When trunks track tigers
by Charlie Peverett in At home on 26.03.08
Slight diversion here, but we’re sure you won’t mind.
The Beeb is trailing a new series Tiger - Spy in the Jungle.
Over the years, as natural history programming has evolved in front of our very (square) eyes, we’ve got pretty used to intimate portrayals of many big cats.
Lions, leopards and cheetahs - Serenghetti show-offs one and all. But tigers: they remain a more elusive prospect.
Which makes the material gathered for this latest series worth a look. Check out the sequence that shows the parent cat nudging, cajoling and, frankly, shoving its bemused newborn offspring down a steep succession of boulders. Or some larger cubs playing in the waterhole.
Much of the footage was gathered using elephants - “the ultimate four-by-four camera vehicle”, says series producer John Downer.
The animals were trained to carry cameras to appropriate places and even to film, side-on, with log-shaped cameras tucked under their trunks. Apparently, tigers are entirely unfazed by them.
Downer admits:
It is a bit of a bonkers idea… I never thought we would suceed in doing what we did in this way, but now it seems the most natural thing in the world.
And a sure way to get footage you’ll never forget.
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