Sri Lanka Wildlife Diaries- Memoirs from the wilderness: March 2020

Imagine seeing an animal who almost looks like a prehistoric dinosaur, and too unreal to be a living breathing creature? This is what most people feel when they encounter a Great Indian One Horned Rhinoceroses. These legendary beasts are straight out of a story book, with skin looking like armor plating it was one of the most unusual and unique animals one could encounter. As its name suggests they are found in the Indian Sub-Continent, covering India, Nepal and Bhutan. They are larger than the African Black Rhino, but slightly smaller than the White Rhino, and as the name suggests have only one horn.

The species almost went extinct few decades ago as they were hunted for their horns as well as agricultural pests. At the start of the 20^th Century only around 200 animals remained, and their recovery was one of the greatest conservation success stories in Asia. Thanks to the hard work of Indian and Nepalese authorities they were brought back from the brink of extinction to over 3,500 animals today. Kaziranga National Park in North Eastern India is home to 2/3 of the entire population. The rangers of this park are legendary in their efforts to curb poaching and risk their own lives in protecting these prehistoric animals.

Kaziranga is known as the land of giants, a place time forgot. This is one of the few places in India where most of the big animals are found in one place, The Rhino, Elephant, Asiatic Buffalo and Tiger. In-fact Kaziranga is home to some of the last truly wild Asiatic Wild Water Buffalo. These giant bovines are truly wild and known as some of the most dangerous animals, with wide sweeping horns spreading 4-5 feet across. Also the park is known to have the highest concentration of Bengal Tigers in India. Besides the big species, this is also one of the best birding destinations in India, with some amazing diversity found here. The most charismatic of the birds would have to be the Great Hornbill.

I was yearning to go to the land of giants for a very long time and my dream became a reality in 2020 when I lead a group of clients on a tour to Kaziranga. The journey to Assam itself was very interesting. This is a part of India which is completely separate from the main landmass and closer to Bhutan and other parts of Asia. The people of Assam are some of the friendliest I have come across and their culture and even appearance is very different to the other parts of India. The climate is quite pleasant with an average temperature during daytime of 18C and mornings and nighttime being quite chilly.

Our journey began from Guwahati the capital of Assam, where we were met by Nekib our birding guide and naturalist, and the journey to Kaziranga was to take 5 hours. It was a long and tiring drive but it was interesting to note the sceneries and landscapes on the way. This was a very lush and green land with plenty of water and it clearly showed.

Our safaris were to commence the next day, and with great excitement we all headed out to our safari jeeps, in the chilling cold. It was less than 10C in the morning and the windchill when we are on the move didn’t help.

Cold mornings

As soon as we entered the park, we came across a herd of Barsingha or Swamp Deer which are very rare and found only in a few parks in India.

Our first drive brought me face to face with our first rhino which as sleeping by the roadside. What struck me was the sheer size of the animal. I was yearning to get a sighting of a rhino while it was up and moving about but the zone gave us sightings of these mighty animals from quite a distance hence it was difficult to observe up close their true form and further for some compelling photographs. The bird life of the park was amazing and in one safari we identified over 30 species with ease. The most common mammal seen was the Hog Deer, who are found everywhere. Strangely the park was devoid of Spotted Deer or Chital.

Rufous Treepie

Red Whiskered Bulbul

Hog Deer

Jungle Mynah

Bar Headed Geese

While reaching mid-day at around 11.00 AM the sun was quite hot and were reaching the tail end of our safari. We were on a road where there was very tall grass which was taller than an elephant on both sides. The right side was endless grass for quite a distance and the left had a small waterbody behind the grass. Suddenly the driver said “Tiger, Tiger” and drove fast ahead. We didn’t see it but he said a tiger appeared from the grass on the left and on seeing us went back in. We drop up to the spot and waited. As soon as we stopped the tiger growled at us, I knew at once this is a serious warning and asked the driver to back up as far as we can. Knowing the movement of cats over the years gave me the experience to predict it will cross the road in front of us if we give it space and time. This is clearly a shy animal and didn’t like having people nearby. We waited for over half hour, during which time many jeeps passed us and moved ahead towards the park exit. We waited until the rest of our group arrived in three more jeeps. We told them the story, and after waiting fifteen more minutes we decided to move ahead. Unfortunately one of the drivers didn’t realize how close the tiger was to the road side and decided to stop right next to where the tiger is to try and have a peak. There were two of my lady clients in the jeep all by themselves. As soon as the jeep stopped the tiger let out a thundering roar and shook the grass it was hiding in. We all shouted at the driver to immediately move ahead. The clients were shaken but alright, and I urged we should move on as the animal is clearly agitated and unlike a lion, this is not an animal you want to have angry. It was a close shave given the ferocity of these mighty cats.

