Sundarbans - A Land of natural treasures and striped Cats !

Call it the abode of myriad living species beings or a place of natural beauty interspersed with the livelihood of many. The mangroves with cherishing environment guarding us. It Sundarbans, a visit here is an experience and sheer bliss for every soul. A Land co existing with human existence .A place just to appease your thirst of wildlife cravings. How many agree with this...

Jan 28, 2024 - 14:22 Updated: Jul 27, 2025 - 07:51

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Sundarbans - A Land of natural treasures and striped Cats !

Our weeklong stay at Bali Island was coming to an end. We were in the last leg of the Sundarbans Tour. Unprecedented census of Estuarine crocodiles, a decision of the forest department, and bad weather had hampered our tour itinerary.

Sundarbans Never Promises you anything is what i heard.I felt how true it was ?

In between, we unanimously decided to go on for birding and sighting of a few mammals. Despite all the challenges, Sundarbans had exciting stuff to surprise us.

Initially, I felt that there might be good fortune after getting engaged in photographing a Spotted Owl family.

To my dismay, the sunlight appeared through the veil of mist and brightened the mangroves. We would see a jungle cat sitting on all four amidst the mangroves which proved to be a warm welcome for us. The Northern River terrapins slowly move in the water. with a pointed snout like a snorkel.

Northern river terrapin is a rare freshwater turtle native to Southeast Asia. They are categorized as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. Latest context: The forest officials installed GPS transmitters on Northern River Terrapin or Batagur Baska in Indian Sundarbans.

As we cruised through the canals, we and the guide were fixed on binoculars and Cameras, scanning the bushes. The golden hue and misty jungle were a sight to behold. The stork-billed kingfisher was busy feeding on the prized catch, a crocodile popping up to get a glimpse of glistening sun, and a monitor lizard lazing on the bark of a tree seemed like not bothering about us. Looked as if it was in a deep slumber.

All of a sudden looking at the tiger palms and foliage, with the water level receding down in mangroves. Our guide spotted multiple pug marks on the mud in the mangroves. As we moved closer, we could see fresh paw marks facing upward and confirmed the upward movement.

As per his behavioral study, the tiger normally does territory markings follows the same route, and traverses the mangroves in search of food. With no soul around, we decided to follow the trail of the cat family. The boat meandered through the mangroves, and soon we were excited to witness the passing of the trio but never happened. The thrill of anticipation is indescribable.

A long wait proved to be, all efforts in vain. As the light brightened, we could witness the mud skippers and fiddler crabs on the tidal creeks of the mangroves. Few of us got engaged in photographing them from the boat.

During the course, one of the passing boatmen mentioned spotting new pug marks behind us. Having done with the photo shoot, we followed the exit path. In no time we were at the location. The boat came to the stationery position. As per instructions of guide Chinmay we were reminded of few past tiger attacks, so we were at a pretty safe distance.

I could see the Gol Pata ( Nypa fruticans) is a common part of Sundarbans.In bangla - gol means circular and pata means leaf.But its isnt circular as its says.Golpata is a kind of palm like tree.Hetal ( Phoenix Palu dosa ) is another common plant of sundarbans.This spiky plant especially a hiding opportunity for thr striped cats

Armed with lenses, we transfixed our eyeballs on the creeks. To our dismay, the choti maa appeared in the bushes, as per the guide's prediction. We could see the glowing enigmatic eyes and whiskers', bright-colored stripes amidst the green foliage.

The circular face was a sight to behold. No sooner did the mother take his position, mark his territory by urinating, and signal the cubs to follow her. One of the cubs onto the left peeped through behind him in the mangroves. The female tiger was hefty and literally 6 - 7 feet in length. It looked a bit dull because it was traversing through slushy water on the mangrove path.

Royal Bengal Tiger - Panthera tigris

Few Facts

Just like humans have a unique identity and can be differentiated, the same is true with tigers. The Royal Bengal tigers have unique combinations and patterns of strips and no two tigers will appear to be the same.

The Royal Bengal tiger is the National Animal of India. They are prolific swimmers and they have developed this skill because of their habitat. The mangroves have made them prone to swimming and they can hunt in the water too.

It is the only breed of tiger in this world that inhabits mangrove forests and is found in mangroves of Sundarbans.

Night vision of these creatures is 6 times more powerful than that of humans and hearing is 5 times more. Also, their roar can be heard from 2 miles away.

As the mother moved forward posing to us with a royal look. The cubs followed her one behind the other with discipline. To just make sure that we were noticing them, it turned back and finally disappeared into bushes.

