The overnight rain had washed everything clean. At daybreak, eight of us, in two cars, drove out of Bengaluru, in search of a mammal that none of us had seen. It was July 2007. We had a hand-drawn map of how to reach the site. All was well until we missed a turn and ended up driving into the neighbouring state of Andhra Pradesh. Asking passersby was of no help. Eventually, we tracked back and the sight of a faded board pointing at the village of Mydnahalli – our intended destination – revived our hope. Little did we know that we would end up running into the animal we were in search of, before we even entered the reserve meant to protect it. One of us had spotted the outline of three blackbuck along the distant horizon.