Photographing Foxes - A guide to take best photographs

The Bengal fox (Vulpes bengalensis) also known as Indian Fox are widespread all over the country but seldom seen due to their shy nature. Seldom seen so rarely photographed and very less is known about them. I have been photographing Foxes for some time now. I wanted to try night photography as well which would have given me a better chances to understand the ecology and habits of these beautiful animals. With all preparations done and equipment's ready I got stuck due to Covid situation. 

Still I have photographed them many times and here is a guide to photograph them without disturbing them, in most ethical way. Remember, foxes are very important for our farms and help by controlling population of rodents and other pests. 

Something about Foxes: They are mostly nocturnal but, late evenings and early mornings are also good time to photograph them. Have seen them in pairs mostly. They mate around November and December. Young once ore born around Jan / Feb with a gestation period of 7 to 8 weeks. They are omnivorous but mainly eat rodents and birds. Have seen same pair using same den for consecutive years. 

Fox Den: Look out for Fox dens, they use burrows or use once made by others mostly in and around agricultural fields, grasslands or semi-arid regions. Check for any activities especially in evenings or at night. Foxes have multiple entry / exits to their den so keep that in mind. I have seen one entering from a hole and coming out from another which was almost 100 meters away. Best way to understand if a den is occupied is to look for pug marks or scats. 

Prepare a hide: Prepare a good hide in safe distance and preferably on ground level. If they do not see you they do not feel threatened and give you good chances to photograph them. Hide should be such that you can sit on ground to get good eye level shots. Remember Foxes are very small so if you are on height you will not get good photographs. And, most important is never sit in the open, it will disturb them and if female nursing kittens feels threatened she may not come on time which is detrimental for the young once survival. I use a camping tent as hide as it is large and comfortable as well as has window on four sides to take photographs. 

Understand their movement: As per my experience Foxes normally move around late evening and are most active at night. If Female is rearing kittens she will normally come to feed them at almost same time and mostly will use same route. She will scan the surrounding before approaching the den. Once you understand their movement it will be easy to set up hide at right location. 

Keep lighting in mind: I use natural lighting only to photograph wildlife and suggest not to use flash as it may disturb the kittens and parents. Best is to set your hide in such a way that you get proper lighting. 

Background: Check for uncluttered background. Although it is not possible to get good background always but do not disturb the area just to take a good photograph as this can be harmful for the fox family. 

Kittens playing undisturbed and meeting mother after a long wait are times when you can get some excellent photographs. Remember, mother comes unannounced so keep tight watch. Once kittens are a couple of months old they will come out of their hiding place and wait for mother. This is also the time when they play and give you some good photographs. It is simply breathtaking to see the young once playing and especially when they welcome their mother. 

Taking wildlife photograph is both time consuming and frustrating at times but the result takes away all your tiredness and can help in spreading awareness and better understanding of our wildlife. Basically it is all about good preparedness, understanding of your subject and your practical knowledge of fieldcraft which can help you get good photographs. 

Ethical photography: Last but not the least, always keep safety of your subject on forefront and not that one photograph which you feel can be rewarding. Never disturb your subject or its vicinity and never try to lure them out for that one shot. 

Gaur – The largest Bovine

Gaur – The largest Bovine

Native of South Asia – Gaur (Bos gaurus) is the largest of Bovine (Cattle) family in the world. It is also called as Indian bison although it is not a bison. Three subspecies of Gaur have been recognized, one found in India, Nepal, and Bhutan is known as - Bos gaurus gaurus. The domesticated form of gaur is called gayal / mithun (Bos frontalis).

Gaur - Bos gaurus, at Kanha National Park

Characteristics

One of the largest living land animals – Gaur is a strong and massive animal with a prominent ridge on the back. The adult male gaur is dark brown to almost black in colour; the lower parts of the legs are pure white or tan giving impression as if the animal is wearing socks. The cows and young once are paler in colour. The hair is short and glossy, and the hooves are narrow and pointed. With body length between 8 to 10 feet and tail of 2 to 3 feet they can weigh anywhere between 600 to 1000 Kg. Large male bulls can sometimes weigh up to 1500 Kg’s.  Females are bit shorter and less bulky than male counterparts; both carry pale green to yellow coloured horns with black tip, which grow from the sides of the head, curving upwards and grow to a length of 24 to 40 in.