That moment was a treasure, I never forget it till my last breath. I thanked 'Mother Nature" the only god I adore.

One may think what is so special in this? It's just a Tiger sighting at all. My reply to them is "Devotee's Devotion", a strong gut feeling, yes there are thousands of Devotees like me, who spend a lot of money, and endless efforts, day after day to have a glimpse of the "Swamp God", Tigers of Sundarban is special and a sighting like this is always special. As I told before, "There are Tigers in the World, then there is 'ROYAL BENGAL TIGER' in Sundarbans.

Hereby Presenting this very special Tiger frame of mine, Mother and Cub - "Long Live the Tiger".

A Freak Accident

We had not anchored our boat and the boat was swaying because of tidal movement. I was in my position and photographing at a safe distance, away from the island. Another photographer from West Bengal was in a standing position and photographing the cats popularly known as choti maa and cubs.

All of a sudden a boat approached us speedily. Despite cautioning them and advising them, to slow down and stop immediately. It banged with our boat. The impact was so powerful that, our guide and Photographer toppled into the deep salty water with his NIKON D500 Camera and Telephoto lens 150 - 600 Tamron gear.....

Which was Worth about 2 lakhs...!

I was worried, what if the tiger in the vicinity plunges into the water

which is starving for days?

Hope there are no crocodiles around?

It is quite normal, for one to panic and be shocked. Despite of Guilty feeling, the boatmen, and guide got into an argument and later accepted the mistake. Paying compensation. ( Which they never did )

There were 2 members ( Photographers ) in the boat, sitting quietly in front and viewing the whole scene folding their hands. as meek spectators indeed. I could see their camera and huge telephoto lenses lying on the table.

It reminded the nest of the owl, I initially mentioned and it reminded few lines.

"A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren't we like that wise old bird?" "An owl is traditionally a symbol of wisdom, so we are neither doves nor hawks but owls, and we are vigilant when others are resting."

The other boat with tourists began to shout loudly, and play songs. They were behaving crazily. Unmindful of tiger presence!

I asked myself. What persuaded the boatman to dash towards the boat in a wild way. Is it because of Choti Maa and the Cubs?

I did not understand the heated discussion between guides, and boatmen in Bengali.

Leave Photography aside. Have homo sapiens forgotten that they belong to the human race?

To impress others and gain popularity is the only reason individuals pretend like passionate today.

Nature nurtures and educates us, at all times To be wise or otherwise. After seeing the Spotted Owl and Scoops Owl

I liked to be an owl. The wisest of all birds.

The more you see & Less you talk

We witnessed the last colorful sunset from our boat, sipped hot tea, and returned to our camp. Though I knew about Sundarbans since childhood, it took decades for me to visit the land of ethereal beauty - Home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.

During a discussion, with a local Bengali family hailing from Chinsurah, they mentioned that they have visited Sundarbans numerous times and mentioned that Tigers don't exist in Sundarbans. They have not seen them till today. The tourism department is just promoting the place. He added laughingly!

People often say that Tiger sightings in Sundarban are very scarce, you can try your luck on a lottery if you spot a Tiger in Sundarban, there are no Tigers in Sundarban, the people of the forest fool the tourists by showing only man-made 'Pugmarks', etc. Yes, a few years back Tiger sightings were a bit low in Sundarban, but nowadays the status has changed a lot. As all know 'Hard work pays off", real hard work by the Forest department, the Guides, the Boatmen, and of course, the inhabitants of Sundarban pays off. The number of tigers is increasing here in Sundarbans so their sightings are too.

It all is about the game of patience and hard work.

I felt what persuaded me to travel to the Sundarbans, was the tiger alone, or interest in wildlife or just photographing pictures for the sake of accolades. How APT it is to call it

Sundar - bans ..!

( There are two popular theories for the origins of the name, Sundarbans. One suggests that it is derived from the words, Sundar, meaning beautiful, and ban, meaning forest. The other proposes that the region is named after an abundant mangrove species called Heritiera fomes, commonly called the Sundari tree )

I felt that unlike local fishermen and honey collectors who worship before venturing into the forest, and venerate Bonbibi or Bandevi - the goddess of Sundarbans who pray for good fortune and safe return.

I felt that my prayer too was answered.

Though we were fortunate to see the tiger family, but felt really sad about the bitter incident. After the sighting, though we had time, we really did not want to bother their privacy and go behind cats. We made a unanimous decision to take a different path.

The next morning the sun rose @ 7 am.

Amidst the mist, we crossed the river by paying Rs 5/- per person for a local boat. Finally reached

the Godkhali Ferry ghat...