Wildlife conservation in a flat world

Scars and Stripes

2011-04-14T05:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/153477/industry-prowl-brt-tiger-reserve.html

Just the other day, there came good news in the form of the Madras High Court having cleared the path for the TN govt. to notify the elephant corridor in the Nilgiris (http://flashnewstoday.com/index.php/hc-says-state-fully-empowered-to-notify-elephant-corridor/). As seems to be the game, Karnataka, which happens to hold land to the extent of 1527.4 km² in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, a World Heritage Site no less, has recently decided to hand over agricultural land that falls in the elephant corridor along this ancient migratory route. Although, these particular land tracts don’t belong to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, it neighbours the BR Tiger Reserve. As much as 400 acres of land has been allotted to a sugar company and this land is about a km away from the tiger sanctuary by way of radius and also part of the elephant corridor.

The question is, if one state allows a corridor to be made, does the other state block the corridor and therefore expect animals to know physical state boundaries? The ancient migratory routes have been far and long documented in that they are everlasting, and that any deviation on these routes comes with their fair share of troubles to man and animal. It sure seems that the intelligence on wildlife management across different states too depends on the receding hairline of the government.

Even to a layman, this is ridiculous, given that such a landmark and historical judgement by a high court appears to have had no bearing on the whole wildlife management scene as such and it bears home the fact that even with rapidly diminishing tiger numbers, we are still doing this state by state and department by department.

There is hope, however, in that the project needs to be approved by the National Wildlife Board (NWB) and with the esteemed officials on this board, we can hope to see the balance of power restored, at least a little.

The TV Conspiracy – Painting Cats Black

2010-10-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

The much weathered controversy over the effects of television has died out with the passing of the century and television itself has evolved to become a darling of the masses, a beacon of light if you may. But in the fragile world of wildlife conservation, television has a very important role to play in the recognition of this very real and immediate worldwide event, the saving of flagship species from extinction.

Closer to home, the TV series “Man Eaters” aired on the National Geographic and Animal Planet channels raise some fundamental questions on how opinions should be shared. The series comes from the Westernized world where the understanding and awareness of conservation is much higher than it is here, in India. Many of the points or directions shared by renowned conservationists on this show are apparently ill-suited to India’s critical man-animal conflict situation. Let me tell you why.

Firstly, the show should be sensitized to bring about an acute change in the perception of the term “man-eater”, for such a term is used only when an animal begins killing and eating humans as a regular occurrence, rather than an off-on series of incidents where animals merely attack humans in both provoked and unprovoked circumstances. To break through to the largely uneducated and agrarian common man in India, local conservationists have been trying to bring the two species to co-exist, and even in the age of the internet and global media, there are people who live in fear of man-eaters in our own backyards. The show depicts these cats as man-eaters simply because they come into contact with man and a few attacks occur either on livestock or man. What this is doing is, creating a wrong line of thought and perception where viewers begin to view the animal as the culprit, having now selected humans as diet. In reality, these are a series of events leading up to change in animal behavior, which are usually omitted from the show as it does not make for nail-biting viewing.

Secondly, the educated and eminent conservationists who appear on this show should see this as an ideal platform to raise awareness on man-animal conflict rather than set a personal agenda. A select few are able to bring to the fore that the so called man-eaters are only isolated incidents and the very horror of living in fear of a tiger’s claw in your neck is not something we live with everyday. One of these eminent conservationists commented that all the tiger needs is space and that this is not asking for much. In India, space is probably the least available commodity, and comes at a high price. A very farfetched and insensitive comment to make, especially when the influence of such a show is felt far and wide.

Thirdly, with the cats now perceived as man eaters, every person who does not understand the intricate fabric that weaves wildlife conservation and human sustenance together in India will undoubtedly turn their views from conservation to building a fear of the big cats and move away from understanding what it takes to leave the wild, wild. In today’s world we need brave individuals who will attempt to build bridges between the two species rather than play blame games in the name of conservation. TV, especially responsible media channels such as these have a very important role in shaping the wildlife conservation effort in India as the TV is very much the preferred past time of the masses.

The truth is that these cats are not man-eaters at all. We cannot stop the world from turning, cannot stop the world from evolving, what we need to do is manage change and manage change in co-existence.

Another One Bites…

2010-08-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20100816/1416/tnl-youth-killed-by-big-cat-in-ranthambo_1.html

OK here we go again, another tiger attack! Well surely, we must be getting used to this by now…that is getting used to disturbing tigers in their habitat and of course placing the blame on them alone.

The problem of man-animal conflict pertaining to an endangered species makes the solution that much more time critical. How many more conflicts can we allow before this unfriendly situation turns violent? And then too, how much do we do for the animal in comparison to how much we do for the human being?

Reforms at the state and centre level are paperwork at best, what works is on the ground measures. Our forest officers are the ones who get mauled day in and day out by the press, government and other social agencies.

Awareness needs to play a massively important role in managing the healthy population of tigers, but in country where there are more people than trees, we need to start worrying about how effective our awareness campaigns are. More so, our awareness campaigns do not need to be directed to those in cities, rather to those whose settlements and work lines fringe and sometimes encroach crucial tiger habitat.

The newspaper is a slow poison…to a young child, a big cat attacking a man making national headlines means that the cat is seen as a danger and as the primary cause. Instead newspapers should embark on a nationwide project of understanding what the impact is of even newspapers surveying ground which is home to tigers. Not a good story isn’t it? Makes better reading to have something like “Man eaten by tiger mourned by villagers”…

An Accident Waiting To Happen (OK for now)

2010-03-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/10/stories/2010031054390500.htm

Finally, the ban on night traffic on in Bandipur meets with success. Not a bad start at all with a tremendous lobby to effect this.

It is a new dawn for India's wildlife and things like this may just be the shot in the arm that wildlife needs.

The wildlife death toll on the two national highways that run through Bandipur are astounding:

91 mammal deaths;

56 snakes and other reptiles;

19 bonnet macaques;

11 spotted deer.

It remains to be proven if territories of big cats will increase with the ban on traffic, as they've now been given the luxury of a larger range and not coming into contact with traffic. Again, if the animals have been long conditioned to night traffic then there is a chance that they might use caution and abstinence compared to curiosity and evolution.

At this point it's premature to estimate the potential success of the ban in terms of increasing territory. But one thing is for sure, the many animal deaths due to run overs will indeed slow down. However we still need to protect our big cats from poachers and the ban on night traffic also provides the forest department with a two edged sword: with one they are protecting life, on the other they've got to be doubly cautious now.

On the whole this is a huge win for conservation.

Who's The Culprit - Man or Beast?

2010-03-15T01:26:00.000-07:00

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ygmpsnx

This so called man-eater (not man-killer) might just have to pay with his life for apparently having eaten a human being. The ever so familiar trend of a beast emerging as an expected man-eater, only to disappear from sight and then return to this world as a confirmed killer and man-eater is emerging. Very soon, we'll have only 1410 left and Aircell and Save Our Tigers would need to re-do their ads...

