Wildlife Photography: Large Herd of Swamp Deer at Kaziranga National Park

The swamp deer or the Barasingha is one of India’s prettiest deer members and its designer horns are quite a sight. This species is not spotted in all of India’s forests, but seen quite frequently in huge numbers in Kanha national park in Madhya Pradesh and in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve, Assam.


I was lucky to see them in huge numbers during my last visit to the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, North East India. In this case, I saw them while completing my evening elephant safari.


And the setting sun was casting a nice golden glow on them making all of them look very photogenic. As you can see in the photographs, some of them are relaxing while some are grazing and the male members are staying alert for possible danger.


It is such moments that make you yearn to be in the wild!!

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Wildlife Photography: Proud Antlers of a Barasingha (Swamp Deer)

It is the branched and interconnected antlers that give the Barasingha its unique look. The Barasingha or Swamp Deer is one of the deer species that is found across India’s national parks and wildlife sanctuaries. It is most popular at the Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh and the Kaziranga National Park in Assam where it is found in huge numbers.

 
Only the male species of the barasingha grow antlers. These antlers are shed every year and then a new set replaces them. As is the case with most of the animal kingdom, the one with the best set of antlers gets to call the shots. These antlers, when fully grown have 12 different branches on the same antler piece and hence are rightly called Barasingha in Hindi, which translates into Twelve Horns.

 
I got these shots of this beautiful mammal during an elephant safari at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. If I remember right, it was evening time and a huge herd of swamp deer were grazing in front of me. However, it was after a lot of waiting, that I managed to single this one out. This guy was just re-growing his antlers and hence they were not fully developed.

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