Satpura Reserve
Fireline encounter at Satpura
On the 14th February, we set ourselves for the early morning safari after crossing the back waters of tava reservoir dam.
Out of the blue, she appeared right in front of our vehicle. She walked majestically, taking strides like, she owned the forest, but ignoring the people following her. She would mark her territory all along by spraying her urine on most of the trees and rub against the trees. As she deviated from the safari track, we used that opportunity to cross her and go ahead of her as we stayed 20-25 meters ahead without disturbing her by allowing her to choose her on track. It gave us opportunity to have a head-on photograph. She appeared to ignore us completely and took some rest once or twice till she deviated away from the safari tracks.
We were told she had been nursing 4 cubs. The next day in the morning safari we went to the same place where we last saw her the previous day. After waiting for a good 3 hours, she re-appeared with her four cubs, right on the safari tracks. Three cubs were quite shy, while the fourth on was bold, who appeared quite curious & was continuously sizing us up. We could see the tender moments between the mother and her cub, which left overjoyed.
The Fireline tigress is a bold, famous female in the Madhai zone of Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. She is frequently spotted in the dense forests and along the safari tracks, often with her young cubs.
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