Jungle Book

Jungle Book was my first and longest running DSLR camera trap project. I used to go on tiger safaris in Ranthambhore National Park, in India’s magnificent state of Rajasthan. Photographing a wild tiger at night soon became my goal. Night is when these big cats are the most active, undistracted and on the hunt.

I was lucky to eventually find a good location for my endeavor. And one day when I went to check the camera trap I saw large pugmarks in the sand. Tiger tracks! And they were fresh. A mix of thrill and excitement kicked in. I took the camera out of the metal housing and browsed through the photos… and there she was – a female tiger called Lightning who often roams the outskirts of the National Park. She came only hours before.

I named this project after Kipling’s famous Jungle Book because not only was it inspired here, but because over two years I have captured almost all of the species featured the book. In Ranthambhore I discovered a fascinating diversity of nocturnal animals from leopards to civets, sloth bears and tigers. And not to forget the cheeky Langur monkeys of course who came during the day to fill the SD cards with selfies and knock down the flash.