Satpura Nature Reserve – we’re going on a bear hunt, we’re going to catch a big one...

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When we go to the Reni Pani jungle lodge Amith – the naturalist who was to look after us – asked us what we wanted to see. We knew tiger and leopard sightings were very rare, so we said we wanted to see a sloth bear.

We set off at 5.45am in unexpectedly and unwelcome cold. 8 centigrade is fine in London when you’re dressed for it but less good when all you have is a shirt and a fleece sweater. The park is beautiful, and we were happy to drive round seeing the more common animals such as gaur and deer. We had just stopped for our picnic breakfast when there was a noise that produced much excitement amongst the guide, naturalist and driver. Alarm calls from the langurs scared by a predator. Did we dare to hope to see something? We drove off at high speed and had a brief glimpse of a leopard. The other jeep stayed put, hoping it would reappear, but our team decided we should move to where the leopard seemed to be heading. Their instincts were right. We found it again, or more accurately, Tracker Thomas first spotted it moving on the hillside, and were privileged to enjoy 50 minutes of watching a large male leopard prowling around, up and down the hill in full view, and eventually crossing the road.

In the afternoon, Amith declared we would concentrate on finding a sloth bear. And he did! They are small by grizzly bear standards, and look like a black furry lump moving around until you see their face, with a long white snout. They use this to excavate termite hills, digging a hole and then making a loud snuffling noise as they suck in all the termites. They live up to their name by moving very ponderously, scuffling through the leaves as they go.

What a day! And the next day, we had a brief glimpse of a female leopard stalking, and found not one but two more sloth bears including a female carrying her cubs on her back (though to be honest, it was quite dark and she was a bit indistinct).

The stay at Reni Pani was marred only by David succumbing to the inevitable bout of Delhi belly on the last night, necessitating an extra day’s stay for him to recover. After 2 days of 11 hours/day in the jeep gong round the park, Sara was quite glad to have a rest day, and David certainly was!

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Photos

Leopard in Satpura
The ghost of the forest

Sloth bear
Balu the sloth bear snuffling forwards slowly

Leopard in Satpura
Now you see him......

Comments

[Sarah Pillay]

Poor David hope he feels better soon. drink lots of water. You are soooo lucky to see a leopard. The bear sounds so unusual. Hope your health is okay. Bye for now.