भारत गणराज्य (India): Nature

by Günther Eichhorn

Here are some of the pictures of animals and plants I took on my trip to India in February/March, 1999.

I visited three tiger reserves and one bird sanctuary. The tiger reserves were Sariska, Ranthambore, and Bandhavgarh, the bird sanctuary was Keoladeo at Bharatpur.

At Sariska the tigers are by now extinct, but other wildlife like wild boar, deer, and antelope are plentiful. Ranthambore is the most scenic of the tiger reserves IMHO. The best tiger viewing I believe is at Bandhavgarh. They have elephants that take you into the bush when they spot a tiger. We visited on elephant a tiger that had killed a deer overnight. At one point the tiger was a couple of feet from the left foot of the elephant. Truly impressive!!

The bird sanctuary was quite impressive too. The number of birds there is astounding. The snake-bird and the stork are two examples from that sanctuary.

If you know the name of any of the animals or plants that are not named in these pages, please let me know so I can add the names to my pictures.

The other pictures from India are Architecture and People. The main description of my trip is on the India page.

All pictures are © Günther Eichhorn

Bamboo. They seemed to always grow in such clumps. (1231k) A liana in an interesting, twisted form. (1049k) Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis). This is one tree, about 100m across. It grows branches, then drops extra roots from the branches for support. (1101k) Weaverbird nests. (780k) I don't know what kind of bird this is. (786k)
This bird is called a Hoopoe. The German name for this bird is Wiedehopf (Upupa epops). (916k) Blue Heron (828k) Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) (665k) Kingfisher (469k) Owl (754k)
Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri). (648k) Peacock (Pavo cristatus). We saw lots of wild peafowl. They do fly. In the evening they fly up into trees and roost high up in the upper parts of trees. (881k) A Black Ibis (Pseudibis papillosa). (450k) Indian Darter or Snakebird (Anhinga melanogaster). (1000k) Storks in their nest. (888k)
Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) (1023k) One of the storks in flight. (513k) Sarus Cranes (Grus antigone). (1065k) Vulture. It really is a bird, not a part of the roof. (600k) Python (839k)
Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris). They were pretty big. (1011k) This is a dead crocodile. The sambar had been poisoned, and the crocodile ate the sambar and died as well. Tigers are too smart to eat poisoned dead animals according to our guide. (935k) A Siberian Chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus). (733k) Langur monkey. They have quite a tail. (1131k) Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). Both langur and rhesus monkeys were quite common in the parks. (936k)
Wild Boar (Sus scrofa). (920k) Indian Muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) or Barking Deer. This is a rare small deer (755k) Male Spotted Deer (Axis axis) (873k) A group of Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Langur monkeys. (975k) Sambar Deer (Cervus unicolor). They like to spend a lot of time in the water. (647k)
Sambar male (Cervus unicolor), rolling in the mud. (964k) Sambar (Cervus unicolor) and Spotted Deer (Axis axis). They are often found together. (953k) Sambar Male (Cervus unicolor) feeding in the lake. (824k) Female nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus). (925k) Nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus), almost as large as a horse. The male is blue/black, the female brown. (1008k)
Golden Jackals (Canis aureus). We didn't see those too often. (891k) On our way tiger watching. (908k) Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) yawning. This was the first tiger that I saw. I thought it couldn't get any better than this, but it did. (847k) Tiger on the prowl. (897k) He was walking right by the car in front of us! (867k)
You see the power of this animal. (884k) This lady was about 1 meter from the left foot of the elephant, staring right at us. (1053k) She was checking out her kill, a Sambar deer that she killed during the night. (1210k) She was making sure we didn't start nibbling at her Sambar. (1244k) She was checking us out because we were getting close to her kill. (1206k)

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Bamboo. They seemed to always grow in such clumps. (1231k)	A liana in an interesting, twisted form. (1049k)	*Banyan Tree (Ficus benghalensis). This is one tree, about 100m across. It grows branches, then drops extra roots from the branches for support. (1101k)*	Weaverbird nests. (780k)	I don't know what kind of bird this is. (786k)
*This bird is called a Hoopoe. The German name for this bird is Wiedehopf (Upupa epops). (916k)*	Blue Heron (828k)	*Intermediate Egret (Ardea intermedia) (665k)*	Kingfisher (469k)	Owl (754k)
*Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri). (648k)*	*Peacock (Pavo cristatus). We saw lots of wild peafowl. They do fly. In the evening they fly up into trees and roost high up in the upper parts of trees. (881k)*	*A Black Ibis (Pseudibis papillosa). (450k)*	*Indian Darter or Snakebird (Anhinga melanogaster). (1000k)*	Storks in their nest. (888k)
*Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) (1023k)*	One of the storks in flight. (513k)	*Sarus Cranes (Grus antigone). (1065k)*	Vulture. It really is a bird, not a part of the roof. (600k)	Python (839k)
*Mugger Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris). They were pretty big. (1011k)*	This is a dead crocodile. The sambar had been poisoned, and the crocodile ate the sambar and died as well. Tigers are too smart to eat poisoned dead animals according to our guide. (935k)	*A Siberian Chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus). (733k)*	Langur monkey. They have quite a tail. (1131k)	*Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta). Both langur and rhesus monkeys were quite common in the parks. (936k)*
*Wild Boar (Sus scrofa). (920k)*	*Indian Muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak) or Barking Deer. This is a rare small deer (755k)*	*Male Spotted Deer (Axis axis) (873k)*	*A group of Spotted Deer (Axis axis) and Langur monkeys. (975k)*	*Sambar Deer (Cervus unicolor). They like to spend a lot of time in the water. (647k)*
*Sambar male (Cervus unicolor), rolling in the mud. (964k)*	*Sambar (Cervus unicolor) and Spotted Deer (Axis axis). They are often found together. (953k)*	*Sambar Male (Cervus unicolor) feeding in the lake. (824k)*	*Female nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus). (925k)*	*Nilgai antelope (Boselaphus tragocamelus), almost as large as a horse. The male is blue/black, the female brown. (1008k)*
*Golden Jackals (Canis aureus). We didn't see those too often. (891k)*	On our way tiger watching. (908k)	*Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) yawning. This was the first tiger that I saw. I thought it couldn't get any better than this, but it did. (847k)*	Tiger on the prowl. (897k)	He was walking right by the car in front of us! (867k)
You see the power of this animal. (884k)	This lady was about 1 meter from the left foot of the elephant, staring right at us. (1053k)	She was checking out her kill, a Sambar deer that she killed during the night. (1210k)	She was making sure we didn't start nibbling at her Sambar. (1244k)	She was checking us out because we were getting close to her kill. (1206k)