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Leopard Photography

The Leopard is probably the most successful of the predators. Their ability to adapt to different environments have resulted in categorizing them into different races. There are six such races found in the Indian subcontinent, which includes Common Leopard, Snow Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Leopard Cat, Marbled Cat and Golden Cat.
Leopard populations are in danger around the globe. The degradation and outright destruction of leopard habitat due to human endeavours has caused populations to fragment and stagnate, not to mention drastically decline.
In India there favorite habitats are varied, from the snow peaks of Uttranchal to Sal forests of the terai, from the dry forests in Rajasthan to the thick rain forests in Arunachal and the list goes on.

How ever, to locate Leopards in the Wild is never been an easy task. Hence you will find more Tiger experts in the country than Leopard experts.
Taal Vraksh - An abode of Leopards, 20 kms from Sariska Tiger Reserve
Taal Vraksh, a place, which lies in the twilight of wilderness and civilisation. What makes it very different from other places is the frequency of the leopard visiting this place despite having large human presence. The place is just 20 km from Sariska Tiger Sanctuary of Rajasthan and is located on the Jaipur State Highway.

The place is a paradox of sorts. The leopards are sighted on the road. A small area of dense forest covering, with a little water available has made the place a true Leopard habitat.

Given below is typical evening experience in Taal by Sharad Khanna, a friend who is a regular at Taalvraksh
 

The sun was about to set and we were having our evening tea, along with scanning the three hills and expecting to see something moving. The lullness was broken by the peacocks flying away from the danger zone and the ringing bells from the temple nearby and to add more erreness to the whole experience moon rose and started to cast its spell on its denizens. We were standing on the road waiting and cameras ready a domestic cow had just passed and following behind was this monkey. Unmindful of our presence it simply kept on walking on the road alert as if somebody is about to pounce onto him. The suddenly the jungle vibrates with various calls in unison and the monkey immediately scrambled to the nearby tree, for relative safety from leopard-the predator. Animals calls, temple bell rings and at the top of the highway truck coming in our directions and when the truck was about 100 mtr away from us with its head lights on, we saw a large cat like silhouette crossing the road and the truck coming in our direction also stopped seeing a leopard crossing the road.
 

 An unique experience to see and equally unique cat of the wild, experience that would leave goose pimples to the weak hearted.
 

Siana 175kms from Jodhpur and Udaipur
As the name suggests our intention is to show the village culture and wildlife of the region. This is a safari of four-wheeled jeep. The duration is about half a day. It begins with a tour of Siana where the guest views the carpenters engaged in making wooden handicrafts, which is followed by a visit to the potter's wheel, finally ended with a visit to a Jain temple.
The next on the itinerary is a Shepard village, which is remotely locate. The Shepards has one community that it still retains its traditional way of life.
The evening drive around Aisrana Range provides an opportunity to see the wildlife of the region. The high point is the attempt to see the elusive leopard, the Indian stripped hyena, the desert fox, the civet cat and the jungle cat. If the guest goes on safari for two nights, there are good chances of seeing the leopard.

So while you are doing the incredible Rajasthan tour do take out a couple of nights for this elusive mammal and be rest assured that you will be unconditionally rewarded.





 

Tiger Photography |  Wildlife Photography |  Bird Photography |  Leopard Photography