Love Bites and Pugmarks in Kabini

What happens when love, ambition, and the wild collide in a forest fighting for survival? Acclaimed wildlife filmmaker Dhruv Thimayya arrives in Kabini to film its most elusive resident — the famed black panther, Karia. Staying at the eco-friendly homestay Hog’s Hole, he encounters Mira Ponappa, a woman at home in the wilderness, rowing coracles, wielding a country dagger, and fiercely protecting the land she loves. As Dhruv struggles to track Karia and Kapila, a green-eyed leopardess who has captured the panther’s attention, he finds himself equally drawn to Mira. But Mira is busy modernising the homestay and pushing back against her gun-toting granny, who is staunchly opposed to any change that could threaten Kabini’s fragile ecosystem. Love Bites and Pugmarks in Kabini is a conservation thriller that blends wildlife fiction, eco-fiction, and slow-burn romance. Set against the forests of Karnataka, the novel explores human–animal conflict, shrinking habitats, and the uneasy balance between progress and preservation. As danger closes in, the stakes rise — for the leopards, for the forest, and for a love that arrives later in life. Will Dhruv and Mira get past the walls they’ve constructed? Will Dhruv’s pursuit put the leopards’ and Mira’s lives at risk? Perfect for readers of conservation fiction, wildlife thrillers, Indian nature writing, and romantic suspense.