A LION ENCOUNTER OF A DIFFERENT KIND!

 

February 2007 : Even after spending three full days and taking four expensive 

safaris in the Gir National Park, all that we had a mere long distance glimpse of a lone lioness lazily sleeping under a tree. Hardly a sighting worth getting excited about! We were due to leave the next day, a Saturday.

Milind Ghosalkar, a dear colleague and then the Head of our Junagadh outfit, was mighty unhappy that he could not show off a lion or two to his favoured guest. So, on Saturday before noon he came huffing and puffing with a proposal to go to Baapra, a village roughly 35 kms away from the Lion Sanctuary. He had heard that lions were plentiful in Baapra and nearby areas and fairly common to see. He had also made an arrangement with the Sarpanch of the Baapra village to take us lion watching.

By the time we reached Baapra, dusk was setting in. We should have started at least 2 hours earlier. The moment we reached, the Sarpanch, waiting anxiously for us, observed testily that we were pretty late and he had kept the lions waiting since 2 pm! (“Itna der kar diye, kabse sher ko baitha ke rakha! Do baaje ke pahele se!”) Listening to him, I could not suppress a chuckle – he sounded as if the lions in the wild were waiting for the Circus Master!

The Sarpanch got on the pillion of a motorbike ridden by his son. All he had with him was a long thick stick ( lathi ) and a HUGE 15 million candle light China made torch that could throw a powerful beam of light. He bade us to follow him and we readily complied in our two cars. And Voila! In less than 20 minutes we had our first encounter with lions.

We parked our cars and got down – there was a hillock across an intervening valley about 300 metres away and four lionesses were there – 2 roaming about and the other 2 just lazing.It was quite dark by now and there was no chance of getting a good photograph. We thus watched lions from a distance for some time and drove back to the village. Personally, I was devastated that I could not get a worthwhile photo of my first sighting of a lion in the wild.

Back in the house of the Sarpanch – all house in the village are protectively ringed by thick and high mud, brick and stone walls - we wre offered tea. Hot tea made with lots of milk, sugar and many other condiments followed . Rather thick and syrapy, this “tea” had to be poured from a stainless steel cup in to a similar dish and literally “SLURPED”. If one did not produce the big slurping sound implied one had not obviously liked the tea – an affront to the Sarpanch we were desperate to avoid!

Chit-chatting over the tea, I remarked that the sighting was not that good and my heart was not content at all (“dil nahin bhara)! The Sarpanch agreed that we could go out again in an hour or so. In about an hour, during which we covered a gamut of topics, including Narendra Modi’s governance of Gujarat and politely declined a second round of “tea”, we moved out to try our luck a second time. This time though we were not that lucky. We searched and searched but found no sign of the lions anywhere. Deep in to the night, with more than an hour and a half gone, despair was beginning to creep in. We had to drive back more than 50 kms to Junagadh for our night stay and we could not roam the forests much longer.

Just as we were giving up, the Sarpanch and his son got down from the motorbike and shone the powerful torch on to the dense grasslands opposite. Their frantic gesturing was a clear message that they had spotted an elusive lion. We hurriedly left our cars, and lo and behold, a large lioness was sitting quietly in a small clearing in the grasslands. The two cars were quickly positioned to throw maximum light on to the lioness and I started taking photos, duly experimenting with ISO and Aperture settings, frantically hoping for at least one reasonably good photo.

The Sarpanch was rather impatient and kept on urging me to move forward and closer to the lioness. On seeing me hesitate, he used some choice adjectives to mark me down as a scared coward (“daraya hua darpok”)! I had no choice but to follow him, albeit rather reluctantly. By that time I had been able to take in a few satisfactory shots and was keen to get back to the car. But that was not to be!

We had just started retracing our steps , when a tiny, cuddly, furry ball emerged from behind the lioness and two more similar balls of fur followed the first in quick succession. Wow! Weren’t we lucky! While their mother sat in apparent non-chalance, the cubs were rather playful. The Sarpanch kept marching forward, occasionally banging his stick on the ground, and kept urging me on. Frankly, I am not an usual coward but I not foolhardy either. I wanted out but there was no escape and I got close enough to the lioness and her cubs to be able bag a few good photos – at least as good as the prevailing light conditions would permit me to. My trusted lieutenant, Krishna, had intelligently moved my car as far forward as possible so that there was always fair light on the lions.

