Cat of the Month ~ August 2019
Singhsth (aka Tiger 57)
caught on camera, sheltering in a cave in India
Photograph: © David Yarrow
After more than two hundred hours spent in the humid furnace that is the Ranthambore National Park, India, this image of the elusive tiger was finally captured.
Ranthambore Park is a wildlife sanctuary containing a huge variety of animals, birds and reptiles within it. These include Tigers, Leopards, Striped Hyenas, Sambar Deer, Hanuman Langurs, Macaques, Jackals, Jungle cats, Caracals, Common Palm Civets and Desert Cats.
The well known 4 year old ‘Singhsth’ had retreated out of the heat of the day into the cool, dark recess of a cave. Vipul Jain could just see the tiger in the cave mouth and he then passed the message on to his companion, photographer David Yarrow.
Luckily the sunlight was just strong enough to light up the tigers face in the shadow of the cave…. “if it was a foot further back in the cave, there would have been no shot” recalled Mr Yarrow.
Photograph: © Amit Vyas
The good news is that, after many years of decline, the Indian Tiger census is showing rapid population growth. This was reported on the BBC ‘Tigers in India’ News Webpage