r/bigcats

Credits : marsel_and_co

Credits: Tom Qin

Credit: Chinmaya Ashar

The rarely seen show leopard, captured on a remote wildlife camera by photographer Sascha Fonseca.

The crisp winter morning in legendary Chhota Matka’s teak forests kingdom began with the fresh pugmarks of a leopard. Half an hour later, our hearts skipped a beat: massive, fresh tiger pug marks sliced across our path. Rumours whispered that the prince ,Kalua, was courting a queen Chanda nearby. Adrenaline spiked; we locked in and followed the trail.

The air grew heavy with warnings. Forest laborers shouted that Kalua—infamous for chasing down two-wheelers—was close. Further up, shaken workers showed us a water can fresh shredded by claws. I had watched Kalua grow from a vulnerable cub into a massive, handsome prince, and the anticipation of our reunion boiled over.

Suddenly, the brush parted. Two magnificent tigers stepped onto the safari track just meters ahead, striding side-by-side toward our lone gypsy.

The forest had deceived us. These were not the tracks of lovers, but of brothers. Walking confidently beside Kalua was his younger sibling, Balya—born to Babli and sired by the legendary CM. Kalua towered over his brother with regal composure. As more jeeps arrived, the shy Balya slipped quietly back into the emerald shadows, but Kalua claimed the stage, walking the track for nearly an hour or more in a masterclass of royal indifference.

Months later, the brotherhood fractured as both left their father's domain to carve out their own destinies. Balya vanished into the silent, untracked wilderness, his whereabouts a mystery. Yet our prince Kalua conquered the territorial forests of the Bramhapuri range. Today, he rules a growing kingdom, having already sired four cubs with the queen Janhavi, alongside the heirs of a few other secret queens of the forest.

A tame male Barbary lion and his keepers, apparently near Souk Ahras about year 1880.

The town, which means Market of Lions, recorded 8 scientifically accepted sightings of wild Barbary lions between 1873–1891.

Pease (1899) also stated that lions were in the thick forests in between Souk Ahras and El Kala. He said that on occassion a lion could still be shot as far inland as this town.

The diet of the wild Barbary population there, he implied, were local wild boar, which shows natural prey. Seymat (1724) notes that in El Kala, lions ate red deer and wild boar in Schnitzler (2011).

As per him, the lions were no longer the same audacious animals getting close to human settlements, eating cattle, and would now flee from an unarmed native. This was characteristic of a population that was now small and trying to survive.

As for the lion itself shown, he is very robust, compact. The facial colour seems darker, like a chocolate-grey. The body is covered with basal marking that these montane lions retained into adulthood. A mohawk is also present.

Coloured by DeepAI.

Credits: Shanti House

Source : @shumbalalagamelodge

EDIT:
For anyone worried about the gamelodge handle:—As someone posted below , Game Lodge is just a name for tourist accommodation and that is just the name of the hotel .

According to the Shumbalala Gamelodge website they also have a dedicated ANTI-POACHING UNIT

In May 2004, a joint team of forest officials and veterinarians in Kaziranga National Park,India set out to locate a large tigress that had been repeatedly attacking village cattle near the Diphlu Pothar area. Riding on departmental elephants, they carefully searched through the dense, shoulder-high grass, unaware that the tigress was lying concealed just a few meters away.

Without warning, the tigress exploded out of the grass in a lightning-fast ambush. In a single bound, she launched herself nearly 16–18 feet into the air and landed on the front of the elephant, The attack lasted only seconds, but it was enough for her to seize and severely maul the hand of the mahout.

Then Despite the surprise attack, the elephant stood her ground and fought back, throwing the tigress off before she could inflict any further injuries. The tigress disappeared back into the tall grass as quickly as she had emerged, leaving behind one of the most dramatic and well-documented tiger encounters ever captured on film.

More than two decades later, the footage remains one of the most famous wildlife incidents from Kaziranga, a stark reminder of the incredible speed, power, and unpredictability of tigers in their natural habitat

Read more about this here

https://india.mongabay.com/2024/10/the-courage-and-legacy-of-mahouts-in-kaziranga/amp/