Kabini’s Great Heist | Evolve Back Kabini

The only proposition that drives me from safari to safari is this: expect the unexpected. No Naturalist or Guide promises a sighting, and that is perhaps how it should be. The forest doesn’t owe us at all. But we owe much of our life lessons to it.

On a warm March afternoon our boat glided across the calm waters of the Kabini, along the forests of the Nagarhole National Park. In the boat our Naturalist from the Evolve Back Kabini resort was briefing us about the recent sightings. But just then he spotted a group of smooth-coated otters at a distance on a sandbank and everyone in the boat turned to look. They were basking, playing and fishing occasionally.

But just as soon as a couple of them saw us, the entire lot - one after the other - jumped into the river and disappeared! Shy but incredibly intelligent creatures. Above is a Brahminy kite circled twice, busily moving around, looking for lunch.

As we entered the park and sailed about twenty minutes into it, on bare branches and trunks we found a bunch of cormorants perched elegantly with their wings spread wide, drying off. Along with the odd Oriental Darter!

Behind them lay a rather large and imposing mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) motionless but alert, on a grassy bank. His eyes slowly closed as we passed by. Then something caught my eye.

On the inner edge of the forest, I thought I saw something rusty slipping silently out of the undergrowth. A slender, civet-sized animal, but something I had not seen before. I handed my binoculars to the

Naturalist and requested him to take a look. “Great! You’ve spotted a stripe-necked mongoose!”, he said.

The stripe-necked mongoose (Urva vitticolla), the largest mongoose in southern India and by far one of the smartest animals around. The boat cut the engine and we tried to stay as still we possibly could, bobbing inevitably. The animal darted with intention, scanning the ground, nose close to the forest floor. Almost like a ninja - it measured every step and paused almost deliberately. No, it wasn't simply wandering. It was hunting!

At this point it became difficult to articulate my feelings - but to summarise it, I continued to watch and gently oscillate between anxiety and excitement.

“He isn’t alone! Look, there is one more!”, said one of the guests on the boat. We followed her finger and our eyes traced the path of her pointing finger.

Indeed! They were emerging from the thickets behind. It was amazing and almost amusing to watch their coordinated movements - like an army that knew its formation and marching patterns. Or perhaps a gang that knew exactly how to lock in on the target.

The one in front came to a standstill. He pointed at something beneath a mound of sand. The two of them than made a semicircular formation around him - part shielding him, part ready to act. And then in a blink it happened!

Before any of us could fully process what was unfolding, the mongooses sprang into action. They were raiding a mugger’s nest. The audacity! Their powerful forelimbs sent sand flying in every direction as the mongoose army dug with incredible speed. Within moments, the first smooth, white egg appeared. Then another. And another.

The feast began.

They cracked open the eggs effortlessly, lapping up the rich contents before moving on to the next. There was no hesitation, no wasted movement. It was an incredible example of wild animal behaviour and many of the guests documented it. The boat soon filled with the sound of clicking cameras. But the rest of us fell silent. Though it was a cruel scene to watch, everyone reminded themselves that it required no human intervention or interaction. We were merely observers.

While the raid reached its conclusion I wondered why the mother crocodile was nowhere to be seen. What would happen when she finds out? Would she seek revenge? My mind was buzzing with questions that I couldn’t ask.

Records say female mugger crocodiles are devoted parents. They lay between 20 and 30 eggs but always remain vigilant and stay close to the nest during the incubation period. Monitor lizards, jackals, wild pigs and mongooses are all known egg thieves, and an attentive mother can be a formidable deterrent.

But maybe today, fortune favoured the raiders.

It was a warm afternoon and she may have slipped into the water for a quick swim to regulate her body temperature. Or a brief hunt. We scanned the perimeter for her movement with no luck. Maybe the mongoose army had watched her over the past week and times the raid accordingly. One can only speculate.

The nest now was a gooey mess. Churned up sand, fragments of broken eggshells and other discarded “waste”. With the same speed and precision with which they had arrived, the mongoose army dashed back to the forest and disappeared silently. With no evidence left behind.

We waited a few more minutes and then turned our boat to sail on. After crossing a fair distance our Naturalist, who was still peering through the binoculars at the empty nest, whispered excitedly, “She is back, finally.” Sure enough. It was the mother!

We watched in stunned silence as the female mugger crawled slowly onto the bank and made her way towards the nest. She paused over the disturbed sand, nudging it gently with her snout as though searching for what should have been there. But there was nothing left to protect.

I wondered as I looked hard at the reptile - “does she feel pain? Is this what the moment when she’ll shed “crocodile tears”?

With or without emotions, it is always a task for the parent to invest in the search for a nesting spot and then excavating it. To lay and incubate eggs for days. The effort was all gone. Blame my imagination but I thought I saw a look of emptiness on that mother’s face for a fleeting moment.

As our boat drifted away, the forest seemed to return to its peaceful rhythm, as though nothing extraordinary had happened. But every one of us carried that scene home. Kabini had reminded us that the greatest wildlife encounters are not always about charismatic predators or elusive big cats.

Sometimes the most unforgettable stories are those that reveal nature exactly as it is—raw, unscripted, and unapologetically honest.

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