The Forest Department has almost shot itself in the foot with poor damage control by confirming that a tiger has to kill and eat 5 human beings before being confirmed as a man-eater. Say, this animal now disappears and in the course of a year, finds a mate and then the two of them begin hunting and killing men, 5 of us will be gone in no time...

However, the FD has actually been quite lethargic in wanting to capture this tiger, which is good. The problem is the lobby against this unfortunate incident (called accidental by the FD). It is in the tiger's best interests to remain a gentleman, as he undoubtedly is, and leave the scene for a while, or if he is indeed a man-eater, then to turn his attention to another locality-:).

As a practical observer of the situation, being an amateur conservationist, I'd say that it's a matter of time before pressure is put on the poor FD to do something about this killing. Albeit it was illegal of the victim to roam in the forest, the source of the problem has been attributed to the Government's non delivery of gas cylinders to the 2,000 families at the location. I'm afraid that the Government would rather have the tiger killed than deliver the cylinders, for it's easier on their time and looks good on the resume too...

This situation could turn out unpleasant for the tiger, but with the loss of human life weighing the scale on one side, how far do animal right activists go now to stop the killing of the striped one?, this one in particular.

It's unfortunate that a villager fell victim to this tiger and not a poacher.

Right now, the scales are even, we'll see which way they tip...and you know who I'm rooting for!

Stripe-d Down!!!

2009-07-05T19:41:00.000-07:00

Since January this year, five big cats in Karnataka's flagship wildlife reserves have found their way to the happy hunting grounds. With tiger numbers constantly dwindling, it's heartbreaking to hear of these five deaths in Nagarahole, Bhadra and Bandipur. Poaching is likely causing such deaths, but causes such as poisioning, etc cannot be ruled out.

It is well documented that the moment a tiger sets its sights on village cattle, its days are numbered. A few of these cases have even resulted in attacks on man, which seals the cats ' fate.

It's time the authorities were seriously pulled up...if we've given them the task of keeping our tiger population in the prime of health, they'd better be answerable.

Read the latest article on tiger deaths at:

http://tinyurl.com/otv9fz

Leopard in UP: Catch Me If You Can

2009-06-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

We're gonna have a problem here...will the real culprit please stand up? TOI reports that a leopard is on the prowl in a UP village (http://tinyurl.com/lqu6vw). Apparently the feline climbed a mango tree, which is typical feline behaviour, but "snapped at villagers" when someone threw stones at it. Oh sorry!, the leopard should have continued dozing or doing whatever it was happily doing on that tree whilst people pelted it with stones!

Humans! I believe the authorities are at their "wits end"...leads to the question of what is actually a wit? This appears to be some sort of sport wherein a leopard in a tree is pelted with stones. I think most of the brains involved in this dangerous sport are located in the rectum of the brave individual with a stone in hand.

The leopard has done nothing wrong apart from perhaps occupy a branch on a tree and piss on a passing villager, but that's no reason to label this animal as a danger. Of course, with people throwing stones at it, the only way its going to react is by attacking, and sooner or later, it will become a mauler. We hope that it doesn't turn man eater from mauler which will lead to it being shot.

The animal is supposed to be "pushed to its natural habitat"...oh! you do mean a 10 by 10 park with humans all around it, right?

The apathy of the human race continues unabated. Thankfully the DFO is uninterested in the matter, knowing fully well that this is just a people incident and not an incident of an animal attacking man with specific intent.

This leopard, like its bigger cousin from Faizabad, is running out of time...

TOI Reports a "possible beast attack"

2009-06-13T21:15:00.000-07:00

The 14th June edition of the TOI reports that the missing scientist from Kaiga, Loknath Mahalingam, has been found dead after navy divers recovered his body from the Kali River (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Missing-N-scientists-body-found/articleshow/4653256.cms).

Amongst the many reasons of death attributed is a "possible best attack". Now, just how crazy does this sound? A wild animal, presumably Panty the Panther, came across poor old Loknath on his morning stroll and thought to itself 'oh! how cool, let's see if this human wants to play a bit of push and swim with me, so let's give him a push'...and proceeds to push the guy into the river...that seems a likely story!

The apathy of the general public and authorities mystifies me. Everything and anything is blamed on the wildlife. Its far more likely that another human being decided to get rid of Mahalingam, or for that matter Mahalingam himself. But I don't understand how an animal can attack the poor man and then throw him into the river, unless of course it was an elephant. In which case the body would have borne terrible marks of torture. But this is highly unikely. Its far more likely that the elephant in its race to get away from man, falls into the river.

The media writes a lot of sane stuff, but most of the sane stuff is outdone by a run of the mill "I am not smarter than a 5th grader" contestant...so here you go, its yet another yarn. Sometimes I wish the media would be eaten up by a man eater...alas! there aren't any more of those life savers around no more...

Highway To Hell

2009-06-13T03:12:00.000-07:00

Following the announcement of the closure of highway access through Bandipur National Park (http://tinyurl.com/m973tc), our esteemed government has done exactly what we expected from them...NOTHING. It's no surprise that the Karnataka CM, 'whatthehell-appa' has his tail between his legs in the wake of the agitation proposed by the lorry owners and co. Today, as yesterday, sees another false promise.

If we allow these goons to go on this way, very soon we're going to see a paradigm shift in animal behaviour. They're going to get far more agitated, less tolerant and extremely aggressive. We never seem to learn from our mistakes. It's only a matter of time before another wild elephant attack results in the wiping out of the herd and a broader road for man and his lust...money.

It's time for someone to make a stand...oh I almost forgot, we voted for a better government, or did we?

Another One Bites The Dust

2009-06-05T03:38:00.000-07:00

Well, here we go again - another man has been mauled to death by a tiger - this time a rare white tiger.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25545907-12335,00.html

Unfortunately there seems to be no reason identified as to why the poor cat killed the zookeeper. Looking back at the history of the zoo, there have been no less than 3 attacks in recent times by animals on humans in the zoo, definately raising the question as to is the park really keeping its animals in order?

Again and again we play with nature and her instincts, we get hit and sometimes killed, but at the end of the day, two species have one member less - man and animal. It's not an ideal balance, but it's a scale that we're tipping by caging these animals who simply aren't born to live within cages or in captivity - when you take their freedom away, they come for yours...

It's a lesson all zoo's over the world need to learn...that you cannot put an animal into captivity and think it will change its behaviour - it has years of animal instinct, the will to survive is stronger than the need to survive...and we're doing nothing but coming in their way...

Until we realise that we're the ones that are responsible for the killing of our fellow beings using animals as a means, we're never going to be successful in saving them...