Distribution and habitat

Range: Although fragmented within its range once Gaur occurred all over mainland South and Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and India. Today except India their population has decimated to such an extent that its reversal does not look viable. Most gaur populated national parks are in southern India but seeing them here is difficult due to dense forest tracts. In Central Indian national parks like Kanha, Pench, etc. they can be seen relatively easily.

Gaur can be seen from sea level up to an altitude of 6000 feet in evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests. It prefers undisturbed forest tracts, with availability of water and plenty of forage in the form of grasses, bamboo, shrubs, and trees.   

Ecology, Behavior and Food

Basically diurnal animals they can be seen in undisturbed forest patches like Kanha national park at any time of the day. In monsoon they climb hilly areas but with onset of summers and lack of water in higher ground they descend to lower regions and open grass lands with good water bodies. They live in herds of 10 to 50 which comprises of females and young ones led by one old adult patriarch female. Adult males are mostly solitary and join a group only at the time of mating. Although not very vocal Gaur have been known to snort, make a low, cow-like moo or whistle for help. Solitary bulls are very aggressive but in general they are very shy and when alarmed, run into the dense undergrowth at an unexpected speed.  

Occasionally tiger and crocodiles have been reported to kill fully grown adult but due to their formidable size and power most animals prefer to keep a distance. Tiger, Leopards and wild dogs kill unguarded calves or young ones at times. When confronted by a predator, the adults of a herd form a defensive circle around vulnerable young calves to save them. Author has seen at Kanha, Dholes killing a young gaur making inroad into the defense circle made by adults.

Gaurs consume herbs, young shoots, flowers, fruits, grass, stems and seeds of many varieties. They have been seen consuming tree bark at times and prefer fresh grass when available to maintain the mineral and nutrition levels.  

Reproduction

Males make a mating call of clear, echoing tones which may be heard at long distances. Mating peaks between February to June although they have been seen breeding almost whole year round. Female Gaur gives birth to one calf after a gestation period of about 260 – 270 days; calves are weaned after 10 to 12 months.

Threats

Gaurs are highly threatened by poaching for commercial trade in meat and trophies. Fragmentation of forests and loss of habitat for commercial use and agriculture is also taking its toll on their population. Where ever the wild population is coming in touch with cattle chances of disease like rinderpest decimating the most of the population has been recorded.  

Conservation

Gaur is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to the population decline in the species range. Listed in CITES Appendix I, Gaur is legally protected in whole of its range. They are protected in most national parks in India and can be seen in Kanha National Park and other central Indian reserves very comfortably.

Author: Navneet Maheshwari is a wildlife lover by heart, hotlier by business and wildlife photographer by hobby. He owns Kanha Village Eco Resort at Kanha.
 

Tiger breeding: Panna strikes global first, Sariska fails - Hindustan Times

It is a mixed bag for future of tigers. A captive bred tigress in Panna, Madhya Pradesh, has become world’s first big cat to deliver in wild but pregnancy of a relocated tigress in Sariska, Rajasthan, has failed for the second time, a setback to the breeding efforts.

Panna and Sariska are India’s big cat experiment labs as both lost them due to poaching and the government re-introduced tigers from similar landscape to create a new pool. On Wednesday, Panna delivered the world’s first --- two cubs from a six-year-old captive tigress, who was orphaned six years ago and was reared in an enclosure in Kanha tiger reserve. She and her two siblings – a brother and a sister --- were trained for hunting in the enclosure. After a positive report from Dehradun based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the tigresses were shifted to Panna in March 2011 and the brother, who was injured, to Van Vihar, Bhopal. “The tigress has been spotted with two cubs after mating with a wild tiger,” said R S Murthy, field director of Panna Tiger Reserve that had no tigers in 2009.

In all seven tigers have been relocated to Panna. Since the two tigresses landed, there was around the clock monitoring through Global Positioning System (GPS). In September 2011, the elder tigress, which created history, lost the radio collar and since then she was being monitored manually. The forest guards were able to spot and record the presence of two cubs with the mother on Wednesday. “It is for first time captive bred tigress has adapted completely to wild conditions,” Murthy said. But, the said news is that her sister had been badly injured in a brawl with another tiger. “She will take four to five days to recover,” he said, adding that she was slow in adapting to wild conditions unlike her elder sister. That has not happened in Sariska, which lost all tigers in 2004. A tiger and two tigresses were shifted from Rathambore and only one tigress had conceived twice. “She has again lost her baby,” an official of National Tiger Conservation Authority said, adding that the Wildlife Institute of India has been asked to investigate the reasons for repeated abortions. However, officials said the high human presence in Sariska was causing problems for the big cats there.



