Mohamed – Mahout and More
By Tony on June 3, 2009 | No Comments »
Mohamed is one of those extraordinary individuals in the world whose fascinating life goes largely unnoticed by the people who meet him. Most visitors to Bandhavgarh National Park will encounter him under rather unusual circumstances: a tiger show, a situation in which they are rather distracted and not likely to find out much about his personal life.
What is a “tiger show”? Visitors to Bandhavgarh hire jeeps to explore the park along a series of dirt jeep tracks in search of the region’s wildlife. Obviously, the ultimate goal is to find a tiger. Unfortunately, tigers don’t usually cooperate by standing right next to the road. A “tiger show” is when elephants are brought in to carry park visitors from their jeeps to a location in the forest where the tiger is resting. Mohamed is a mahout, an elephant driver, who has been working the tiger shows for an amazing 39 years!!!
Now working Bandhavgarh’s tiger shows for a whopping 39 years is impressive enough. There may be no person on the planet who has spent more time viewing tigers in the wild than Mohamed. But Mohamed is much more than a mahout, he is also a published photographer. In fact, his pictures have been published by National Geographic. Spending so much time with the animals, he obviously has a serious advantage over the world’s other wildlife photography pros. There are a lot of people out there who would kill for Mohamed’s access to the park.
Unfortunately, Mohamed’s days at the park are limited. He will be working the shows for another 37 months and then he will be retiring, with pension, from his very cool job. (Hey, maybe I should submit my application now !?!?)
Topics: India | No Comments »
