I had been thinking about paying a visit to the Terai forests for some time, as sighting a tiger there would be a different ballgame. But because of the vegetation and nature of the forests there, with very tall grass covering pretty much everything, it would be a daunting proposal to sight any rare species. After considering some basic pros and cons of some forests in the Terai Landscape, I decided I will pay Pilibhit Tiger Reserve a visit. The Indian forests of the Indo Gangetic plains have had their share of problems with poaching and other things, but Pilbhit has managed to double their tiger population in a space of 4 years, which caught my eye in this regard. Soon enough, a plan was formulated in my mind for the same.
ABOUT PILIBHIT TIGER RESERVE
It is located in Pilbhit district of Uttar Pradesh, not far from Uttarakhand border and the Indo-Nepal border. The adjoining forest in Uttarakhand is called Surahi and the adjoining forest in Nepal is called Suklaphanta. It is around 800 square kilometers of forested area, with 600 square kilometers being the core area. It constitutes of Mala, Haripur, Deoria, Barahi and Mahof ranges, the latter 2 being in the tourism zone. Sharda river dam is located at the base of the horse-shoe shaped forest, at one of the forest edges. The forest consists of mostly sal, tall grasslands and swampy areas, complete with continuous tall arched canopies for long distances. Classic Terai landscape! It includes Chuka beach in the centre of the core area, which has the only forest lodge in the middle of the forest. Other homestays and lodges are at the periphery of the forest. The infamous "Chuka" and "Thak" man-eaters hunted down by Jim Corbett back in 1937-38 had their territories in this region. Between 2014-18, the tiger population doubled here and currently the population is believed to be in excess of 80. In fact now, the population is so much that relocation of some tigers taking refuge in sugarcane fields of farmers is being considered to avoid the frequent tiger human conflict in villages.
MY EXPERIENCE:
DAY 1 - ARRIVAL
I arrived by plane from Bangalore to Bareilley early April to kick off my journey. The flight time took close to 3 hours and we could also see a part of the Himalayas, from an altitude, when we were about to reach our destination. From there, it was a little over 2 hour journey to Chuka beach, where I was putting up. After some paperwork, I was assigned a "Tharu Hut", which I had booked beforehand.
This was a new experience for me as I was staying at a lodge, which was in the centre of the forest. The lodge had a few Tharu Huts, Tree Hut and a Water Hut. As the name suggests, the "Water Hut" was just above the water while the "Tree Hut" was at an altitude. The views are pretty good from the huts. There were other quarters and a rest house too, although it is unclear who should stay in them. Certainly not normal guests. There is a "Nature Interpretation Center" in the premises, although a small one. The lodge area is fenced.
On one side, there is a vast lake, which also has crocodiles. Sometimes when the water levels are very low, big cats could come into close proximity of the lodge from the lake side. On other select occasions, they have also been known to enter the premises through the adjoining forest. The "Dining House" / "Jal Paan Kaksh" is a tad small and is lacking tables, which makes eating there difficult. One could alternatively sit outside near the canteen to enjoy the breeze while eating. On the first day, as I sat and ate dinner near the canteen in the open, there were a lot of warning calls from chitals not far from the back of where I was sitting. That area also comes within the territory of a dominant big male tiger "Sultan", as I learnt later. There are some monkeys within the premises too. Important not to aggravate them for a peaceful milieu.
The accommodation booking at this lodge has to be online. The safari booking, you could do online or offline. I had done the latter, as online bookings only lead to you getting assigned a "Tata Xenon". With offline booking, you could also do it in a Maruti Gypsy, less noisier.
