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 p.1 #1 · Pench Tiger Preserve, India | |
We were recently on a 3-day safari at Pench, India. We were lucky enough to see a tiger close-up (about 200 feet) on one day, and in the distance (almost 2000 feet) on another day. We also got to see three leopards, one a juvenile (6-7 months old) and the other two being salty veterans.
The improvements in the preserve were leaps and bounds compared to our past visits. The government has moved all the villages out of the core zone, and established buffer zones where the villages have been relocated to. The park requires tourists to use local resources for touring the park (the vehicles and the guides). A majority of the revenue (upwards of 70%) from tourism is pumped back into the local economies. There are very strict rules on everyone within the park/preserve, since no one is allowed to carry any firearms. The guide is required to activate a Park provided app on their mobile phone for the entire duration of their stay in the park. This app tracks the speed of the vehicle (limited to 30KMPH or roughly 17MPH), and how long the vehicle is stationary (not more than 10 minutes in case of a sighting, to enable other park visitors also to get a sighting). No one is allowed to disembark from their vehicles except in designated spots (refreshment and toilet facilities at designated areas defined by the park rangers) and no vehicle is allowed to leave the tracks/roads. The penalties for breaking these are severe for the guides (apparently a few have been banned for all parks for a year). Laying this out to let you know that I did the best we could under the circumstances to get clear photos (but in most cases they were not possible).
What surprised me the most is the diversity in the wildlife. Beyond the big cats, there were gaur (Indian Bison), Nilgai (literally blue cows), sambhar (one of the largest antelope species in India) and spotted deer. The birdlife was simply stupendous, with migratory birds from Central Asia, and endemic species.
I primarily used the Canon R5 MkII with the RF 100-500mm and 1.4X for the most part. Post-processing was all in DxO, with auto-corrections for the camera + lens combo and Dfine for further noise reduction (used only on the wildlife portion in the photos).
Bindu ~15 year old female, Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 + RF 1.4X Extender, 700mm, f/10, 1/320, ISO 6400
Bindu ~15 year old female, Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 + RF 1.4X Extender, 700mm, f/10, 1/320, ISO 6400
Bindu ~15 year old female, Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 + RF 1.4X Extender, 420mm, f/8, 1/320, ISO 6400
Raquet-tailed drongo, Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1, 500mm, f/7.1, 1/100, ISO 640
6-7 month old leopard with kill (the red you can see towards the tail and also on the ground between the legs). Was very skittish due to the presence of a tigress (Kala Pahad wali). Moved deeper into the forest with the kill shortly after this photo.
Adult leopard. Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 + RF 1.4X Extender, 420mm, f/8, 1/2500, ISO 4000
Adult leopard with kill. Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 + RF 1.4X Extender, 560mm, f/9, 1/800, ISO 4000
Canon EOS R5 Mark II + RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 + RF 1.4X Extender, 700mm, f/10, 1/800, ISO 4000
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