International Tiger Day: Capturing elegance of the big cats

On International Tiger Day, here are some captivating photographs from some of the best wildlife photographers in India—capturing the beauty and the majestic lives of India's tigers

Jul 29, 2021, 12:11 IST6 min

<p>I was driving through the forests of Ranthambore one winter morning, when we spotted a tiger cub by the dry stream bed under a tree. It kept looking up at the tree, and we couldn&rsquot figure out what it was looking at. It was only after a few moments that we saw this tigress appear between the branches and leaves on the tree.</p>
<p>She soon descended the tree, slowly digging her nails in the tree bark, as she jumped off from a height. Tigers are not great tree climbers like leopards, but they do a fairly good job if the tree branches out at a lower height, and/or if the tree is slightly slanted. They also are known to climb only a select few types of trees. Since they are far heavier animals compared to the leopards, they find it difficult to lift their body weight up a tree.</p>

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I was driving through the forests of Ranthambore one winter morning, when we spotted a tiger cub by the dry stream bed under a tree. It kept looking up at the tree, and we couldn&rsquot figure out what it was looking at. It was only after a few moments that we saw this tigress appear between the branches and leaves on the tree. She soon descended the tree, slowly digging her nails in the

Image by Sachin Rai

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Tigers and the Great Indian Rhinoceros are the two giants of the floodplains of Kaziranga in Assam. Kaziranga is a World Heritage Site, and is home to the largest population of rhinos in India. Most of the plains of Kaziranga submerge under water as the Brahmaputra river swells during the monsoon. On one of my tours in the winter, we were watching rhinos scattered in the grasslands feedin

Image by Sachin Rai

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Ranthambhore in Rajasthan is a dry and arid forest and has been a stronghold for tigers in India. The tiger was known as a royal animal, which meant only the kings and queens of the region could kill them. This beautiful palace from around the 1600s is on a small island on a lake called Rajbagh lake in Ranthambhore, and has been referred to as a hunting place. The royals would either shoo

Image by Sachin Rai

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Shivang Mehta is an award-winning wildlife photographer, author, and a former journalist.Tigers are prolific breeders and the queen of Mowgli land, Pench, has proved it by entering the Guinness World records by being the most productive wild tiger in the wild. With 26-odd cubs, she has not only numbers to showcase but also the fact that she is a responsible mother as she accomplished the

Image by Shivang Mehta

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There are tigers and then there are tigers that hit international headlines. T24 Ustaad was put behind bars for killing four humans, but got the nation together as people were on the streets rallying to his support. Never before has a tiger caused a major uproar in Indian wildlife history.

Image by Shivang Mehta

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Contrary to his name, Zaalim of Ranthambore raised eyebrows when he showcased incredible fatherhood by raising two orphaned cubs to maturity. Along with the commendable efforts of the forest department, this male tiger ensured that his cubs were safe from other intruding tigers. A landmark success story of orphaned tigers that were later relocated to Sariska National Park.

Image by Shivang Mehta

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Inexperience was on public display as 14-month-old Pacman caught a deer in Ranthambore but didn"t know how to kill it. A struggle, which was a turning point in his life as a tiger to become a master hunter later on. The young tiger finally decided to eat the deer alive. Mother Krishna was around but didn"t offer a helping hand to the cub. It was all a part of the training process.

Image by Shivang Mehta

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Aishwarya Sridhar became the first Indian woman to win the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award at the 56th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition held in London by the Natural History Museum. Maya, the most photographed tigress and the reigning queen of Tadoba national park in Maharashtra, controls five major water bodies in her territory. She"s also a super mom. Being orphaned

Image by Aishwarya Sridhar

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Vijay Bedi & Ajay Bedi (Canon Cinema EOS Ambassadors) are third generation wildlife film makers and photographers, and won the Green Oscar for their film, "The Policing Langur". Their film "Cherub of the Mist" based on the endangered Red Panda won them an Emmy Academy of Television Arts & Sciences nomination.This photo was taken soon after the lockdown ended and I headed back to the fores

Image by Vijay Bedi & Ajay Bedi

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Tigers don"t chase they prowl and then hunt. They hunt at least once a week. Tigers are also night hunters, as their eyesight is six times better than humans.

Image by Vijay Bedi & Ajay Bedi