DAY 2 - MORNING SAFARI
The morning safari starts at 6 A.M. here. I was ready and off quickly with the guide and assigned driver into Barahi range. We saw 4 sambar scurry across the road in succession in the distance with some heavy fog cover at several places. They are rare in these parts. Considering this was 2nd April, it sure was quite cool in the mornings. We witnessed some peacocks, serpent eagle, a monkey and a White Chick Babbler, before coming upon a beautiful sunrise. The Sharda river was beautiful. Soon, we chanced upon a crocodile basking on the banks, a peacock which made for a beautiful sighting at the side of the road and a group of Martins. A shy brown fish owl also made its presence felt, disclosing only its eyes. Soon after sighting a few birds, we came to Sambar Tal. Because of the very tall grasslands, we had to climb a Machaan, to have better views. This place is a paradise for watching birds, deer and occasionally the big cat. We caught sight of several swamp deer in the distance. To live up to their name, a couple of them entered the swamp and began swimming across the water body. The guide said he had never seen the swamp deer enter so deep in the swamps. We watched intently as he also confirmed there were no crocodiles here. As we stay put and sighted several deer and birds, suddenly the warning calls from the peacocks and nearby deer indicating a predator was around materialised. Some of the animals had a sort of concerned look on their faces. It seemed that behind a dense stretch of foliage amidst the grassland in the distance, there was a predator in hiding. We watched intently as nothing seemed to give. But out of the blue, a couple of swamp deer and a peacock seemed to initiate an exodus from somewhere in the area we were focused on. But nothing followed. We assumed if it was a tiger, perhaps it was resting behind the foliage as the sun was out. A peacock danced to bid us farewell and we glimpsed a naughty monkey pinching its mother's breasts before hanging onto the same as if it were a piece of rope. Thus ended the first safari, after again sighting a crocodile and several birds, monkeys, a langur and a rare barking deer on our way back. It had been a promising safari with plenty opportunities.
DAY 2 - EVENING SAFARI
It was 3 p.m. This time we were going to visit Mahof range. We chanced upon a group of Rhesus Macaques followed by a group of langurs. On proceeding, we got news that there had been a sighting of a tiger in a different part of that range, near the border with a neighboring state, Uttarakhand. We rushed there. It was still early afternoon and there was no sign of other vehicles. No sign of the tiger at the pond. We went away for some time and approached the concerned pond from a different angle and watched some dancing peacocks while doing so. Upon slowly approaching the pond, we noticed that the tiger was sheltering quietly at the edge below the towering grasses. There was a machaan between us and the big cat. We decided to quietly go up the machan partially, in turn creating space to view the big cat. The tiger had now become aware of our presence. I clicked away for 10-15 minutes, before it got up and decided to disappear into the tall grasslands. Understanding that it was a shy one, we tried hiding behind a wooden table on top of the machaan, in case it would feel emboldened to re-appear. Sightings of a chestnut bee eater, peacock, spotted and hog deer followed before the safari came to a close. It had been a fruitful day with some definitive results.
DAY 3 - MORNING SAFARI
This morning again we set off with renewed vigour with hopes of sighting more wonderful things. This time we entered Barahi range again. We noticed pug marks of the dominant male tiger, near our lodge on our way into the safari area. We reached Sambar Tal again. This time there was lesser activity here. Some swamp deer and hog deer with some birds nearby, relatively quiet! Subsequently, as we left, there were some good sightings of a serpent eagle, a dancing peacock and a couple of sightings of a crocodile. On one occasion on a road called "Pakki Patri" (named so because of numerous sightings), we came across several warning calls by deer and peacocks and monkeys. 1 of the crocodiles we sighted was 5-10 feet away from us, basking in the sun. As we sighted it, some other warning calls began to sound across the river. When the calls abruptly stopped, we decided to move on to another area. But we later got to know a tigress had appeared and graced a gypsy with its presence 5-10 minutes after we had left. We were on the other side of the river, when we could see several gypsies frantically searching for the tigress. Either she would appear again and cross the Sharda river to our side or else she was done for the morning. We were the only gypsy on the other side of the river. Eventually, the excitement subsided. On going a bit further, we now heard warning calls on our side of the river banks. We waited for a while as the continuous calling went on and on. But it wasn't to be. Thus ended this morning safari with a lot of trying and promise but no concrete results.