The Tiger of Faizabad: Running Out Of Time

2009-01-26T08:03:00.000-08:00

The tiger of Faizabad is a tiger that has created a fair bit of news in the recent past. However, this tiger remains elusive as ever, true to the nature of the beast, and in a way, that is what has saved this tiger from the fate of its man-eating ancestors.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/maneating-tiger-on-prowl-wanted-live-not-dead/82815-3.html

Right now, the WTI is fighting for this particular specimen to be taken alive and not dead, which augurs well for tiger researchers. In the past, many man-eaters or part man-eaters or even suspected man-eaters have been killed due to public pressure, unsurprisingly. However, this tiger now harbours a unique study possibility and a genuine case for man-animal conflict. It appears that this tiger has indeed gone a little further than others of its human-fondness kind and taken to a regular beat around the affected area. Sadly, the Forest Department has earmarked this tiger for death by shooting, which would greatly endanger the prospects of continuing the bloodline of this particular local gene pool (if the tiger is a male) and correspondingly reduce the number of possible mating partners for a male tiger (if the tiger is a female). Whichever way you look at it, it constitutes an immediate conservational issue, something that wildlifers all over India need to look at very carefully and openly campaign against the killing of this beast.

That it should be caught is in no doubt, else this killer of men will fall victim to the vicissitudes of authorities positions on tigers. This tiger presents a unique opportunity for wildlife officials to study the cause of this phenomenon and also prevent further such instances that may further deplete tiger populations in the area. They need to come out with a plan that clearly defines why this tiger became a man-eater and what restrictions can be put in place on both populations to enable the tiger to remain in its inherited area and man, to continue to eke out an existence.

We cannot let this tiger be taken dead, yes, it has committed crimes against men, but do we know why? Give it a fair trial, after all the man who cost the country 7000 crores is quite at home in a so-called jail.

Jumbo Menace: To whom and at what cost?

2008-11-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

I’m sure all of us would have read of the latest ‘jumbo menace’ making front page news in most leading dailies. Well, the most important question is not why, but why not? Who has termed this as a ‘jumbo menace’? I don’t find this collection of words in any English dictionary, normal or abnormal. The point is that there is simply no phenomenon known as ‘jumbo menace’. This is a term that has been coined for those who do not understand the underlying reasons behind the elephant – human conflict and in most cases, those who coin these terms cannot even pin point a conflict area on a map!

Basically, elephants, like all migratory creatures, roam far and wide in search for that all encompassing nectar – the sweet water and food, of which the world is in dire need to conserve. Added to this are years of tradition and history, where herds follow a specific route that their ancestors once followed. And to top off this elephant pizza, we humans encroach upon elephant habitat in ways such as plantations, roads, houses, resorts, etc.

Cases in point:
Take for a simple and easily accessible example:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1065865/Pictured-Elephants-march-hotel-lobby-built-migration-trail.html
In this case a herd of African elephant in Zambia followed a migratory path that now had a lodge built in the midst of it. The migratory path doesn’t always have elephant on it and is seasonal, but the lodge has visitors year round. As research revealed, a mango tree happened to be a source of food for this particular herd (when the mango fruit ripens every year) and as usual made their yearly sojourn to this tree only to find the Mfuwe Lodge standing in their path. Quite naturally, being off this path for a year, the elephants were quite ‘one tracked’ and proceeded through the lodge premises to take up the trail beyond and move over to the tree in question that stood right next to the lodge.
The many wonders of nature and its providing quotients are well explained here – a simple mango tree, a source of shade and fruit to humans, a source of traditional food for elephants. So when the lodge was built, the mango tree was just a piece of furniture, but little did the world know that this one tree served as a traditional source of food for one family of pachyderms. In our own little ways, we affect the animal population so greatly that we alter the balance of life’s processes itself, sometimes irreversibly. The good news is that the elephants did not turn away from the path even when confronted by a stone building, and following years of tradition, went gallantly forward and ate their fill from the tree.
Today, this excursion forms a great attraction quotient, but in the long run, is this ‘inviting’ reception for the elephants good for them or us? The answer is no, because we as humans, assume that we are greater in strength and ability than the great black one. However, we need to remember that there is a very real phenomenon known as ‘elephant rage’ and it is a scourge to all those who encounter it. But the perpetrators of this behaviour are none other than those two legged encroachers of animal paradises – man.
We have invited these pachyderms to our backyard, but at what cost? An elephant has evolved from the great mammals of ages past, and we have to realize that these are wild animals in every sense of the word, even though the characteristics they exhibit may suggest otherwise. They will always have the will to succeed at any cost, to drink, eat and continue the bloodline – human or no human in their path.
Next, closer to home, take a look at this:
http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1208754
This is an emotionally powered report in a newspaper which has two sides to it – the human and the animal. The report fairly weighs the balance in favour of the farmer in question, but the argument that could be raised, but was not, that is where did the elephant come from and was this farm in a migratory path or an elephant corridor? The answer is most likely to be a resounding yes!
However, with India’s population bursting at the seams, and yet to endorse underwater or outer space housing colonies to reduce the impact on land, we encroach on forest habitat that is extremely crucial to retaining the balance of nature. Hence at times it becomes more a factor of how to deal with the human rather than the animal. We need to come out with innovative and strict measures to offer to human settlers in order for us to achieve the greater good of retaining an animal habitat. In this case, a compensation was paid off to the family, but the land still remained where it was! This will invite future trouble and we’ll have another source of ‘jumbo menace’.
The report doesn’t mention whether the animal was a tusker, a lone male, a female or a unit. What it does say, is that he was trampled under the ‘mighty feet of an elephant’. Yes, true, but why not? Do you or I encourage a thief to make himself welcome in our own homes? If the answer is yes, then the elephant is to blame.

In our own distorted visions of increasing economic development across rural areas and forest areas, we are destroying very minute, but immensely critical, aspects of the natural balance that Mother Nature set in motion eons ago. Paddy fields, it is a well know fact, attract elephants. The irony here is that paddy is a great revenue turner in India’s coffers, being a major agriculturist economy. So we can’t stop paddy growth, but we can reduce paddy growth in areas bordering forests to reduce the impact of human-animal conflict. But this is easier said than done, and very well developed plans for relocation of croplands, farmers and settlements need to be implemented on the ground and also provide an equal footing in terms of monetary benefits to the people, and if possible raising the ceiling.

To rehabilitate habitats, it’s important to restore or preserve the current population as they are in, in the environment they inhabit. The very real problem is the human aspect and this is something that offers great hope because, we as humans, are rational people, if treated in the right way. Force sometimes is not the only answer. It is up to the genuinely concerned naturalists and conservationists to understand the relative impact of BPL and animal-human conflict and find viable solutions.

So, the next time you hear of ‘jumbo menace’, try and look at it from the animal’s point of view, that it is indeed a crime to the animal to take away from it, what it inherited, and if we still persist, there is a price to pay.

Conservation of India’s wildlife is paramount to her importance in natural resources, her USP to the world and will be her legacy.