Tiger breeding: Panna strikes global first, Sariska fails - Hindustan Times

Me and Kanha

I have been visiting Kanha NP a few times every year for last more than a decade. Its Sal and Bamboo mixed forests and beautiful maidans had fascinated me since I had seen them for the first time as a kid. My first visit was with my parents and sisters as a 9 years old child. It is one of the most memorable trips I had made on any holidays (the only other one being Kashmir). Although a very short trip of two days Kanha its Sal and Bamboo forests and Maidans enchanted me and it remains itched on my memory. Even today I remember seeing the King, in its entire splendor, chasing a deer (Chittal to be more specific). He pounced on the poor animal, caught it by its neck and waited for a couple of minutes before taking away its prized catch for dinner.

I fell in love with this charismatic animal, although a bit confused due to its reputation as Sher Khan – the beast, I found those black and orange strips, that royal walk, that agility, spurt of energy and speed most astounding. Tiger had secured a few bytes of space on my mind’s hard disk for ever. My next visit to this national park was to come after a long gap of more than a decade. In between we visited Corbett and Bandhavgarh, all in family trips and saw tigers, elephants and other denizens of the kings kingdom but that first memory always remains fresh as it happened just yesterday, it’s like first love which you never forget (ask my wife she will swear on this).

In ur entire holiday trips I used to be a porter for my father’s camera kit, who used to be a very enthusiastic photographer. In time I started learning tit bits of photography and was gifted an old box camera which, I used to take family photographs and this helped me in understanding lighting and exposure. Even today I remember those black and white photographs taken on 120 mm roll and pride of clicking them. Then came a time when I got busy in my studies and my faithful camera kept in the closet gathered dust.

It was only after my elder son was born that I purchased a SLR camera – Minolta 600si with 28 – 200mm and 100 – 400 mm lenses. Thus started a new era of photography where I concentrated on wildlife and nature. I used to visit Kanha NP and Keoladeo Bird sanctuary often and also started participating in contests. Soon I had a few acceptances in national and international photo contests and this stimulated the burning desire of mastering the art of photography. Now I am using a Canon kit with longest lens being a 50 – 500 mm zoom lens by Sigma Corporation. I haven’t mastered to prime lenses as spending money on them never seemed to be a good proposition, as I do not get more than a week or two in a year to do photography since my business keeps me tied.

With time I started understanding the nuances of forest, lifestyle of different animals their routine and most importantly their significance in our eco system. But, as I said earlier my business kept me bound, but, from somewhere within I was not happy, I always wanted to do something related with nature, something which could bring me near natural world. In meantime I handled Kids for Tigers – The Sanctuary Asia Tiger Campaign for couple of years as coordinator which further gave me insight into our natural heritage. I got to meet Mr. Bittu Sahgal, Editor, Sanctuary Asia and his most enthusiastic tem, Mr. Fateh Singh ji Rathore, Mr. Aditya Singh (Ranthambhore), Ms. Bilinda Wright, Mr. Raghu Singh Chundawat and his wife Joanna (who is a well known wildlife and natural history photographer), Mr. Kishor Rithe and so many of them who guided me and my understanding of nature and wildlife improved.

But, how do I get near nature, near Kanha, near Tiger? A question which always bothered me! Being in business of refractory manufacturing, farming and finance time was always a problem. I thought of starting a resort near Kanha NP but then – will I be able to do something on conservation front? A big question! Will I not alter the local landscape? Will I not become one within the lot for whom profits are everything and not conservation, and so on many questions started troubling me.

Finally I decided of starting an eco resort near Kanha and purchased a piece of land at Boda Chhapri, a village around 9 Kms from Khatia gate. I had in mind a plan to make resort by using locally available materials like clay, straw, wood and use of cement or non biodegradable material was to be kept to lowest possible. This way I could give employment to many local people in construction period and later I can employ some of them in my resort. To make something where local ecology is not disturbed but to present something having all modern amenities which people ask for in any top resort.

Idea started taking shape and today my resort Kanha Village – Eco resort is almost ready. I want to tell some interesting tales and facts on construction activities but next time.

See you’ll soon.