DAY 3 - EVENING SAFARI
This was going to be my last safari in Pilibhit. We were in Mahof range again. After scouting for any hiding tigers close to the banks of river Sharda in the shady patches in the scorching sun, we gave up on that idea for the time being. Another crocodile basking in the sun and a few swamp deer (which were closer for a change) later, we decided to go a different path. We came across a jeep, whose members seemed to be discussing strategies. On moving on, I came across something I've not sighted before. 3 bears together on the road ahead of us, seeming relatively relaxed. On most other occasions, they seem to hurry across the road. After a while, they moved to the side. We could still make them out upon standing on our seats looking over the grass. But only just. They appeared to be doing some digging in the distance. A nice sunset, a grey headed fish eagle, a jungle fowl, a brown fish owl and a few wild boar later, the safari came to a close.
UNIQUE TAKEAWAYS
->The animals here tended to crowd the roads and not stay on the sides, like in all other non-Terai landscape forests I've visited. They tend to stay on the road until the last moment before moving to the side. Perhaps, it's because the tall grass in such forests feel itchy and they prefer being on the open roads more than usual? I guess we'll have to ask them. ;)
->The swamp deer here are different from those in Central India. They are known as Western / Northern Swamp deer, one of the 3 sub-species. Not very different to look at, though. The difference is in the hooves.
->Generally, most of the non-Terai forests I've been to, till now have more langurs than monkeys / Rhesus Macaques. But here the number of monkeys appeared to be far greater.
->This was a forest where the peacocks were showing me a full frontal dance on multiple occasions. I haven't come across that in other forests too often. This wasn't the season for the same either, being summer. Generally, I get to see the back view or side view of the same. The peacocks here were more forthcoming about giving me the right view. :D
You'll also see them flying more often compared to other forests. Generally across Sharda river!
->One interesting experience the guide and driver shared during my last safari was one day late during an evening safari, a python appeared from the river banks (at the very location we were) and started coiling around their safari vehicle, as soon as they stopped, very briskly. They could not remove it, had to abandon the vehicle and went back home in another vehicle. Didn't know what to think, perhaps the python was drunk? Creepy story!
->More often than not, both sides of the road had very tall grasses (Maybe double my height or more sometimes). That's why the number of machaans on the way were also relatively more. The guides / drivers sometimes climbed up to have a better look with their binoculars / get a sense of the situation before proceeding. The sight from these machaans is also pretty good. It's different.
->The landscape views of this forest were also worthy of mention. Especially Barasingha Tal, Sambar Tal and both sides of Sharda river make for beautiful views.
->Most of the forest was quite green even though it is almost peak summer time in most parts of the country. That's the thing about most Terai forests. They do have water for most times of the year.
->One can do a 45 minute boating safari at the Chuka beach, supporting upto 6 people at a time. I chose not to, as I had seen quite a few crocodiles during the safari and chances of sighting a tiger drinking water around the lake were scarce later in the morning.
->Food at the lodge is good and the guest quarters are well maintained. I heard mostly people come from Lucknow and Delhi side. But there were people from other places too.
->I had read some negative things about availability of electricity throughout the day. I believe they use solar electricity here. But it is quite available. Not a concern, for sure.
->The guide did his primary job well in making arrangements for my stay and during the safaris. He however took liberties to shoot some pictures himself during the safari. Thankfully, it didn't impact my experience adversely, in any way. But this was also partly due to my own problem solving, when I had to photograph the tiger with little space to do so owing to his over eagerness to get his shot in that moment. This is more an observation rather than a criticism. He however was a nice guy who showed commitment and dedication to his main job, in general. I appreciate that.
I left soon after, after a planned day tour of Shuklaphanta National Park the following day. During my childhood days, while reading Jim Corbett's "Man-Eaters Of Kumaon", I often used to wonder what it must have been like, in those forests for Jim Corbett. Got a taste of that and one can't really complain about having seen 1 tiger, 3 sloth bears from 4 safaris with 5 crocodiles as a bonus. The cost of stay and activities at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve was comparable to other affordably good places. The Terai forest is very different from central Indian and forests to the south of the country. I would give it 4 to 4.5 / 5 given the circumstances and what forest had to offer. #myopinion
