Pench and Tadoba reserves May 2016

I left for India on the 6 May. Arriving in Delhi, I took an internal flight to Nagpur, my final destination being Pench.  Four days spent here provided no tiger sightings. Sadly a few weeks before I arrived at the reserve a well known tigress and two of her cubs were found poisoned at a water hole. I understand that those concerned were attempting to poach deer but a beautiful tigress and her cubs were also killed.  Leaving Pench we drove to Tadoba for a stay of nine days. Each day at Tadoba I had wonderful sightings of four different tigresses all with young cubs.  I particularly remember the 'Madhuri' tigress and her four cubs that were only about twelve weeks old. We had been searching most of the afternoon for this tiger family and had almost given up hope of seeing them, when we heard an alarm call nearby. We drove in the direction of the call and within just a few minutes the tigress appeared from her forest cover followed by her cubs. It was a magical moment and I was delighted that the tigress seemed relaxed enough in our presence to sit down on the dusty track giving her cubs her fullest attention.  In addition to tigers we also saw a leopard, Sloth bear, Gaur, Dhole (wild dogs) and many different bird species. A small number of photos taken on this visit can be seen in the 'Gallery' section of my website.