The afternoon drive proved to be the best chance to see rhino upclose as this zone tends to have more water bodies favored by these behemoths by the roadside. As soon as we entered, we encountered a massive male who was feeding right next to our jeep. I finally had an opportunity to observe these almost mythical animals up close. The skin folds of these rhinos is a very unique species adaptation which is very similar to plated armour of knights of old. But in reality the skin is said to be quite sensitive.

After staring us down for a few minutes the massive animal decided he wanted to cross the road and came right at us. Our driver was a little slow to react, and we had to urge him to reverse back before the rhino charged. We went back at the nick of time as we figured the rhinos have right of way. Crossing in front of us gave me the chance to truly admire the size of these tank like animals up close. I was in awe of this sight, and felt like I was taken back to the prehistoric times when mighty beasts like these roamed across the planet.

We continued on our way and few meters later an open area came up with two large water bodies on each side along with meadows, which had more than 6-7 rhinos grazing, and wallowing in the water. This truly was the land of the rhino and we realized what an amazing conservation success story this was given that rhinos are critically endangered and scarce in all other parts of the world.

A Cinnamon Bittern

Our group consisted of 4 jeeps and whilst the rest moved ahead, I decided to wait and observe the behaviors of these mighty animals. This proved to be the best decision as we caught some amazing action, when we heard a loud raucous in the tall grass on our right. Our driver mentioned this as the sound of two rhinos fighting. After a few seconds we saw two rhinos, coming out and one being chased across the road by the other. I noticed the one being chased was smaller and had a smaller horn, and I presume was a female and the other a very large individual with a more prominent horn which should be a male. What would have ensued is the male would have gone after the female in the hopes of courting or mating but the female had a calf and was reluctant to submit, hence the persistent male chased the female across the road.

After a few minutes of staring at each other the female showed signs of wanting to cross back to the other side, and began a short strut, which urged the now retreating male to turn back and trot towards the road. After a brief stare-down both animals crossed the road once again to our right, and continued staring at each other, both with heads held high. Suddenly the female started making a loud noise and both lowered their heads and crashed forward. For a few seconds both giant animals were tussling and pushing each other with their heads and the male decided hes had enough and turned tail and began running, with the female chasing behind with mouth wide open trying to bite. She caught up and gave one quick bite to his rump which had him feeling across the meadow. It all ended in a matter of seconds and the female joined her semi adult calf, and the defeated male quietly entered the water and began a sorrowful walk to the center to eat some water plants. I was very happy with my decision to wait back and observe these animals rather than driving around as this proved the most eventful sighting from our entire group that day.

The next few days brought us many sightings of these mighty animals who are seen in abundance in this park, with few interesting sightings such as road crossings, and a sighting of a female with a young calf. It is heartening to see a species which almost a century ago was in the brink of extinction, thriving in this habitat.

Other eventful sightings included some amazing bird sightings. of which the highlight was the sighting of the legendary Great Hornbill and the Blue Bearded Bee Eater.

I wanted to get a close up of a large Wild Buffalo Bull but it took me until the last safari to get this chance, when we noticed a large bull walking towards the road , and we waited patiently to get the chance to try a close up. Our patience paid of finally with the massive bull with large sweeping horns coming right up to us.

My overall respect and admiration for the brave forest officers and rangers who made this success possible has no bounds and it was heartening to know that for 2019 it was recorded that not a single rhino was poached which shows that strong enforcement and dedicated conservation work pays off.

The Land of Giants, Kaziranga was a place which brought some amazing encounters for me, from frolicking rhinos, to close encounters with giant water buffaloes and a narrow shave with a tiger, and all topped with over 120 species of birds, made this place truly special.

Photo Credit- Dianthi Wijeratne

On our way back, we had another unique wildlife experience in store. We stopped by at the massive Brahmaputra river where we hopped on a boat to go on a search for the truly rare Gangetic River Dolphin. The water of the river wasnt the cleanest, and I had to work on a special maneuver to get on the boat without getting my feet wet as I had a wound on one of them. The boats were very basic, and operated manually with a primitive engine. Heading to the main bridge/flyover, we noticed two dolphins right under the bridge. Waiting in one spot we got several glimpses of these graceful mammals coming out of the water. Unfortunately they were so fast we could hardly get a photograph. But it was heartening to see such a rare sight, and felt privileged to have seen Rhinos and Dolphins in one tour.