Kodekerai - In the midst of KA's playgrounds

2008-11-16T18:42:00.000-08:00

One fine Saturday morning saw three of us packed and bundled into a trusted MM550 and on the way to Kodekerai. After the provisions were procured at various points and the inner men satisfied, we finally embarked on the rutted track to Kodekerai. The road, or rather, broad path cut through the forest, is lined with treacherous ditches and rainwater channels (hello! can the government hear us calling??) that require careful navigation or a strong dose of teh vilest spirits. En route, we picked up a couple of villagers from Kodekerai and so began our association with these simple village folk. Through and through the lush jungle we went, all the while looking for signs of any animal,but all we saw was that very thoughtfully left behind and well constructed pile of elephant dung. After a long and bumpy ride we crested the top of a small rise that brought us into view of the main dwelling units of Kodekerai. The village seemed to have three distinct levels - one at the beginning, then one slightly further up the road and finally houses on the mildly terraced fields.

The moment we arrived, everything but the cattle were thrown into a state of abstract functionality. Men, women, children and village mongrels turned out in their hordes to catch a glimpse of the three ragged individuals loaded with cigarettes, bags and bottles. As expected,they did not readily take to conversation. However, slowly a teenage lad, who was one of our companions on the way to Kodekerai came across and chatted with us albeit like two lovers on their first date. Slowly the conversation veered around to the fact that we needed someone to take us into the forest beyond and upto Gutherayan Peak. Hushed whispers and hastily stopped laughter were what our answers were, and then, lo and behold, the village, as one man, turned tail andperformed a Houdini on us! We were left alone with the hand pump and the community well for company. So be it, we said and waited with impatient breath and curses left at the tips of our tongues. But then a head here, a head there, and a few legs later, we were on the way to a house where we could get a tumbler of tea and hope to recruit a local for the trek.

After a small walk through the upper reaches of the village, we finally came across a friendlier bunch of folks, maybe the thinner air has also thinned their fears-:)...and slowly but surely we were on the path to finding a solution. The solution was reached in almost film style - the lad of our story, Madhi, for I have now forgotten his given name, agreed to accompany us once out of earshot and eyesight of the main body of villagers and he was to beaccompanied by two other brave men. So after The Great Haggle, we finally commenced our trek, and the village was more interested in knowing how three city dwellers would fare in the jungle where none tread after dark.

More than once we were asked if we were'nt scared of spending the night in the jungle. No quantity of Fear of The Dark concerns could dampen our spirits (by now we were in dire need of them)...and off we went through well laid out aromatic cattle dung trails (someone should take this idea of aromatic spas and convert it into a Dung'matic' Spa). The trail, once past the village precints, wound through fairly dense shrubbery,lantana most of the time. A steep climb ensued and we came across a few places where the forest floor was bereft of shrubbery and undergrowth, creating a kind of ethereal, cathedral like feeling where the trunks towered overhead in a dense canopy with flits of light flirting with our eyes.

We covered a fair distance and finally decided to camp halfway between Kodekerai and Gutherayan in a narrow cleft of land that on the left provided shelter in the form of an expanse of rock and in front in the form of a ledge that bordered a small collection of perennial water. I'm not sure whether this could be called a lake, pond or such like, but it was of considerable size and seemed to have a further reach where our eyes couldn't penetrate the undergrowth. This should be an ideal spot to catch mammalian action in summer. We laid out our meagre possessions and asked the locals to gather firewood, which they did and then left us in the company of nature and it's finest creations, the great and small.

The skies were overcast and provided a perfect setting for an evening of solitude in the forest shrouded in deep and dark foliage with the colourfulc alls of myriads of birds and insects. I am not a birder of thefeathered kind, and unfortunately couldn't put a name to a call, butsuffice to say that my companions had a merry time with thebirds...of the feathered variety. It was a surreal feeling, lying in the semi-darkness of the premaure evening and listening to the gentle lapping of water in the distance.

With dusk falling quickly, we began to wolf down dinner and set up the fire for the remainder of the night.O nce food was done with, our attentions were drawn to the fire. Once a blaze was set up, we trotted away for a small walk in the pitch dark night with the aid of rapidly diminishing torch light and everything was conspicuous by its absence. All of a sudden, like a ghost feeling our skin, we felt something cold and damp on our bodies...For a moment nothing registered, and then came the pitterpatter of raindrops! Damn! the open rocks wouldn't offer any shelter now...So back to the campsite we went and contemplated on a night of rain, and this debate raged hotly, in competition with the fire, until the wet mats and sleeping bags did the trick. So, the three of us physically moved the fire from the rocks to the water's edge a furlong or two away...and they say carrying firearms in a jungle isprohibited...pooh! Back and forth went the fire train, with the burning embers still guiding us just as the Star of Bethlehem guided the three wise men inthe time of Christ...Finally, after a lot of firewood collection that included stamping, hacking, breaking dead branches and moving still smoking firewood, we had a fire going in a hollow of a tree trunk that lay across thepathway on the water's edge.

We spent a wonderful late evening drowning in the sounds of silence, louder than ever before, with not a single animal call to numb the senses. But it was an experience worth every bit of it, and only brought to the fore the fact that if we do not preserve this area today, then no one will ever know the beauty of a jungle night ever again...

Silently as a shadow, the night sped on with the flames rising up and licking the air that hung still and sullen in this forest cathedral. The frogs kept up a choir of cacophony, and we drifted in and out of sleep and nirvana and finally hit the sack with the saying of old 'early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy andwise' forming a formidable companion with fatigue and off we went to the land of stars.

The night passed without event and the fire burned away keeping uswarm and safe. We awoke by about 5.30 am to a still dark sky. The dawn came, cold, purple and damp. The feeling of being in the midst of the jungle was reinfirced stronger than ever. A hasty mish mash of cold turkey and bread was proclaimed as the holy bread of breakfast, and by 7.30 am after all the necessary ablutions, we began our trek back to Kodekerai.

This time our arrival was greeted with a reception alike the one that Sachin Tendulkar gets when he walks into a playing cauldron. For one, none of the villagers expected to see us alive again, let alone return to the village. No doubt, the entire village would have heard of our arrival the previous evening and soon we became the cynosure of all eyes and mouths. Tea, with buffalo milk, and sweetened, did much to restore our strength and we were off with Madhi to Bettumugalam to see if we could find some idli's...yes idli's...

The path to Bettumugalam is laced with bamboo and other trees, perfect elephant habitat and it wound in and out, making for an enjoyable (not for the chassis though) drive. We dropped off Madhi and had a few stone idli's with a pungent chutney that confirmed my long standing suspicion that even rolling idli's gather moss...

It is absolutely heart breaking to see a forest that holds so much wealth in flora, almost devoid of fauna. The forest is well kept, not strewn with garbage and the like, and holds sufficient hope to house those gentle giants, elephants, if we can all make a strong statement coupled with hard action to bring back the glory of old and the nights where the jungle reverbrated to the roars, screams and calls of its true denizens...

