I recently visited the Western Ghat mountains in South India with my colleagues from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). We drove on small paths through the teak forests in search of wildlife. You can't help but feel a stirring in your soul to see peacocks, elephants, gaur, sloth bears, wild dogs and tigers in their native habitat.

One of the best moments of the trip came the last morning as we drove in the early hours of the day. That's when we saw a large female tiger walking on the service road ahead of us. We followed her for about 15 minutes, as she marked her territory and stopped to listen to the forest from time to time. Then she was gone. It is amazing to see how a 350-pound animal can vanish into the shrubs in seconds.
Continue reading Dr. Samper's blog at the Huffington Post>>