Much to my relief, the lioness had had enough and at her low growls, the cubs started moving deeper in to grasslands. Soon after, the lioness followed and I a matter of minutes the magic had ended!

Back in the Sarpanch’s house, we could no longer decline his offer of a second cup of tea. Over tea, I once again remarked that my heart was still not content and we would love to come back early next afternoon so that I could take some lion photos in day light. Initially, the Sarpanch did not appear too keen but promised to think over our plans.

Next afternoon, we started early but not before Milind got my concurrence to meet the demands of the Sarpanch on certain worldly matters. Not wasting time on tea any more, we moved out in the same procession that we followed the previous evening – our 2 cars closely following their motorbike. In about half an hour we were witness to a hilarious spectacle!

We had reached a flat ground surrounded by low hillocks all around. There was a small crowd gathered and everyone was watching something with intent. As we reached the place we quickly realized what was happening. A few forest personnel were standing near a bicycle. In front of the cycle was a large dead goat and behind it a little kid . In the six of the hillocks around us there were six lionesses and in the centre of the ground there was another. The kid would bleat often and every time it went “myaaa! myaaa!” the lioness would on the ground would take a few steps towards the dead goat (obviously being used as a dead bait) and much to our incredulity and surprise, a Forest Guard, clad in Khaki, would bang his stick (lathi) on the ground and shout “Go back! Go back! Not time yet! ( Nahin, nahin, time nahin! Pichhe! Pichhe!) and the lioness would retreat quietly. Unbelievable but true – it was as if we were all watching a Lion Circus! The Guards steadfastly refused to let us take any photos saying we would have to wait till the “Sahibs” arrived and threatening to confiscate our cameras if we did not comply.

By and by, a few Senior Forest Officials ( at least one was a DFO, I recollect) arrived with two smug foregner tourists in tow. These two foreigners, Americans, we had met earlier at the Sanctuary and they had appeared rather benign although rather frustrated in not having seen a lion till then. But today was a different story : a brief huddle later the DFO ordered us to clear out claiming that we had apparently encroached in an unauthorized zone. Obviously the “Dollar Power” of the foreign tourists was far more powerful than what all of us together had!

Reluctantly we left the scene, planning to return about an hour later. No chance for my lion photography in day light though! We moved around rather aimlessly in the forest area, taking in a few deer and a jackal in the process, and made our way back to the spot of action an hour or so later. The area now bore a deserted look, there was no human presence whatsoever, not even a Forest Guard.

But the lionesses were still around. One behind a nearby tree was engrossed in gorging on the carcass of the dead goat or what was left of it and felt least disturbed by our presence so near her. The Sarpanch bode us to take our cars within 8-10 feet of the feeding lioness. We alighted and using the body of one car as a barrier between us and the beast and the bonnet of the car to balance my camera on, I clicked as many photos as I could – the second car positioned at right angles to the first and focusing the twin headlights brightly on the feeding lioness.

In between a lion came about from behind the lioness and walked away with a large chunk of mutton and while the first lioness had moved away a little in deference to the lion, another lioness stealthily slunk away with another large chunk! Quite a hilarious experience.

Well, that was my FIRST lion encounter and at that time I was foolhardy and unwise enough to be such a nuisance to the lionesses. Over the years I have learnt to respect wildlife and would certainly not be as reckless as in February 2007.

I have also never got over my finding the then Senior Forest Officials to be pliant enough not only Foreign tourists ( surely at a price ) but also to use a dead goat as bait so that the lion-show for the foreigners was a great success! This callous behavior from responsible people rankles me even today as does my stupidity in going back for the night photos.

Later, back at the Sarpanch’s place, he explained the curious behavior of the lioness heeding to the calls of the Forest Guard. It appears that the lions in Gir and surrounding villages, like Baapra, have over the years, come to recognize the Khaki-clad Forest Guards as their benefactors - protecting them from poachers, providing them with adequate water in the water-holes that run totally dry in the heat of summer and even rescuing them from wells once in a while when an hapless lion falls in to one! Thus a bond between the Khaki-clad, lathi-wielding Forest Guards and the Lions in the area has been forged. That also explained our bewilderment to see these Forest Guards roam the jungle all alone on a cycle or a motor-cycle, carrying nothing but a lathi as their sole weapon.

I have posted some photos – a few do look gory. Viewers’ discretion is requested.