Indian Jungle Safari & the Canon EF 200-400 F4 is lens- Gaur & Barking deer

BR hills was another jungle which we visited. The safari arrangements were the same and as the name suggests it was in the hills. We got a few decent shots of mammals but did not sight any big cats. Lantana was thick and tall here and we missed quite a few good shots.


In BR hills usually the vehicle would be travelling along a jungle road with a valley on one side and a hill on the other.  Again we had to be out of the jungle by 6.00 pm [ sunset]. One evening as we were heading back to camp we surprised a Barking Deer [ Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak] which ran up the hillside. It was already getting dark and the hill happened to be on the west side behind which the sun was setting making the light almost unsuitable for photography. Fortunately the deer ran up a little distance and stood perfectly still. We got our bean bags into position and started to shoot.  These deer have canines sticking out of their mouths. The deer decided cooperate by turning to look at us for a few seconds. Of course the shots were taken at high ISO and very low shutter speeds. I still managed to get a few OK ones.


We spotted a Gaur feeding on a hillside in the morning. It would stop and look at us sometimes with grass still in its mouth. The grass on the hillside was tall and angle was steep. ] Only way I could shoot was standing in the back of the vehicle.It was quite a distance away & uphill. I was shooting "almost handheld".  Standing in the 4wd with only support from the vertical bars for the canopy of the vehicle. I rested the back of my left hand against the thin bar.  The gaur shots, a dark subject in good light- off centre sensors used came out tack sharp every time. The detail that the lens managed to get was amazing The low res shots below won’t really do justice but the fine hair on the gaur’s face can be made out.

Gaur or the Indian Bison  [Bos gaurus ] is the largest bovine. It belongs to the ox/cattle family and is large and well muscled. Both the male and female have horns. Full grown males are a sight to behold standing over 6 feet tall, muscles rippling & the beautifully curved horns glistening. It is even larger than the African Cape Buffalo.They have no natural predators and do not fear even the tiger. Tiger will prey on calves or smaller females. Male tigers have been know to bring down these big male gaur [ in Kanha] but only after hamstringing. 
While at Kabini we managed to catch a big male out in the open grazing by himself on the green grass in good light [ photos below]

More of the lesser animals and a few of the leopard here soon.