A Date With Tusker and His Cousins

2008-10-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

In Jan of 2006 I decide to take a break from work and head to the jungles of Masinagudi, nestled at the foothills of the mighty Nilgiris. The drive is splendid, aided by the sighting of many a colourful bird and a low amount of traffic. We decide to check out a place called Gopalswamy Betta, just before Bandipur and proceed to the hilltop with the car making the only sound in this vast expanse of forest. Soon we are up and offer our prayers at the temple.

On our way down I am hit by my sixth sense - the road is hardly 10 feet wide and in need of a coat of tar. I switch off the engine and park it at a clearing. There is pin drop silence all around, but the hair at the back of my neck is standing with anticipation.. I cannot explain it, or why I stopped, but in a few moments, I spot a faint movement in the foliage..looks like an entire rock face is moving. It is a natural camouflaged..I am mesmerized by this movement and I realise it is an elephant.. He clambers up the hillside with amazing agility for his size and crosses the road in front of us. We keep quiet, partly out of fear of a herd following, and partly out of awe - watching the huge animal moving with such dexterity and quiet.. I frantically throw glances around searching for a herd, but there appear to be none. We give the elephant a good 15 minutes to clear the road and then quietly move on..a fantastic spotting of an elephant in the wild on the first day of the trip itself!

We drive on through the forests of Bandipur and Mudumulai, I pass the spot where a couple of years ago had a close shave with a herd of elephants and am instantly reminded that I am in their territory and my car can't quite withstand even a resting foot... It is a perfect afternoon, the rays of the sun flitter through the space between the leaves, and sunshine bathes the canopy above me in a yellowish blaze. It is warm, but the feeling of nature brings utmost warmth.. We pass the Moyar river with its bottle green waters and mahouts bathing their charges..butterflies dance in the gentle waffle of the breeze and a wild boar crashes past the car and into the undergrowth..a handsome peacock in the loveliest of hues stands in mock attention as he watches us glide by...

We are met by a group of foreigners who chatter frantically about the coming of an elephant - I am galvanized into action - another wild spotting on the road - luck is amazing! Alas!..not to be - how could I forget that for them an elephant, trained or wild, is an elephant?? Disgruntled I drive on. We are now on the narrow road that connects Mudumalai to Ooty via Masinagudi - a road that is a wildlife enthusiast's dream - lone, desolate, and cut off from traffic after 6pm. Every second in that silent jungle is paradise, there are birds of every kind, their chattering brings music to my ears, I find myself floating - jolted back as we go into a ditch...

The faint change in temperature heralds the beginning of the plains at Masinagudi, it is a village I am familiar with, having spent time there in quiet solitude and wonder, we enter the main road with its cute little shops and houses and the ever present Tamil Nadu Goverment Wine Store. A few beers are transferred to the boot and we're off to a friend's place. I laze about on the luxurious grass, cropped low by famished deer and my mind is taken to another world, a world of the Blue Mountains, beautiful flowers, wild country and bonfires.. As I lie down I feel cosy and soon the ants make themselves at home all over my body (talk about being a gigolo!!) .. but that soon becomes meaningless as I look up into the Blue Mountains and all I have around is a beautiful wild country..fresh air and a thousand fireflies buzzing around...

I find my friend asleep in his hammock, under the influence of the local 'sweet leaf'! He is rudely awakened from his Utopia of nude women and the like and as I profusely shake hands with him he finds it rather hard to remember who I am... He takes us on a whirlwind tour of the countryside in his brand new Honda City V-Tec. I make a request for a take-off at 6000rpm and he promptly obliges - the car shoots forward and we reach 120 kmph in a blink of an eye... We acquire a bunch of fresh 'sweet leaf' from an old hand and he is profuse in his thanks for the reward...for any fan of the stuff - this is where it's sweetest! We settle at a stream nearby, with the hope of catching elephants on their journey, the wind has settled down, the purplish haze of a setting sun mystifies this beautiful spot. I look around for fresh droppings, find none, obviously the elephants have given the stream a miss today... We delve a little deeper into the jungle, off road, in the City, it gets a little dicey when we approach a clump of bamboo that shelters a watering hole, we don't stand much chance against a mock charge...however adrenalin runs high and the drive goes on into the late evening.. It is a mix of relief and sadness that sets in when we are on terra firma again, and it is pitch dark. The resort lies off the road to Ooty, and as soon as you turn off, you're engulfed in a thorny forest where an attack by a startled bull elephant or bison means a lot of haggling with the insurance guys. But also, you stand a chance of spotting wildlife by the dozen. As we enter the resort gate the piercing beam picks up myriad bobbing yellow orbs - deer! by the hundreds! A masterpiece of a setting, only wish I could paint that picture.. Late evening is dealt with with updates of the town and its folk, flora and fauna.

We hear the sad news that a man has been trampled to death by an elephant a week ago and a car found itself in the path of a herd. This is the beauty of living in the world of animals - tranquility and anxiety, fear and wonder, awe and despair... We hire a jeep to take us on a night tour of the area - a largely uneventful trip thanks to the resounding roar of the engine in the still night, no creature could possibly withstand that noise.. A return to the resort is complimented with an excellent dinner of country chicken and rice. I am at peace with myself, the war within has ceased... Next morning, I am off hiking into the bush, enthralled by the spiderwebs and footprints, signs that animals have been here not too long ago...I keep a watchful lookout behind me...I lose myself in the maze of trees and game-paths...I walk the path of freedom, of solitude and inner peace... I spot a kite overhead, circling over and over - there's a kill! and it's apparent it's fresh since the kite's not coming down to investigate...the kill is about a couple of kilometres ahead...I don't venture further and return for breakfast. After breakfast we make the winding trip up to Ooty for no real goal other than the 'wish' of the woman in our company...anyway the hills are beautiful as always. We return and have tea by a cute little shop midway. It makes for an amazing setting amongst the hills... We return to the resort with an appetite for destruction - it is nearing 6pm and the forest is waking up...we decide to make a trip off road to a rather well known person's - Mark's - place. He is an eccentric but his place affords a good view of the surrounding jungle.

As we turn off the road into the forest by way of a path, I realise that we are cut off from retreat, reversing would require us to almost reverse blind, not a good thought. Anyway we move ahead and there is a blind curve to the right. Beyond this curve is a huge tamarind tree that towers above, and a few furlongs from there, lies Mark's place. As we turn the corner, we are jolted out of our skins - there...below the gigantic tamarind...watching us closely and with admirable composure stands a living giant - a handsome tusker... My knees turn to water and the car stops as a result...there is fear, there is awe, there is respect...

