Echoes of the royal roar-The Tiger Tragedy

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In the turn of the century the tiger population in the subcontinent was calculated as around 40000,a good part of it in todays India.The royal shikar parties of the kings and the white Sahibs brought it down to 2000 in 1972 in India.A hue and cry followed,international appeals were made and with the personal intervention of Indira Gandhi was born 'Project Tiger'.With conservation of the natural habitats and strict action against poaching,the majestic ruler of the Indian Jungle regained some of the lost ground and by 1986,the tiger population grew to 4000.

Then, as is usual with this country,callousness and corruption surrendered what it gained through the efforts of some visionaries.In Sariska Tiger reserve which boasted of atleast 25 tigers in 1995,not a single one is left.In Kanhai reserve which became famous after Rudyard Kipling wrote 'Jungle Book' in 1894 based in these forests, the striped king is fighting for survival.

In Ranthambhore and Bandipore,it is the same story.A recent press release from the government of India refused to accept that poaching exists!Increased human intervention,destroying habitats and poaching of Tiger alongwith its prey led to the downfall of India's pride[India is considered the only country with both lion and tiger in the natural habitats],arguably one of nature's most magnificient creatures.

Feeble and frantic voices from a few conservationists like Valmik Thapar and Ullas Karanth goes unnoticed.Recently I heard that India's corporates are uniting to fund,influence the government and to grow awareness among the public in favour of the Tiger.Then,after the initial enthusiasm,they have many other things to look into!

It is time we raised our voices,however feeble they be.Or else a certain and untimely death awaits the Maharaja of the Indian forests.Our children will see him only in hunting stories by Corbett and Anderson.

[Badri]

A Bunny Rabbit rallying around in support of the Royal Bengal? Now, that is weird!!

Seriously, it is a concern that populations of endangered species (and not just the tiger) are going down all over the world. But with specific references to Tiger, there are other disturbing aspects to the population.

First of all, do our forests still have the capacity to support many tigers at all? The tiger being in the top of the food chain, must of necessity be limited in numbers, or else they will die out simply due to lack of food. Or worse, the number of fatal encounters between tigers and humans will increase as the tigers will begin to expand their menu. This is no idle speculation.

The Sunquists (Fiona and Mel) who studied tiger ecology in the Chitwan Reserve of Nepal, attribute this phenomenon to the crowding of tiger territories within a limited area, that results in the competitive displacement of some individual tigers. These tigers then resort to prowling on the fringes of the reserve, where encounters with humans are more likely.

Nowhere is this more evident than the Sunberbans which are the proud haunts of the Royal Bengal. Nearly every family of fisherfolk and honeygatheres who live bordering the mangroves have lost someone or the other to the tigers.

This is definitely not going to be looked on favorably, and killing off the animals would provide itself as the easiest alternative. Poaching is not the only reason tigers are being killed. The self-preservatory instinct of our villagers is also adding to the reduction in numbers.

With our growing population, it is becoming increasingly difficult to increase the forest cover. So what then is the alternative, other than zoos and captive breeding?

Sometimes, and this is just my opinion, extinction may be nature's own strategy of evolution. After all, before we came, and even after humans made their apperance on Earth, countless species have gone extinct. Mammals are credited/blamed for the dissappearance of many a reptile. Sabres and mammoths were wiped out as part of natural selection. So, while I fully well sympathize and support conservation of species, wisdom tells me that Nature will take its own course and right the balance as and when needed.