Kanha tiger reserve supports a wide range of carnivore and herbivore species. They coexist together in different habitats and niches for survival. They draw energy from each other and remain in the same ecological chain of survival. While carnivores have their own hunting techniques their prey species also have their own defence mechanism. This battleground, so to speak, of life and death continues by the natural law of survival of the fittest.

It was a very fortuitous encounter on a late November afternoon at Kanha. The slanting rays of the setting sun were falling on the ground through the lush leafy vegetation. I had seen the predator from a distance amid langur’s guttural calls, and stopped the vehicle to watch through the field glasses the finer nuances of the concluding part of its hunt. The sturdy leopard was dragging the chital across the forest road, and became wary for a moment to see the approaching vehic