behold! The orangish fur on her hide was shimmering in the dying setting sun. She opened her mouth, yawning and showing us her large set of canines. We couldn’t believe our luck! Here was a full flesh ‘n’ blood tigress in her natural habitat. We spent a few minutes just admiring her when she made her move. She stretched and got up, walking in front and around the jeep before slinking back into the wilderness.
We were ecstatic for having seen a tiger in the wild. On reaching the HQ, we expressed our gratitude the guide and the spotter for showing and allowing us to have observed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
(Author is Class 8 student, DPS Noida, Sec 30)
by Shubh Gaur (D-802, Amrapali Eden Park)
