1411 and hopefully more to come

I cant over emphasize the sheer beauty and emotion of seeing a tiger in the wild. For those of you who have not done it I urge you to go- you will also understand the huge importance of the campaign SAVE OUR TIGERS which is going on at the moment in India. Just think, your grandchildren may never experience this because 1411 is not a big number and people still poach them. How can they ? Why do they ?
I know the hows and the whys but it still shocks me. What is lovely though is to see so many Indian tourists really keen on seeing them and the foreigners who pay thousands to catch a glimpse of them.

We have been so lucky - on this trip to Pench we saw 4 cubs sunning themselves in an open glade and the mother nearby. They slept and rolled over, yawned and stretched, played with each other and with twigs and shook the flies off them. We watched mesmerised and respectful of their grandeur.

The next day on elephants we sighted them again.The elephants carried the ladders we used to climb up !

 They had indulged us by moving out of the lantana undergrowth to an open expanse and this is what we saw. There is an overwhelming but irrational desire to rush and play with them.