He doesn't move an inch. He watches us closely, all the while chewing his branch. If it were me, I'd be losing that branch out of my rear...
Just looking up at him sent shivers up my spine and for a moment I thought of getting out of the car and photographing him, but then I realised that there wouldn't be anyone in the driving seat if things got ugly. So I stayed put and looked at him, and he stared right back. Undoubtedly, he was thinking the same thing as me - who would back away?
We decide that a quiet exit is possible and the same is achieved keeping a lookout for the tusker - he doesn't feel upto chasing us today - later we find that, he has been creating a ruckus in the neighbourhood... We circle around him and park the car. Climbing out we keep to closed ground, and we eventually track him from the rear. Again, there is danger that there is a herd around, and we can't see them, so I quickly find a rock of sizeable height and climb it to look around...no herd...we're safe. Pictures are clicked of the giant and we decide to move ahead to Mark's place. We undertake this journey in a jeep now, as it would cover dirt tracks faster than the car. We reach Mark's... and take up position - we are treated to an array of sightings...peacock, boar, fox, and a lone tusker! he is quite jolly - kicking up dust and stones as he ambles through the jungle... We spend the next few hours viewing the jungle from our hideout and grudgingly return.

Our return to the resort is heralded by the advent of another group of friends...the night turns into a party...with the required catalysts of course. The night turns out to be a cold one and a bonfire is lit and we revel in the merry company. Food and drink are consumed with inevitable hunger and thirst.
As the night wears on, one begins to feel the effect of a cold night in a jungle - the mist is ever present, and hangs about like a ghost curtain. Suddenly there is a wild scream of anger!! Just outside the thorn fence that encircles the compound - it is an elephant, and something's ticked her off...

Fortunately we don't hear much of her again, and neither do we attempt to solve her problems.
At about midnight, we decide to drive up a hill, which is almost nearly vertical in a climb, and therefore, impossible for any vehicle except an SUV and 4WD. But my dear friend, in his newly acquired City, attempts a world record climb in that car. So here we are, stuffed like sardines in a tin, and going up the cliff! There is no road, but rock and mud, interspersed with undergrowth. How in the world would a city bred car climb even 10 feet up this incline?

The first noise we hear is a crrrrrraaaaannnnnnkkkkkk across the underside of the chassis. And it doesn't seem to register on the driver. Again, after a futile attempt, we are met with this strange noise and the attempt is wisely abandoned.

We eventually climb that hill in a Gypsy. The rest of the night is spent in the room, relaxing tired muscles... At around 2 am - I hear a howl...

On the Trail of Jumbo & Junior

2008-10-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Tracking in a jungle is always a thrill albeit dangerous, but if one has learned the ways of the jungle to a small extent, he will be able to track in reasonable safety. Thanks to the innumerable accounts of hunting and jungle ways by Kenneth Anderson & Jim Corbett, I can track reasonably well.
Early April, and the forests of Mudumalai are dry and thirsting for precious rain. The forest glades are a mix of brown and green. The animals have moved deep inside in search of water and adequate shade.
I camped at my usual getaway in Masinagudi and after gathering a bit of information that an elephant unit (mother and calf) were around the vicinity, I decided to track them in the morning. Taking into account that the sun would be pretty hot by half past eight, I had a leisurely breakfast and then donned the essential khaki and shorts and strode out to pick up the spoor. Fortunately there was fresh spoor and tracking was quite easy. The elephants had used a game-path and not veered off into thick forest. Here I had to take a gamble – whether or not the elephants would be about foraging or resting, fortunately the very impact of the sun on my back gave me the answer – no animal would be out eating in this soaring temperature, so I threw a bit of caution to the wind and quickened my pace. After this I checked the direction of the wind, there was absolutely no wind blowing, which was a deterrent, because the elephants would now be able to hear me clearly. So caution was applied again and now checking carefully to see where my foot landed as the forest floor was strewn with debris and dried twigs, stamping about on which advertises the presence of the hated foe, man, I continued on keeping a sharp lookout behind. Elephants are particularly numerous in this area and it wouldn’t be wise to have a bull at my back over comparatively open ground.
Slowly the trail wound its way into thicker forest, where green branches now took the place of dry ones. Here, the going was, of necessity, slow simply because the droppings had increased and the huge footprints were visible in the dust. Soon I reached a fork where both the trails took me to a clump of trees, typical elephant hideouts. So I doubled back a bit and circumvented these clumps and found a rock upon which I climbed to gain a better view of the surroundings. As expected, there was a waterhole, albeit dry, but stained with spoor, in the midst of the clump. I was pretty sure the mother and calf were resting in that clump and occasionally taking a bite or two off the trees. After about ten minutes I heard the distant crack of a branch being broken off the tree, in the way only elephants can. Now, sure that the elephants were in the clump I was looking at, I decided to sit and wait on that hard and hot rock.
I sat and listened to the few noises that the elephants made whilst resting. Elephants sleep in a standing position in the shade of trees. After about ten minutes a shepherd joined me and upon questioning him I learnt that this particular unit had been active around the hamlet of Bokkapuram the previous night, and he said that if I remain here the entire day, I’d get a good shot of the elephants. He left with his flock only to return a couple of minute’s later saying that the elephants were right in his path and he did not want to risk an encounter. So leaving me with a word of caution he headed in the opposite direction.
A sharp trumpeting sound broke the silent air and just as suddenly as it had come, it died out, for a moment my heart was in my mouth, thinking that the elephants had gotten wind of me, but once the nerves had calmed, and rationale returned, I realized that it was nothing but a mother taking care of her calf and the sound was of admonishment for perhaps an unruly moment of behaviour on the calf’s part.
Since my companions had an urgent matter to attend back at Belmont, we had to leave the happy mother and calf behind for another day.
I must not forget to mention here that, as I was tracking with relatively inexperienced people, but who are not afraid, caution was of paramount importance and that’s why I did not follow the spoor into the clumps but rather heard proceedings from a short distance away.
Another day, another night, the forest is my land.

The Call Of The Tiger!

2008-10-06T20:58:00.000-07:00

With every foray into the jungle comes that one inevitable dream – to see a tiger! The king of the Indian jungle, the famous feline, the ferocious hunter, the one whose forefathers had at times slain a hated human enemy, the lord of his kingdom, the handsome beast that turns livers to water, the majestic cat whose beauty can never be surpassed.

TIGER, tiger, burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

With those immortal lines of William Blake in my head I set forth to Anaikutty on a late, warm April evening. The jungle was dry but extremely thick as usual. It had an air or foreboding, an eerie calm as dusk set in. The last couple of hours had been spent looking for elephants and bison. The latter were in attendance this evening, and aided with a lovely purple hue in the sky, the Indian bison strode majestically out as if mocking these human creatures that walk their land. We were lucky to find a suckling calf as well, but had to be extremely cautious as we had in fact driven pretty close to a herd that was on both sides of the path.

The bison were as silent as ever, the air still hung heavy and there was not a sound in the jungle, not a single bird call, or an insect cry. Nothing. If silence had a meaning, this was it. An eerie calm gave the sixth sense slight tension, the strange sense that something magical was about to happen.

