Tiger Safari

Recently my cousin Rahul came to Bangalore and we decided to visit Bannerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary. Any trip to this place is considered incomplete if you don't go for the famous 'Tiger Safari'. It was a public holiday and the place was damn crowded. We had no hopes of getting the tickets to go for the safari, so we went to see the zoo. After spending more than half of the day in the zoo, we decided to meet the guy who was selling the tickets to ask him if we could get the tickets by paying him little extra money. But the guy was good enough to sell us two tickets for the last safari of the day, without taking anything extra.
Finally, we were goin for the 'Tiger Safari'......

The first two tigers that we saw that day. Its an amazing experience to see these big cats roaming all around you.

Tigers sare extremely fussy about their territories. The guide told us that this tiger strayed into the territory of another male a few days back and was chased out by that male. The scars on the torso of this male were obtained during that encounter.

My favorite picture. The Royal Bengal Tiger.

Grooming....

Though I was safely sitting inside the van, it was pretty scary seeing these beasts closing up on us.

The van moved on and the beast passed by.....in another few minutes, we were out of the park.

What a time we had!

Caught in action.

If you look at this photo closely(click on the picture for a better view), you'll see there are two snakes engrossed in the act of mating. I could have taken a better picture but didn't want to disturb these creatures.

DID YOU KNOW:Male snakes have two penes (called hemipenes or “half penes” in the mistaken belief that they were pressed together to form one penis). Some snakes alternate between the two for separate matings, some just use which ever is closest to the female. The hemipenes inflate when inserted into the female. Some hemipenes may be forked or spined, probably to ensure they stays inside the female during what can be a long mating.

Just in time

In the very next moment, this bird flew away. I was able to capture this beautiful scene just in time.

Lunch time, guys...

Its a beautiful picture. These tiny tortoises were busy munching their lunch when i took this picture.
There is a deep irony in this picture. Tens of thousands of marine as well as freshwater tortoises are killed every year for their flesh and shells. The tortoise flesh is served as a delicacy in several high profile eatouts, much like this, in a plate with green spinach toppings.
Thank God! this wasn't the case here...

White Tiger

This picture was also taken in Bannerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary.

The white tigers are white colored bengal tigers, they are not albinos and they are not a seperate subspecies of tigers. White tigers are born to tigers that carry the unusual gene needed for white coloring. Wild white tigers are very rare.

They are usually located on the Mainland of Southeastern Asia and in central and southern India. The white Bengal tiger lives in grassy or swampy areas and forests, where they can be well camouflaged. Those living on islands have almost disappeared; most now live in zoo’s or special wildlife parks like this one.

Posin for a pic

I took this picture in Bannerghatta Wildlife Sanctuary near Bangalore. Its one of my favorite pictures. I remember thanking the zebra after taking this picture for giving me such a nice pose.