SPECIAL FEATURE SPECIAL FEATURE “ oo!”. Silence. Absolute silence. planet’s riches. Today, he’s spent the “I see you” without so much as a, “Hey “Aoo!”.Spotted deer raising the afternoon stalking his current obsession – there!”. Crossing the road, it disappears Aalarm. ‘A big cat’s here and we Nagarhole’s lone black panther. The word into the undergrowth. The light, too, can smell it.’ “Haarh!” “Haarh!” Barking panther, mind you, is used as a synonym seems to fade with it, and no amount of deer, calling out up ahead, adding to for leopard and for one with a genetic waiting, circling back to the regular haunts the warnings signalled by their genetic mutation that occurs rarely but naturally of the panther produces result. cousins. The driver nudges the idling in the wild. It renders the animal’s coat a So, it’s back to The Bison, the luxury TRACKING THE vehicle closer to the source of the shade of black. The spots become visible lodge Shaaz’s parents founded in 2010, sound. More alarm calls. The langurs in Shaaz’s high-resolution imagery. Given which he now runs. Shaaz’s home for join in. “It has to be close by,” whispers its colour and because of how difficult it is much of the year, The Bison is a luxurious PANTHER OF NAGARHOLE Shaaz. “Langurs call only when they to track and spot the animal (there’s just African-style, tented camp, built on the can see the predator and that’s within one in all of the park’s 643sqkm area), banks of the Kabini dam’s backwaters. #NeverStopDiscovering could well be wildlife photographer Shaaz Jung’s current 15 meters of them.” He should know, for Shaaz endearingly calls the animal Saya It offers rooms furnished with plush hashtag of choice. Steering a versatile Land Rover Discovery Sport, he heads off to track Shaaz Jung is a wildlife photographer, or shadow. “If I have managed to capture four-poster beds, antique cabinets and the jungle’s lone black panther. By Prasad Ramamurthy. Photographs by Arjun Menon cinematographer, big cat tracker, man- just 45 minutes of footage in well over a stepwell-style bathrooms. But what animal conflict resolution seeker and year, you can imagine how elusive this makes the stay experience feel truly very lodge owner – all rolled into one. When animal is,” he says. And elusive it stays this rooted is the presence of locals trained in he’s away from the jungles of Nagarhole, afternoon. For out of the bush strides a hospitality by the Jungs; not to mention officially called The Rajiv Gandhi National leopard, its brown-as-the-forest spotted the knowledge that every rupee spent Park, he’s leading photography safaris coat glistening in the afternoon sun. is going to support the local economy. in Africa or showcasing his work at art Keeping its distance from man, clicking #responsibletourism galleries in capital cities and speaking cameras and excited tones, it turns for a Kabini, at the edge of Nagarhole – a lush to those interested in conserving the brief instant, as if to meet the eye and say jungle full of teak, nandi, axle wood and The Land Rover Discovery Sport on the banks of the Nugu reservoir, close to Kabini SPECIAL FEATURE SPECIAL FEATURE Shaaz Jung at work; Seen here the Land Rover Discovery Sport on the banks of the Kabini dam, The Bison Resort is in the background Clockwise from right: Saya the panther; tent 11 at The Bison; Shaaz Jung at the resort; a view of Nagarhole red silk cotton trees – is a six-hour drive from Bengaluru and a hotspot for safari seekers. This is not just because of its immediate proximity to Nagarhole, home to ferocious felines such as leopards and tigers, various kinds of deer, boar, Asiatic elephants and myriad species of birds, both resident and visiting. Kabini also lies on the road from Bengaluru to two other sanctuaries, Bandipur in Tamil Nadu and Wayanad in Kerala, both within three- hour drives from The Bison. In Kabini, apart from the regular overland safaris, one can take boat rides to see crocodiles, birds and amphibians. “It’s magical,” says Shaaz, “especially when you do it in winter. From the icy water the mist rises to greet you. The morning sun lifts this veil to reveal the denizens of the wild.” As his words paint a cinematic picture, it’s obvious that his passion for prime. The jungle had taken a toll on him. photography was born out of an innate He only had three canines. His eyes were attachment to the beautiful creatures sagging. Close to this leopard was another that inhabit the jungles around The very young, good looking male who was Bison. In fact, he recalls with great clarity soon to come into his