Dusk had set in and the sky was still purple. We had parked the jeep on the road and taken a small walk onto an embankment which rose steeply to our right and on our left and immediate front descended into a deep ravine. The jeep was parked on the road that bisected this embankment and another on the opposite side and there was a game path that crossed over the road from one embankment to another. In short, we were hemmed in on all sides by hills and rocks. It created an atmosphere of being in a hollow, a very large hollow at that.

We climbed the embankment to get a better view of the ravine below. Ahh! What a sight! There was a stream deep down, of which we were sure. Everything was quiet, the breeze was non-existent, not a leaf moved, not a speck of dust flew. Pure and unimaginable silence ruled the land.

Suddenly from the cavernous lung of the ravine came a guttural call…the call of the tiger! A long drawn out call, not a growl, but the entire ravine reverberated with that terrific sound. It did not last more than ten seconds, but that is all it took to make the hair on the back of my neck stand upright. The call of the tiger! The setting perfect – dusk had silhouetted the hills and the ravine was aglow in a shallow stream of light. We had heard the call of the lord of the jungle. The tiger. And nothing can take that moment away from me. Never. He was on the move and one more of his subjects would fall today. The circle of life continues. The majesty of the beast doesn't have to be seen to be believed, just hearing that call, made every single moment of that journey all the more exciting and as the adrenalin began to pump I could feel my heart thudding against my chest.

We sat for a while hoping that the tiger would come up the ravine, but he was apparently following the stream and on the hunt…Tiger, Tiger burning bright!

The Kenneth Anderson Nature Society

2008-10-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) quite expectedly, is named in memory of Southern India’s most celebrated hunter turned conservationist, Kenneth Anderson (1910 – 1974). He was a rare breed who understood, loved and respected nature even in the most dangerous of circumstances when faced with a maddened charge by a man-eater or a rogue elephant.

He extolled the virtues of an untouched jungle and the merits of leaving the jungles of South India as they were. We, who have spent many a night and day, reading his blood curdling tales of the most vile man-eating tigers and leopards, cozy tales of the jungle and its inhabitants and absorbing all of its lore in the minutest detail, decided to honour him in India’s time of need, in her time of desperate measures to save her true legacy - her forests and its inhabitants.

KANS consists of members who are like minded, share the spirit of adventure, have a conservationist approach and above all adore the diminishing denizens of the jungle – great and small. The spiders, ants, butterflies, the elephant, the deer and the tiger all serve as a reminder of just how great our natural wealth is.

KANS brings to the fore the idea of conservation and through hard work by some of the more enterprising members of repeatedly requesting the Forest Department to pass on some of their troubles has now provided the ideal platform for everybody connected with this noble cause to launch their attack against the marauding enemy of development and illegal poaching and associated evils.

On the 2nd of October 2008, the Society met at the Aiyur Forest Bungalow, one of Anderson’s most favoured haunts, to officially begin this chapter of wildlife conservation. It was indeed an emotional moment to behold when one of our long standing dreams finally began to see the light of day.

Issues such as socio-economic struggles, practical difficulties for the forest department and habitat destruction are at the forefront of our activity, but these are boundaries that far transcend barriers of government, people and the law of the land.

Plans are many and the means to execute them are afoot, slowly, but surely, the men, women and children that make up this society will achieve their objectives toward providing our future generations with a glance of that most revered animal – the tiger!

If you are true lover of nature and interested in its conservation, please join this unique and focused group to join the fight for survival.

The Tiger - From The Hunter to the Hunted

2008-10-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

PICTURE: Lord Curzon and lady friend with a tiger shot during a hunt

The tiger – that majestic beast with which has painted stripes of terror over the denizens of the jungle, the beast of which many tales are told, and some untold. The tiger – the lord of all it surveys, has turned from the mighty hunter to the hunted.

Ever since the British thought it sport to hunt this beast in his own territory, the tiger has been hunted down by British royalty, Indian royalty, and post independence by poachers. Indian maharajahs and princes are also guilty of this act. Some of the biggest names in conservation today, Jim Corbett and Kenneth Anderson also began their careers as hunters and as likely as not killed as many innocent tigers as they did man-eaters.
The rule of tooth and claw has been rapidly replaced by the rule of finger and trigger, with an unsporting adversary in man, taking his place at the top of the chain and assuming the role of chief destructor.

If you look at the distinct sub-species of tigers, you’d find that only a handful have a real chance of survival. Earlier they roamed lands far and wide from Siberia, Bangladesh, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China, South East Asia and Caspian regions.

In order of their wild population, the currently surviving sub-species are:
1. The Bengal Tiger (Panthera Tigris tigris) is native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma. The current strength of this population is put at 1,411 wild tigers (NTCA). Probably the biggest news in recent times was the complete depletion of the tiger population to poaching in the Indian wildlife reserve of Sariska, incidentally a Project Tiger reserve! Conservation status: endangered.
2. The Indo-Chinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris corbetti) (named after Jim Corbett) roams Cambodia, China, Laos, Burma, Thailand and Vietnam. The population is rapidly diminishing due to habitat fragmentation and inbreeding. These tigers are widely slaughtered outside China to provide medicines to the Chinese! Conservation status: endangered.
3. Malayan Tiger (Panthera Tigris malayensis) is the world’s most recently named sub-species, as recently as 2004. Only about 600 tigers remain in the wild today. Conservation status: endangered.
4. Sumatran Tiger (Panthera Tigris sumatrae) is native to Sumatra. Numbers in the wild are estimated at 400 and about 20% of the population was poached before the turn of the millennium and the current chief threat is habitat destruction. Conservation status: critically endangered.
5. Siberian Tiger (Panthera Tigris altaica) is native to eastern and parts of northern Siberia. This tiger is one of the direct descendants from the saber-toothed tiger of eons past. Just about 500 of these magnificent animals remain in the wild. Conservation status: critically endangered.
6. South China Tiger (Panther Tigris amoyensis) is found in South China and it comes as no surprise that this species is almost extinct given the Chinese preference toward tiger parts for uses ranging from medicines to aphrodisiacs. When they’ve been prevented from having more than two kids, wonder what the use of an aphrodisiac could be! Interestingly, only about 50 of these animals remain in the wild, thereby dissolving the genetic diversity required to sustain a subspecies. Conservation status: critically endangered.
7. Balinese Tiger (Panthera Tigris balica) was native to Bali. It is now extinct as a sub-species, the last known specimen found in 1937. Conservation status: extinct.
8. Javan Tiger (Panthera Tigris sondaica) was native to Java. Continous hunting and habitat destruction brought about its extinction in the 1950’s itself, when the required numbers to sustain a sub-species were wiped out and fewer than 20 tigers remained in the wild. Conservation status: extinct.
9. Caspian Tiger (Panthera Tigris virgata) once roamed Persia, Iran, Iraq, the former Soviet Union and Turkey. The last known tiger of this sub-species was shot dead in 1970 in Turkey. Conservation status: extinct.

