[Leica] Kanha National Park - Herbivores

[imra at iol.ie (Douglas Barry)]

Very interesting, Jayanand. I'd never heard of a Gaur so I looked it up and 
it is absolutely massive! If that hit your jeep, you'd have felt it. I was 
also surprised to find out that a depiction of two of them is used as the 
Red Bull logo.

Douglas

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jayanand Govindaraj" <jayanand at gmail.com>
To: "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>; "PSM" 
<psm-1857 at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2016 5:49 AM
Subject: [Leica] Kanha National Park - Herbivores


> Barasingha, the southern, or hard ground sub species of the Indian Swamp
> Deer, is possibly the greatest success story of Indian conservation.
> Because of their magnificent antlers, and historic use as bush meat, the
> population had dwindled to around 60 individuals in Kanha National Park in
> the mid 1960s. From this low level, when active conservation commenced,
> there are around 600 in Kanha, and two more separate breeding populations
> have also been established in other parks with similar habitat, and the
> status has been reduced to "vulnerable" from "endangered" in the Red List.
> The growth in population is a slow business, as each doe only gives birth
> to a single fawn every year. To me, this deer, and not the tiger, is the
> greatest attraction in Kanha - with the added bonus that if you do find
> them (not too easy, especially the big antlered males, as there are so few
> in a huge area), you can photograph them in total peace, as every other
> tourist is hell bent on careering around the park in a mad search for the
> tiger, and scarcely gives a second glance to these unique animals, which
> are much rarer, and found nowhere else in the world:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-7407.jpg.html
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-7458.jpg.html
>
>>From one of the rarest to the most common! I caught this herd of Chital, 
>>or
> Spotted Deer with a single shaft of light hitting them through the trees:
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-2305.jpg.html
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-2319.jpg.html
>
> The majestic Indian Gaur is the largest species of wild cattle in the
> world, with the very biggest biggest tipping the scales at 1.5 metric
> tonnes.  They are also mistakenly called the Indian Bison, as they are not
> bisons at all!
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-7462.jpg.html
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-7494.jpg.html
>
> Finally, a Sambhar Deer, a deer of forested areas, the largest in India,
> and the tiger's staple prey - this guy just popped his head out of a rock
> gully as we were passing.
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/WIndia/Kanha2016/Kanha+2016-1231.jpg.html
>
>
> All taken with either the Nikon D4+300mm f4 with TC 1.4x, or Nikon D800E
> with 70-200mm f4.
>
> Please see LARGE!
>
> Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome
>
> Cheers
>
> Jayanand
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>