prime. It was like the incident that ultimately lead to his looking at the past and the present. It was answering the call of the felines over clear that there was going to be a fight. a career dedicated to finance. “It was Unfortunately, the sun was setting and somewhere around sunset. We were we had to leave. But the next morning, I at a junction. The deer were calling,” he went back to the spot. Sitting on a high says, pausing to turn on the Land Rover’s rock was that young leopard. Blood was Mud and Ruts option. Part of the Terrain dripping from a gash across his face. He Response system, it adapts the vehicle’s sat there like he was ‘king of the jungle’. I SHAAZ JUNG “The black panther has taught me patience. But, above movement to the slushy geography of knew right then that he had taken over, the river bank that borders The Bison that it was the beginning of a new journey all, it has taught me to never stop discovering.” making the ride home an easy one. “We for him. And for me.” went around a blind turn,” he continues, Photographs of that leopard, the PHOTOGRAPH: “and up ahead on the path was this old victor, Scarface, as Shaaz named him, leopard. You could tell he was past his not only made Shaaz famous among SPECIAL FEATURE The leopard named Scarface; Top: Madegowda, The Bison’s Head Naturalist, in his pepper plantation; Right: a spotted deer in Nagarhole India’s wildlife community, but also of the forest ends where the fields begin. them. But now I’ve learnt how important led to Shaaz’s enviable reputation as In dry season elephant and wild boar these animals are and the value of a chronicler of the wild. “Through my incursions into fields are very common. protecting them,” he says. “I have known journey of photographing Scarface, I have Older leopards, like Pardus, who have these jungles for 35 years. I know where discovered other leopards, his mates and lost territory in the forest often carry the animals are and I realised I can guide discovered his nemeses – tigers. I also away livestock from villages.” This creates visitors and get paid for it. In a way, the discovered the current protagonist of my resentment among locals towards animals are paying me back.” Farmers work – Saya – while tracking Scarface. the animals, on occasion leading to like Madegowda are discovering the This is the world’s first black panther the unpleasant situations. forest anew. #NeverStopDiscovering that behaviour of which is being documented Putting tourist currency to good Land Rover hashtag could well be theirs so intimately, on camera, by tracking its use, under the BCRTI umbrella, Shaaz as much as it is Shaaz’s who says by movements. So far all the research on the provides locals with vocational training, photographing animals he’s discovering animal has been done through camera with the aim of educating locals on more about himself, one photograph traps.” Through many months of toil, the merits of conservation and to help at a time. “The forests have taught me Shaaz has managed to collect precious them benefit from tourist currency. This many things. For instance, listening is footage, including that of the animal could be as simple as teaching them to a sense far more important than sight. mating, to piece together the incredible drive and as intensive as training to be You have to switch off your vehicle, sit, landscape of a black panther’s life. government certified naturalists. (An and listen, for the forest is constantly Saaya, Scarface and, Pardus, the interesting FYI: visitors at the resort communicating – through the voices leopard that lost to Scarface, have are welcome to volunteer to teach of birds and animals,” he explains. As also led Shaaz down a different path a skills training class of their choice. he drives through jungles of Nagarhole, of discovery. Learning about them and #voluntourism) The acquired skills on NH766, towards Bandipur, the Land the loss to their habitat has led Shaaz enable locals to find employment with Rover’s General Driving mode adapts to create the Buffer Conflict Resolution any of the numerous wildlife resorts in the easily to both the bends in the road Trust of India (BCRTI). It’s an agency region, if not in a faraway city. and the pressures of passing traffic. that educates villagers who live on the Madegowda is one such local “Tracking an animal also teaches you life fringes of the forest on the importance agriculturist who trained at BCRTI and lessons. The black panther has taught me SHAAZ JUNG of conservation. “We are in the heart of is now a certified naturalist employed by patience.