Last summer, my friends and I took a three-day trip to the Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary. A few months before the trip, I heard a wildlife photographer rave about the tigers at Tipeshwar. “It’s a small place, more concentrated, so it’s easier to spot tigers,” he said. The pictures he posted on his social media accounts were astounding. They spiked my interest; I couldn’t wait to get there.
Located on the Telangana-Maharashtra border, Tipeshwar is a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Hyderabad, the city I live in. But the main reason I chose to visit Tipeshwar was its wildlife. For months, I had been reading reports in mainstream newspapers about Tipeshwar’s tigers.
A friend, Harpal Singh, who lives and works as a journalist in Adilabad, advised us on the right time to visit Tipeshwar and gave tips on what to look out for. “It’s better if you get there early in the morning. You’ll have a better chance of spotting wildlife because they come to the water bodies to drink water. By 9’O clock or so, it gets hot, and they head back into the forest,” he said. He also connected me to his son, a wildlife enthusiast, who helped us plan the details of our trip.
I also sought the advice of the wildlife photographer. He gave me all kinds of tips – from what to wear, what sunscreen to use, photography tricks with the camera lens and so on. As we wrapped up our conversation, he cynically said: “hope you get to see as much wildlife as you can…who knows if we will be able to see them in a few decades or not!” My friend’s comment left me thinking about the real possibility of extinction.
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