Page 44 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL6

A greater one-horned rhino waiting for two safari jeeps to move so that it can cross the road.rule to have a ranger armed with a rifle on the jeep with the visitors. The rifle was for firing warning shots in case an elephant or a rhinoceros charged the jeep. So far no fatal incident has occurred.Under Palash’s guidance, we were able to see four Bengal tigers, including the one in the two photos here. Palash spotted a tiger from afar resting in a field of tall elephant grass on a late afternoon, before making the daily patrol of its territory. We parked on a dirt road about a hundred meters away, waiting patiently. The tiger then made a move, disappearing into the grass. Palash, knowing tigers to be creatures of habit, took us to a nearby spot on a dirt road and told us that he saw tigers crossing the road here 9 times already. We parked about 200 meters away, and 10 minutes later the tiger suddenly appeared on the edge of the road. The crossing was quick, less than five seconds, and the42 Elite+tiger disappeared into the grass on the other side.The third Kaziranga Five I saw was greater one-horned rhinoceros, also known as Indian rhinoceros, found mostly in northern India and southern Nepal, with a concentration of around 2,000 individuals in Kaziranga. It differs from African white and black rhinos that have two horns. The greater one-horned rhino does not use its single horn as a weapon to defend itself, using instead its sharp teeth to bite off chunks of flesh. It can run at aspeedofupto55kmperhourfora short period and is also an excellent swimmer. It has very sharp hearing and smell but poor eyesight. The Indian rhino is also a creature of habit, regularly following the same walking path, crossing the road at the same spot, and defecating at the same place. It is a grazer, its diets mostly grasses and leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, and aquatic plants.I had an unexpected moment of excitement with a greater one-horned rhino when we stopped to photograph various species of birds. Palash, who always looked around when he was driving, warned of a big male rhino waiting impatiently to cross the road, which was being blocked by our jeep. Palash moved the jeep about 20 meters further up the road. As the rhino crossed, it looked fiercely at us, halting in the middle of the road, starring at our jeep. Palash, who had anticipated the rhino and kept the engine running, sped the jeep away when the rhino suddenly charged at us as the ranger cocked his rifle. I was able to photograph the rhino’s charge, which was quick, forceful, but short. It then stopped, turned around, and resumed its course to the other side of the road.Asiatic wild water buffalo, the fourth Kaziranga Five we saw, is estimated to number about 3,000