The Queen’s Throne…

A quintessential Corbett moment awaited us this time. Although it had been a while since the queen of Sambar road had been seen in these parts, we were quite optimistic for that very reason. It was quite unlikely of Pedwali to not stroll on Sambar road for long.

We had spent quite sometime with the Grassland lad, whiling away his time sleepily near Mota Sal. We had begun our safari quite well and were hoping that she crosses over from Paar. After all, the other side of Ghethero had been bustling with alarm calls, and we had even seen her in the morning briefly at a distance on the banks of the river. Little did we know that her majesty was in a mood to give some stereo-typical photo-ops to us in a bit.

When she crossed over, the stride was not of haste, it brimmed with the confidence of a tigress who had firmly established her estate and was wanting to lead on to create a legacy. All of just four years, she was out looking for a mate clearly, and kept calling to resonate her call through the air to a possible suitor. Only if Dhikala had a firm and dominant male at this time. She and her sisters are perfectly poised to produce litter that can make all of Sambar road and Paar ring out aloud with alarm, when their little ones trot behind them. We eagerly await those days...

As imagination flowed in anticipation of the future, we realised that she had already made it up the bank, was crossing over and heading for her favourite fallen bark she hadn't climbed for almost a year now, we were told.

As we waited in much anticipation of being able to frame the moment that almost had Corbett cliched’, it seemed she had already stepped underneath and we thought was just going to walk away. I could almost hear my guide murmur a prayer of hope for her to dive up the tree, for us to bag this moment.

And there - she propelled herself up the tree, comfortably landing with her soft pads. Now, she clearly wanted to rest. She seemed well fed and had had a good drink of water below the high bank. While she was very comfortable with the vehicles around her, she sometimes chose to take time out from her nap & grooming, look in the direction where people were creating a ruckus and smirk her usual self. She knew it was her that they were drooling over, after all.

The queen had settled on her throne, awaiting a king...

20 Feb 2023, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Ramnagar, Uttarakhand