Reptiles in Bandhavgarh National Park

Over 13 species of snakes have been identified, with the common ones being the Rock Python (Python molurus), the Spectacled Cobra (Naja naja), the Common Krait (Bungarus caeruleus) and the Rat Snake (Ptyas mucosus).

Butterflies in Bandhavgarh National Park

Of the 73 species which have been identified, the most commonly seen are the Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus), Common Wanderer (Pareronia valeria), Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe), Common Crow (Euploea core), Leopard (Phalanta phalantha), Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya), Danaid Eggfly (Hypolimnas misppus) and the Common Rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae).

Bandavgarh National Park Happenings

a) Gaur or the Indian Bison - Till the mid-nineties Bandhavgarh had a population of 30+ animals of this large bovine form of Indian wildlife. These have now moved out of the reserve to the surrounding forests and are no longer found in the park. The reason for their moving out is believed to be the high density of tigers.

b) Sometime in the night of May 29, 2003 a vehicle hit a tigress called Mohini. It is believed that this happened on the Tala-Umaria road. The next day early morning she attacked a guard post at Garhpuri scaring the guard. The guard, recounting the incident, said that the tigress was in a state of rage and confusion. She then crossed the Tala-Umaria road and entered the park. A little bit later tourists moving in that section of the park heard the alarm calls of the chital and sambar, and soon seven jeeps were waiting in a row to get a glimpse of Bandhavgarh's pride - the tiger. What they got was more than what they had bargained for. Mohini was moving on the track where the jeeps were standing and moving in the direction of the jeeps. She kept advancing towards the jeeps and some of the guides started getting uneasy as she came closer than normal. Four of the jeeps noticed that she was suffering severe face and head injuries, her canines were broken, and she was in an obvious state of pain. They yelled for the others to get out of her way. For some reason they didn't. They did not want to miss this photo opportunity and kept rolling the cameras, inspite of people continuing to yell at them to back off. Suddenly Mohini crouched and leapt into the back of one of the jeeps, which had two French tourists, pinning them underneath her. While the guide and driver of that jeep ran off, the other guides came running over and started hitting her with bamboo sticks. One of the guides who is a local lodge owner caught her by the tail and pulled her off. She fell on him and after a brief scuffle walked off into the forest. At that time Mohini had three 18 month-old cubs and she was trying to get to them. She never made it.

c) Bandhavgarh had a male tiger called Charger who got this name because he would charge the jeeps and elephants. For more than a decade he dominated the tourist zone as the dominant male. In the latter years of his life he was driven off his territory by a young male tiger and took to wandering in the adjoining villages in search of food. The park elephants were used to drive him into a wire mesh compound built by the park officials. Here he was fed by the park authorities till he died a natural death. He lies there today with a memorial at a place called Charger Point.

d) Besides Charger, another famous personality was a tigress Sita, who was the matriarch of Bandhavgarh. She was the cover girl of National Geographic (Dec 1997 issue). Most tigers in the tourist part of Bandhavgarh are related to her and Charger. In the nearly seventeen years of her life, she produced six litters, a total of eighteen cubs, five litters of which were with Charger as the father. The last time anybody saw Sita was ten months after the National Geographic featured her. It was when a poacher was caught with tiger skins, one of which had markings like Sita's, that it became clear what had happened to India's most famous and photographed tiger.

e) In May 1951 when Maharaja Martand Singh was hunting near Rewa which lies close to Bandhavgarh a report came in that a tigress had been sighted with four cubs, one of which was white. The next day a search was carried out by beating drums and cans, firing shots, shouting, and trumpet blasts. When the tigress approached the hide where the Maharajah and his guests were seated, she and two of her cubs were shot. The white cub managed to escape, and the next day it was located and captured. This tiger was the famed Mohan, the grand patriarch of most of the white tigers in the world.

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