It’s tough to be a predator!

 March 13

Various animals make alarm calls when they spot or smell a predator. An alarm call can be picked up by another species to amplify the level of danger. Alarm calls are not the same for all predators. For example, when a langur spots a tiger it makes a sort of barking sound. When it spots a leopard it makes a more frantic clicking sound. Spotted deer also make a repeated call when a leopard is near. It is believed that leopards are harder to track by the prey animals; therefore, the alarms are more frantic. Having these alarm systems makes hunting more of a challenge for the predators. This morning we got to experience the difference between the types of alarm calls.

The day was mostly a travel day; however we were able to have an abbreviated game drive first. Shortly after the start of the drive we heard alarm calls. Initially we thought a tiger was in the area. Then a second set of alarm calls in another section of the meadow began which were the more frantic style…a leopard was in the area. Lots of vehicles started lining the road way anticipating the leopard’s appearance. Our guide/drive, Kaka (yes, like the New Zealand parrot), moved us a little ways down the road away from the other vehicles. Leopards are shy animals, so Kaka knew the leopard would choose a safer route. Moments later we saw the leopard dart out of the forest, run across the road in front of us, and disappear into the forest, its long tail streaming behind it. Kaka thought the flight of the leopard was caused by the scent of the tiger. This all happened so fast we could not get our cameras up to our faces let alone get a photo. It was a wonderful experience for our last day at Kanha.

The remainder of the day was not very exciting. We drove for 4 hours to Raipur, descending 2000 feet from the central India plateau to the plains. From there we flew to Kolkata and a night’s stay in a hotel before continuing on tomorrow. Assam is a long way from the rest of India. The high point of the evening was a very varied and flavorful buffet dinner.

Pictured: Brown-headed Barbet ( a small bird with a loud voice that tormented us for days before we saw one), female Sambar, male Sambar, Indian Roller