The Tiger That Climbed Trees

It was a chilly early morning in March in Corbett National Park when Varun, Angad and Myself mounted on Nasir's gypsy entered the park. Braving the morning chill and cherishing the sweet scent of the forest we were driving from Dhangarhi to Dhikala which is about 31 KMS through dense Sal forest. In these Kumaoni mountains the small seasonal rivulets that come down from the mountain side are called "Sot" and it was on one of these Sots where the most unexpected thing happend. As it was early morning we were expecting to see some Tiger activity on our way to Dhikala.

15 KMS before Dhikala we reached a small wooden bridge over a rocky rivulet at the foot of a large hill. The place was called "Gorkha Sot". The road was very sandy and while driving we were keeping an eye on the road to spot any fresh Tiger pugmarks. We crossed the bridge which was followed by an acute turn around the mountain from the edge of which one could get an open view of the river and the grassland on the other side. We stopped and looked through our binoculars for any activity down at the river but it all seemed calm when suddenly monkeys started raising alarm calls on the hill just above the Gorkha Sot bridge.

Monkeys are considered the eyes of the forest as they sit up high on trees and can watch the activity below and they raise an alarm when they see a predator lurking around like Tiger or a Leopard. Having the hill in our sight we reversed our jeep looking down at the road and were surprised to absolutely fresh Tiger pugmarks which really were not there seconds ago when we had crossed the bridge. Quickly all the cameras came out and the heartbeat picked up considering the fact that since the monkeys were calling on top of the hill, chances are we might get attacked by a Tiger from an elevated position if luck is not on our side. We stopped just before the bridge at the foot of the hill and looked for any movement but could not see anything. The Monkey calls we growing louder and louder but spotting the Tiger in the thick bushes over the hill was impossible. We decided to reverse the jeep a bit more to a spot where there was a smooth slope on the hill hoping that if the Tiger comes back down the hill, it would most likely take the easier slope rather than the rocky almost vertical drop.

We waited at this spot listening to the Monkeys for good 45 - 50 Minutes but still could see nothing when suddenly there was a loud ruckus made by the Monkeys and a dying squeak from one of them making us wonder if it just got hunted. After waiting another 15 minutes another school of thought came from Nasir that if the Tiger can see us where we are, it might not come down the slope until we leave that spot so we again went over the bridge and stopped at the turn where the Tiger could not see us while coming down the slope. Yet again, the plan didn't seem too fruitful. We were now losing hope of spotting anything and retreated back into our seats to hit the road again.

Before we started, another jeep went past us and stopped as they had a flat tyre. We all got out to help the driver quickly change the wheel as it was not safe to be outside on that spot at that time. 5 minutes by the clock and the wheel was replaced and we were set to roll when suddenly some rocks fell from the hill. There was a tree on top of that hill and as our eyes went up we saw the most unexpected animal of all. A Leopard was climbing up the tree and was looking down on us in great fury as if it would just pounce over us from atop that tree on the hill. It was a beautiful young adult in it's prime with great fur and rosettes.

Leopards are largely nocturnal creatures living mainly in grasslands, woodlands and riverside forests and presumably the most shy of all the Cat family members. We all clicked a few shots before it disappeared from our sight after climbing down the tree. In my years of experience in the park this was my second only Leopard sighting. We sat there thinking that we were tracking a Tiger and look what we found... A Leopard in Tiger shoes :-) . We all had a good laugh about it and pat our backs for a wonderful sighting and moved on ahead towards Dhikala thinking that if this was just the begining, what lies in store for us next once we reach our destination.