Jungle Royalties
While the tiger often holds centre stage, the jungle is never just about stripes. Other mammals bring in their own theatre — sometimes fierce, sometimes tender, sometimes comic. They remind us that the forest’s story is larger, and wilder, than one animal alone.
Predators & Power
Spotted Hyena
Ferocity Raw, primal strength, a reminder of the savannah’s harsher laws.
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
Indian Wolf
Strategy Prowling in packs, lean and relentless, a tactician of the open plains.
Location: Central India
Leopard
Stealth Shadow stitched into spots, always there, even when unseen.
Location: Bera
Cheetah Brothers
Brotherhood Stride for stride, survival in sync — the savannah’s living arrows.
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
Lion & Lioness Feasting
Dominance A matriarch’s pride, flesh and fire in equal measure.
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
Watchul Lioness Patriarch
Tenderness & Family
Rhino with Calf
Protection Armour and innocence side by side.
Location: Masai Mara, Kenya
African Elephant with Calf
Heritage Trunks entwined, patience of centuries.
Location: Amboseli, Kenya
Indian Elephant Mud-bathing
Joy A giant reduced to pure delight in a splash of earth.
Location: Kabini
Fox Cubs
Mischief Eyes brimming with curiosity, tumbling in fur and play.
Location: Maharashtra grasslands
Black-naped Hare with Baby
Tenderness Fragile life tucked into fur, a moment of stillness in the wild.
Location: Rural India
Mischief & Quick Encounters
Malabar Giant Squirrel
Flash A streak of russet and cream darting across green canopies.
Location: Western Ghats
Indian Grey Mongoose
Defiance Snarling, bold, drama in miniature.
Location: Central India
Nilgiri Langur
Royalty Black velvet, golden mane — primate nobility of the Ghats.
Location: Alleppey, Kerala
Jungle Cat
Phantom Silent stalker of scrub, slipping between fields and wild.
Location: Central India
Rock Agama
Surprise Stone-coloured until it bursts into flame with a nod.
Location: Dry scrublands, India
Fan throated lizard
Flare Quiet on the ground until the throat blazes its secret flag.
Location: Goa Forests, India
The Deer Diaries
Sambar Deer
Majesty Eyes wide, antlers framed against the road — forest in silhouette.
Location: Central Indian forests
Chital with Flowers
Elegance Fragile beauty, framed in blooms, the jungle’s ornament.
Location: Satpura
Spotted Dear / Chital
Vigilance Always alert, always listening — prey scripting the tiger’s presence.
Location: Kanha, Madhya Pradesh
Trotting Nilgai
Closing Note
These mammals, seen while “waiting for the tiger,” often gave us the real drama. They filled the silences with mischief, tenderness, and power. For Umang and me, they became the unscripted stories — the wild in its full cast, stripes or no stripes.