Tiger, tiger burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
These lines from William Blake’s The Tiger , bring to mind a fearsome creature whose eyes, fiery and red, look out at you from the dark recesses of the forest. Unfortunately for the tiger, it is an animal both feared and admired. Sometimes it is easily loved and sometimes strongly mistrusted. In the poem it is unclear whether Blake is paying homage to the tiger or is critical of God for creating a creature such as the terrifying creature: Did He smile His work to see? Did He who made the lamb make thee?
In recent weeks the tiger has been in the news repeatedly and it hasn’t been for its declining population. It was in the tourist town of Doddabetta, Udhagamandalam, in the Nilgiris that the tiger made headlines first. A man-eater that had preyed on two women, one man and two cows was shot down by Special Task force personnel in January this year. Now, the hunt is on for an elusive tigress called the ‘Mysterious Queen’, who has killed ten people in six weeks in Uttar Pradesh. The wily tigress has made her way through three national highways, four state highways and three railway crossings in Moradabad and Bijnor districts of UP to the fringes of Corbett National Park, where her pugmark has been last recorded. On her trail are hunters and conservationist. While the hunters are insistent on shooting the tiger, some like young Nazim Khan, a tiger lover and wildlife conservationist, as well as members of the Wildlife Trust of India are hopeful of getting to the tiger before the hunters.
However, the man-eaters of Doddabetta and Corbett have made themselves unpopular with the people of these regions, as they live in fear every day. The children of Doddabetta were unable to attend school for weeks as 45 schools were shut down when the man-eater was on the loose. As for the villagers living near Corbett National Park, their lives haven’t returned to normal as the Mysterious Queen continues to strike fear in their hearts. The tigress has dragged off farmers working on sugarcane fields and villagers venturing into the forest to answer nature’s call, leaving behind only half-eaten bodies as clues. Authorities now suspect that there may be another man-eater on the prowl. Meanwhile, rumours have grown larger than the truth, stoking the flames of fear and hatred against the big cat.
Fighting for survival
An endangered species, the tiger is fighting for its survival in India. Half a century ago India was home to about 40,000 tigers, but today there are as few as 1,400 tigers remaining in the country. Tigers now occupy only 11 per cent of their natural habitat in India. In recent years, the conservation of the species has been the watchword for many. Environmentalists, conservationists, concerned citizens, schools and young students have repeatedly rallied together to protecting the tiger.
If you are an animal lover, it is natural to be disturbed by these tales of hunting and killing of tigers. So, it is important to be informed that not all tigers are man-eaters. In fact, man is not a natural prey for the striped cat. Tigers that are seriously injured or too old to hunt for their natural prey, sometimes turn man-eaters as humans are easier prey. Such tigers may also attack livestock. Wildlife filmmaker and tiger conservation expert, Shekar Dattatri, says, “Sometimes, domestic cattle grazing inside or on the edges of a Sanctuary or National Park get killed and eaten by tigers. For the tiger, a cow or buffalo is food, and it makes no distinction between wild prey such as deer, gaur and wild pig, and domestic livestock. However, for the owner of the killed livestock, it is a big loss. In most cases, the owner of the killed cow or buffalo will accept his loss and move on. However, if cattle kills become frequent, a cattle owner may poison the carcass. When the tiger returns to feed on it again, it ingests the poison and dies a horrible and painful death.”
He adds, “Sometimes a tiger will mistakenly kill a human who is crouched low in the forest while cutting grass or answering the call of nature. These rare instances are accidental and happen when a tiger mistakes a crouched human for prey. At other times, a person may be attacked and even killed when he or she surprises a resting tiger in the forest. In these cases, the startled tiger attacks in self-defence. Since tigers are extremely strong and powerful, even a light blow from a tiger's paw can kill a person. On most occasions, the tiger will leave the scene after it has accidentally killed a human. In rare cases, it may eat the victim. However, it cannot be called a man-eater if this is just a one-off instance. In the rarest of rare cases, a tiger may turn into a habitual man-eater. In most such cases it is because the tiger is old or seriously injured and unable to hunt it's natural prey. Such tigers pose a great danger to the local people and must be removed.”
Like Dattatri, other tiger conservationists too believe that a man-eater must be immediately removed, as among other issues there is the danger of the local population growing resentful of tigers, which could be detrimental to the good work being done to conserve the species. When the man-eater of Doddabetta was shot dead, animal welfare workers and wildlife enthusiasts felt that the animal could have been relocated to a zoo. Sanjay Gubbi of Nature Conservation Foundation, who serves as Panthera’s Tiger Program Coordinator, says, “Capturing though may be more of a popular option from an animal rights perspective, in the larger conservation interest removing them is important. Man-eating incidences decrease public goodwill and degrade political will for conservation. Rehabilitating of wild tigers, especially man-eaters, is certainly not a conservation option. It is expensive and risky if the animal has persistently killed people.”
Animal-wildlife conflict cannot be unexpected, especially in a situation where human habitats are expanding and encroaching wildlife areas. Animals are free creatures, who are sometimes forced to hunt for prey outside of their territories when the prey density in their natural habitat is reduced. An important preventive and precautionary measure in this regard is to ensure a high prey density in the tiger’s natural habitats. Sanjay Gubbi also suggests having trained conflict response units that respond immediately to conflict situations and reduce tensions and halt further killings by the animal. But, in the future when we hear of unwarranted animal attacks on humans, it is also necessary to put yourself in the shoes of the children from these regions and imagine the fear that keeps them from going to school for weeks or playing in the fields near home.
In the book
Interestingly, the legend of the man-eater, perhaps, began with Jim Corbett’s book – Man-Eaters of Kumaon . First published in 1944, the book chronicles the experiences of hunter and naturalist Jim Corbett in tracking and shooting tigers and leopards between 1900 and 1930. The book is filled with ten stories about Corbett’s hunt for the man-eaters in the Himalayas. The tales, incredulous and thrilling, leave the reader doubting the legitimacy of the tales. For example, one man-eater claimed over 400 human victims until Corbett put it down. Another chronicles the tale of a pair of tigers — mother and its grown cub, who killed 64 people between 1925-30. Corbett, brought in by the government to kill the tigers, shot the cub in 1929 and the mother in 1930.
Shoot and kill or zoo?
Filmmaker and tiger conservationist, Shekar Dattatri, says, “There is a debate on whether a habitual man-eater should be tranquillised and put in a zoo or shot and killed. Tranquilising a tiger with a dart gun is often very difficult as the dart gun’s range is limited. Also, the dart, which is light in weight, can be deflected by wind or even a clump of grass. Even if the tiger is successfully tranquillised, it will then spend the rest of its life in a zoo in a highly stressed out condition. The more humane and sensible thing to do, in the case of man-eating tigers, may be to track it down and shoot it. The tiger dies almost instantly and painlessly. A tiger in a zoo has little or no conservation value. If a man-eating tiger is not dealt with quickly, and it continues to kill or maim local people, they may feel fear or hatred towards all tigers in the area, take matters into their own hands, and kill many tigers using poison or traps, in the process killing many non-man-eating tigers too. So, in the interests of all tigers, man-eating tigers must be eliminated swiftly. There have also been cases where irate local people have burnt the local Forest Department office and beaten up staff in their frustration because a man-eating tiger was not removed quickly. While we may feel sad about the loss of one tiger, we can take consolation from the fact that many more tigers will be born if we protect the forest properly. Most importantly, we must remember that in conservation, what is important is the welfare of the species as a whole rather than individuals of that species. Therefore, sometimes hard decisions have to be taken, even though popular sentiment or our own emotions may persuade us otherwise."
