Lifescapes Gallery

Whether you’re part of the Dragonfly Squadron, the Butterfly Command, or the Bug & Beetle Corps, you’d do well to steer clear of the airspace around Kabini. This is a biospheric Bermuda triangle, where identified flying objects fly in but don’t fly out, and nothing’s heard of them ever after. This ‘No Fly’ zone is Read more >>

Asian Paradise-flycatcher, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 6 Comments »

In this age of reality shows and talent hunts, there’s somebody who’ll fly away with all the honours if there was to be a test of cross-terrain adaptability for the animal kingdom. When it comes to hunting in the waters of the Kabini, the Osprey, or Fish Eagle, prefers to let his talons do his Read more >>

Osprey, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 13 Comments »

In the grasslands of Kabini, which boast some of the world’s largest concentration of herbivores and their predators, the one constant of life…is death. Here, where the various roles in the food chain are played out unerringly on a daily basis, the consequence of such a well stocked larder is a large proportion of leftovers. Read more >>

Long-billed Vulture, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 9 Comments »

Brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins; you’ll find every branch of the Leopard family living, quite literally, on a branch…totally at home in a comfy tree-house in Kabini. But that isn’t the only reason why leopards tower above the rest in the big cat stakes. They are considered the most complete cats as they are adaptive Read more >>

Leopard, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Mammals | 481 Comments »

We all know of people who’ve been called, not very flatteringly, as chameleons. We tend to find a lot of such specimens populating the portals of Indian polity, and their ability to change colour is legendary; predicated, as it is, to the political power equations at the moment. Surprisingly though, the Chameleon himself has very Read more >>

Indian Chameleon, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Reptiles | 18 Comments »

He’s the common Joe of Indian reptilia, and is spotted more often than most snakes, without being as unwelcome a presence. Unless you were a country cousin of Mickey and Minnie’s, in which case, you went around on your furry, furtive way hoping not to meet this mugger up a dark alley. For, the Rat Read more >>

Rat Snake, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Reptiles | 21 Comments »

History is replete with tales of legendary heroes going into exile, and returning after conquering the odds, to reclaim their rightful place. In the Hindu epic, The Ramayana, the young Prince Rama had to undergo a fourteen year exile before he was considered ready to claim his throne. While Rama spent his years in the Read more >>

Cicada, Kabini | Posted in Insects, Kabini | 13 Comments »

Tigers must definitely have South Indian sensibilities. For, their favourite meal is the Sambar, a staple of every self-respecting South Indian kitchen. But while the original Sambar is a soupy lentil concoction, the dish featured here is a large serving of meat on the hoof. The Sambar, featured above, definitely boasts more Deer per Deer, Read more >>

Sambar Deer, Kabini | Posted in Kabini, Mammals | 6 Comments »

What do you call someone who announces her presence with the sweetest melodies, and then underlines her arrival on the scene with a drum-roll of percussive rattles and appreciative whistles? Ornithologists call her the Yellow-eyed Babbler, but we suspect she prefers to be known as the ‘Diva’. As we shall see, this diminutive bird’s behaviour Read more >>

Yellow-eyed Babbler, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 9 Comments »

If you thought you were a globe-trotter, and that life was what happened between connecting flights, do consider the competition. What you see in the picture is a serene duck contemplating timelessness on the placid waters of the Kabini. What you don’t see is the sheer distance he’s travelled to get here. The Northern Pintail Read more >>

Northern Pintail, Kabini | Posted in Birds, Kabini | 15 Comments »