Basically, of the 9 sub-species of tiger, 3 are extinct, 1 is almost extinct given that it doesn’t have the genetic numbers to sustain a future bloodline, 2 are critically endangered and living in regions where other sub-species have turned extinct and 3 are endangered and at the risk of extermination by poachers, habitat destruction and the dangers of inbreeding.

Usually, nature equips her animals in such a way, that they are able to evolve and adapt to a rapidly changing environment. But given the rapid destruction of the tiger species as a whole, the very ingredient required to sustain tigers, life, itself has ebbed away. With not enough genetic diversity across its sub-species, the tiger did not evolve to face its enemy – man and is on the verge of extinction.

It’s almost too late to save this majestic marauder, but there is still hope…(keep China away!) Here’s why:
Most Chinese have a long standing belief that various tiger parts have medicinal properties from painkillers to aphrodisiacs. Strangely, there is no scientific evidence to support this even in the age of rapid technological development in the medical world. Though the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora has banned tiger poaching, widely documented cases of tiger poaching and subsequent sale of parts and skins are reported regularly in China.

Start fighting for this animal’s right now, it deserves to live inside every one of us if we are to survive the world and it’s degradation.

Tiger Conservation in India – The Apex Predator & Ecosystem Relationship

2008-10-05T07:06:00.000-07:00

Suddenly we seem to have woken up to the fact that we have no tigers left in the wild! Well, hello reality!!! When India launched Project Tiger to much fanfare, no one really knew what needed to be done and sure as hell, we still don’t know what needs to be done.

The facts are simple as they are startling:
At the turn of the century we had 40,000 wild tigers and today we have no more than 1,400 tigers in the wild. That is an alarming drop of 97% in tiger population. In other words we’ve been disposing of our national animal at the rate of 370 tigers a year till 2008! Well, who cares, India is too busy signing nuclear pacts that will bring about development, but at what cost? Our forests are depleting at an alarming rate which should worry us. The figures are self explanatory:

After independence India lost forest area in the following manner:
4696 million hectares forest land to non-forestry purposes
0.07 million hectares to illegal encroachment
4.37 million hectares to cultivation
0.518 million hectares to river valley projects
0.141 million hectares to industries and townships
0.061 million hectares to transmission lines and roads

Where is the tiger going to live if we eat up this much of forest land everyday?

The solution is actually, quite simple:
Most people feel that the tiger is an animal worth saving purely because of the majesty the lord of the jungle exudes. Yes it is so, but one must remember that, like nature's other predators, the tiger is an apex predator. In simple language, it is at the top of the food chain in our forests.

Let me explain:
Take a look at the diagram below, representing the food chain in an ecosystem:
CARNIVORES = HERBIVORES = FLORA

The tiger (or leopard) forms the top of the food chain in India and the herbivores such as deer, boar, rodents, etc form the second layer who depend on forests and it’s natural produce such as roots, seeds, etc for survival. In turn, the forest supplies us with oxygen.
If you were to wipe out the tiger, then you’d have a population explosion (as animals can’t use condoms or such contraptions) of deer and boar, which would in turn wipe out large chunks of forest land and grasslands and ultimately land up at your doorstep in search of food. Not to mention, along would come the creepies and crawlies such as snakes, scorpions, etc which would need to look for alternative habitat. Hence it is imperative to understand that the need of the hour is to conserve our forests and our wildlife, however tempting it might be to develop forest land into SEZ's or sell tiger pelts in China for as much as USD 12,000!

Or if you begin at the bottom, almost extinct forests would not be able to sustain herbivore populations, and in turn the carnivores would turn extinct, but NOT before they explore alternate prey…MAN! Yes, that is possible and has been documented too in many cases of man-eating tigers and leopards, and it is not a heroic cause to die with the claws and teeth of a hungry carnivore buried deep inside your stomach...

Moreover, regeneration of forests depends on a large extent to the resident ecosystem, hence if we continue wiping out forests, we begin destruction of an ecosystem that will take eons in regeneration. Somehow, we think that by planting a few trees here and there and having a big press conference about this we're saving the planet...do you hear me corporates???

What we’re doing is changing the critical mass of an entire ecosystem that has generated, regenerated and evolved itself over thousands of years, and in one swift stroke of the axe of development reversing the deep sown seeds of a self reliant and self evolved ecosystem. This effect has spread its tentacles far and wide in phenomena such as climate change and extinction of several critical species. A parallel case in ecosystem mismanagement and human induced ecological imbalance occurred in the world famous Yellowstone National Park where wolves were eliminated from the park. Coyotes took over the mantle of the apex predator, but being biologically unengineered to take over a larger predator’s domain, they faltered in hunting prey and eventually, a marked increase in lame and sick megafauna was noticed. This is also related to the elk population in Yellowstone, which itself is an important part of the Yellowstone food chain. Yes, this happened in the US of A, where most people think nothing untoward can happen...

I don’t condone development, but I would call for sustainable development of an ecosystem and its surroundings. In India, the problem is labour unlike economies like America or Europe, where remuneration for labour is graded. In India, a farmer or agriculturist would get nothing more than a mere equivalent of one bottle of beer for a hard week’s toil in the heat and rain of the tropical heartland. Therefore, it is much easier for a rural hand to move to the cities and towns in search of manual labour in turn leaving the forests devoid of it's natural protectors – it’s own citizens.

What we need to do is to begin breaking down the socio-economic issues dogging populations that are in indirect and direct conflict with animals and the forest, and begin a mass movement of awareness and protests so that the government sits up and begins to take notice. The government is sitting pretty because no one has voice their opinions or thoughts. One Valmik Thapar has been crying himself hoarse for ages on the dwindling numbers of tigers, but all the government has done to quell his allegations is to inflate tiger numbers to such an extent that at times, it is biologically impossible for the species to breed at that rate, unless Viagra was first used by the tiger!

Socio economic struggles to this country are nothing new and it is our strength to rise against all adversity and odds that makes us Indian in our hearts – it is this very strength and concern for the other and our land that should drive us to save our legacy. Programmes to motivate people living in and around our forests, to find sustainable alternative employment, to see that the products manufactured through such are government fueled and projected to the world as an alternative so that we may live, and our animals may live, in the peaceful circle that someone once described as ‘all creatures great and small’.

We need a mass of voices and hands to join together to reverse this terrible enemy that is general apathy toward forests and it’s denizens. In the end it is us, and our children who will suffer the fate of the dinosaurs before us…complete and sure extinction...

We need dedicated citizens who will spend their time and love toward the poor and needy and the animals of India against the money spinning lure of the IT industry.

Join the TigerEye Adventure Group and Kenneth Anderson Nature Society to be a part of this cause and join the fight for our own survival.