Leopad’ing @ Bera

Can you imagine a village where leopards roaming around freely and are friendly with the villagers. Hard to to believe; but it is true. Bera – a small village in Rajasthan is a real wonder.

I had visited Kabini of Karnataka, 4 times in past few months and wasn’t lucky enough to get a good shot. Out of of 12 safaris, I could spot only once and couldn’t take a shot which I really wanted. The specialty of Kabini is, the leopards with green background- it looks really amazing with their shining fire coloured skin in green background. That’s the reason I have visited Kabini frequently after this monsoon even though it is off season. Since my luck was bad with Kabini, I was planning to go to Yala National Park in Sri Lanka where leopard concentration is much better than any other place in the world and the habitat is very similar to Kabini.

I But unfortunately it didn’t happened as my flight ticket got cancelled because of some confusion with the Airlines. I had one week of leave approved and I didn’t wanted to waste this opportunity. I didn’t want to go to Kabini again since my luck is very bad with Kabini. I decided to go to Ranthambore, but last moment I changed my mind and decided to go to Bera since I was eagerly looking for some leopard shots. I have arranged the accommodation through my friend and decided to try my luck with Bera.

Last time when I visited here in April this year, I had only 2 sessions and I only got a distant shot; more like a habitat shot. But I was pretty sure that Leopard sighting is almost sure here but in a rocky habitat. Moreover I was planing to stay here for 3 days…

I flew to Mumbai from Bangalore and Mumbai to Jawai Bandh overnight journey by rail- reached early morning but couldn’t go for a morning session. I had hired a jeep & guide through one of my friend. I settled down quickly and did some birding after breakfast. The habitat of Bera is entirely different from the south Indian forests. Here it was very dry in the hilly area also so hot even in the month of late October.

The first safari was on afternoon. We started bit late by 4.30 but surprisingly the guide didn’t come on time. I was really angry but I came to know that there was a kill happened nearby and his plan was to go for a night trial. I have told him that I am here for photography; not to just see a leopard. But anyway I was also got interested any decided to shoot at night. 

From 6.00 pm, we have waited for 1.5 hours where the kill was happened and anticipated that the leopard will come again to eat it. We were expecting one but surprisingly there were three of them. I couldn’t shoot as expected but I really liked the experience. We could able to hear the roaring and their eyes were glowing in the dim light. There were other people from the nearby resorts also were waiting to see that. And the resort guides were using the torch light some times to show them to the guests. I took advantage of this. I tried to shoot when they tried next time. Thanks to my new full frame body and the 500mm prime lens without which I could have even been focus on them. I got couple of shots, well record shots, but still I was happy, at least i got something to show the experience. I was getting a shutter speed of 1/6 in 6400 ISO – also handheld. You can imagine how it would be 🙂 . After a bit of post processing I got something like this…

After coming back I was in full energy and decided to wait some more time near the place I stayed. I had came to know from the owner where I stayed, that there is a trail where a male leopard used to go at night time. I stood in a safe distance of 20 meters and waiting for it. My torch was lighten up also there was a street light. Not sure what happened, within 20 minutes I could see a leopard again and tried to shoot, but didn’t come good as ISO was 12000 with 1/5 shutter speed; but who cares; first time I found a leopard by myself that too in night, alone in a remote place. Can you imagine what was in my mind that time. I don’t have words to express it…

The next day we went to a famous place where people used to see leopards frequently. In fact it was a small Durga temple, but there was a cave nearby and two leopards were there. Last time I didn’t get anything from here because of bad weather. This time I reached exactly by 5.30 and felt like almost night without sun. In fact I couldn’t identify the place. I waited almost 1 hour there and spotted a leopard. It was so camaflogic and I took some time to spot it and couldn’t take a shot.

We were just eagerly waiting for leopard, but we got some other visitors- Indian stripped Hyena. Spotted one first then another one, again two more. Well it as bonus for us. We saw one local villager was going to the temple; came to know that he was the ‘pujari’ of the temple. I was shocked, the leopard was there still. He went there without any fear and started praying; can you imaging what was happened next? The leopard was peeping from the cave. I wasn’t sure whether to shoot or not. We were holding the breath – No nothing has happened the leopard went to cave again. But I got a shot where a man and a leopard in a single frame 🙂

Can you believe, the leopards in Bera are so familiar with human being. There wasn’t a single incident in Bera where a leopard attacked a human. They only feed cattle, dogs and sometimes the villager’s cows. Surprising isn’t it?

The next day we have explored 2 new spots, but couldn’t find one – the day was completely dry. The guide told me that he has spotted a male leopard in other spot and it will come out in the evening for sure. I have decided to extend my stay for one more session. It was a good decision, I could spot the same on evening though it was arounf 150 meters far… 

At last, out of seven sessions I got leopard five times. Like Ranthambore for Tigers, Bera for Leopards – where the sighting is almost guaranteed. Only problem, I mean in photographic perspective, I found is the distance. Most of the time I was shooting more than a distance of 100 meters. We wont get a portrait from this place unless we have 1000mm focal length. I was using 500mm with 1.4 TC which makes 700mm. But still is wasn’t enough here. Almost all the shots I have taken from here are high ISO shots. There guys will come out only after 5.30, after the sun is down. I heard that there are places where we get the leopard in green background which is exactly I am looking for. Also in peak winter when the sun is mild these will come out bit earlier, that would be better for photography. Anyways I have already planned another trip to Bera with my friend. Lets see how it goes 🙂

Here is the shots which I got from Bera. Please have a look…