The creatures of Kabini…well, the large ones are what I am talking about here (remember the yellow-thighed tarantula that I photographed in

this post

or the Southern Birdwing?

Well, anyway…the larger creatures of Kabini come in an astonishing variety of sizes and shapes, too. I think the one mammal that everyone goes to Kabini to see is the

ASIAN ELEPHANT:

(not much chance of seeing an African one here, I must add)

These majestic animals can be found in herds, especially on the banks of the backwaters: Here's another magnificient tusker: Of course, it's several people's ultimate dream to be able to sight a big cat. On the first safari, we got a sighting of an INDIAN LEOPARD rather far away in the forest: It stayed there until we saw it again on our way back from the safari, and then slowly moved off: Several jeeps were able to get a glimpse of the animal: More shots of our second leopard sighting, which was far closer, are here One of the animals that acts as a "Early Warning System" of the forest, giving alarm calls at the nearness of any big cat, is the HANUMAN LANGUR ...here are two, at a salt lick; you can see one actually licking! It was great watching this one actually bringing a figure of speech to life..."showing a clean pair of heels" is to run away...and that's exactly what this one is doing! Several times, we spotted the MALABAR GIANT SQUIRREL in the canopy...can you spot it in this distant shot? The SAMBAR is a variety of deer which has a glandular secretion in its neck: Here'e another one. a young male showing the antler buds: The GAUR or wild bison, are also seen in both the jungle and the river banks: Here's a young one, taken as our jeep lurched forward over rough terrain: And an adult, reaching up to the leaves to feed: When near the backwaters, it was lovely to watch many animals at once, in such mixed groups: A particularly lovely sighting for me, this time, was being able to watch a SMOOTH-COATED (RIVER) OTTER at work, catching its breakfast. Here's the first sight of this streamlined animal: Off into the water it went: The meal was caught: And devoured...watch those canines! This WILD BOAR was one of the several that we were able to see: A reptile which we all like to see from a safer distance than all the others, is the CROCODILE and here's a large specimen, with a cormorant giving it company: Of course, I cannot miss out the mammal that also tries to live in these forest areas; here are the people of the Kabini region, who try to make their livelihood and are in constant conflict with the wildlife:

I’ll conclude with the only mammal that goes to considerable effort and expense to go and watch other creatures…the Wildlife Tourist!

I’ve posted about the people and places on the Kabini trip on my Facebook page

here

and more photographs of the mammals are

here

More photographs of the Otter are

here