A Photo Tour in Search of Tigers by Dr. M. Seenappa

 "Tyger Tyger, burning bright,

In the forests of the night;

What immortal hand or eye,

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

Bandipur, Karnataka, India

Kabini, Nagarhole Forest, Karnataka, India

Thus said the poet William Blake in 1794 which still challenges every painter and photographer of tigers. I am glad to share my attempts to capture the tiger in this section from my albums, taken over the years in Kabini.

As an avid wild life photographer, I am a frequent visitor to the Kabini sanctuary which is around 200 kilometers from Bangalore where I live, a drive of about three hours or so. Kabini was the hunting grounds for the erstwhile Maharajas and then the British. Since Independence it has been a protected forest for wild life. In 1974, it was accorded the status of a National Park and developed as a wild life sanctuary, especially for tigers.

Nagarhole, Kabini (Summer 2022)

Kabini and its adjoining Nagarhole and Bandipur Parks, are home to wild boars, elephants, the black panther, leopards, tigers, four-horned antelopes, chital, gaur, monkeys like the common langur and the bonnet macaque. It is spread across 644 square kilometers alongside the Kabini river and dam. There are hundreds of species of birds - the kingfishers hornbills, larks, trogons, storks to name a few.

Over the years, I believe with my enduring patience and advanced photography skills, I now know where to look to click pictures of animals, birds and insects. My vast collection of pictures includes flowers, trees, birds, spiders and insects, sunrise/sunset and early morning scenes of its environs. This set is selected from my album on tigers, some of which have been featured in the “Photo of the Day” series of the National Geographic Magazine. 

Let me conclude that I look forward to exchanging pictures and comments with XUNICEF colleagues, who are also wildlife photographers .

Seenappa may be contacted via email: seenappaunicef@gmail.com