NO WILD TIGER IS SAFE IN INDIA
 Aline’s Tigress at Khana      photography used with kind permission from Chris Brunskill |
These were the words of Belinda Wright spoken to Aline Dobbie on the telephone from Delhi.
Whilst tigers are seen as ‘walking cash registers’ because of the value of their skins and body parts for the Tibetan and Chinese peoples, who greedily and cruelly have no sense of responsibility, they are in extreme danger from poaching. Poachers receive up to £10,000 for a tiger skin and £3,000 for a kilogram of tiger bones, used in traditional Chinese medicine. On a programme screened on BBC recently in The Natural World Series Sir David Attenborough talked of the extreme crisis in tiger numbers throughout India’s wildlife parks. Taking part in the programme were Belinda Wright, Valmik Thapar and Rahgunandan Chundawat; all courageous stalwarts in the struggle to save the tiger.
Belinda once again emphasises that India desperately needs a Centralised Wildlife Crime Bureau that can co-ordinate the urgent work of detecting and punishing all those involved in this vile trade. It would seem that “the tiger is vanishing and no one is listening” said Hashim Tyabji, one of India’s veteran tiger watchers and a conservationist. “Official numbers have been fudged for years, hiding the true extent of the crisis until now.”
The tiger numbers are down 70 per cent since 2002 (which is when I researched my second book India: The Tiger’s Roar). I was led to believe that population pressure was the great threat but in fact the corruption and poaching that has been hidden from the world’s eyes is the most serious cause of the fall in tiger numbers. Under Indira Gandhi Project Tiger saw their numbers rise from 2,000 to 4,300, but now it is calculated that perhaps only 500 tigers are left throughout India.
Wildlife Protection Society of India is Belinda Wright’s brainchild through which she has worked with huge energy and commitment to try and help save and conserve India’s tiger population. In June 2006 it had been announced that the Indian Army would be enlisted to help to protect the tiger population, giving soldiers the power to arrest or even shoot poachers on sight, said Kalpana Palkiwala, the spokesperson for the Ministry of the Environment. There is now even talk of allowing Tiger Farms within India, but this is in emulation of the Chinese and really quite a shameful idea in that by thinking in artificial terms the Indian Government is almost admitting defeat in its half hearted attempts to continue to save the tiger in the wild.
Valmik Thapar who has with equal commitment and energy devoted himself to trying to save tigers said, when questioned recently, the tragedy that has befallen the tiger is that 40,000 tigers existed within India at 1947 and now, at India’s 60th anniversary of Nationhood, there are barely 500. He urges that politicians must educate themselves about India’s wonderful natural world and realise that 600 rivers and streams start their journeys in tiger country – that impacts on everybody; greedy developers would destroy India’s whole eco-system if allowed. Politicians must realise the world will condemn them if India’s magnificent national animal becomes extinct because of their inertia or greed. The villages within national parks should be relocated and compensated and the forest guards must be trained and armed and given back up to combat violent ruthless human predators and given public recognition for their dangerous work.
It also behoves the Indian Diaspora all over the world and other caring people to show their disgust at this appalling lack of energy and commitment. India wants to be seen as a responsible forward moving nation, particularly in this her special anniversary year; she must act decisively with regard to her wonderful emblematic animal the Bengal Tiger; show the World what can be achieved and earn universal respect, relief and approval.
In the new Saving Planet Earth television series Sir David Attenborough and Alan Titchmarsh brought tigers to our attention once again. Fiona Bruce, the BBC television personality made her first journey to India and visited Bandhavgarh National Park where to her obvious delight and excitement, and some apprehension she witnessed tigers in the wild and was totally captivated. Dr Ullus Karanth the dedicated naturalist explained in conversation with her how the current dire situation could be reversed. This is something we can all make happen with pressure and donations to the various organisations.
Hopefully now, yet again on the brink of extinction, the Tigers of India will be saved.
www.wpsi-india.org Wildlife Protection Society of India, S-25 Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017 India Tel: (Int. + 91.11) 4163.5920/21 www.bbc.co.uk/savingplanetearth and my own website non commercial website: www.thepeacockscall.co.uk
Tiger Magic
by Aline Dobbie September 2005
Leaning out from the Jeep, looking down at the very fresh pug marks of a tiger made the hair on my neck stand up. I looked around as the peacock continued his shrill alarm. The sambar too was 'belling' and alerting the jungle that tiger was on the move; I chanced to look behind and there she was, a wonderful tigress crossing the track about thirty feet away! The sheer beauty and the thrill of seeing this magnificent animal made one almost shiver in the cool morning air, the sun had not yet fully risen and the mist was still low over the glades and elephant grass.
The naturalist and driver were very excited and we saw an elephant approaching at speed; we beckoned urgently but soundlessly. The mahawat urged the great beast into the jungle and we debated what to do. Meanwhile the jungle calls were adding to the sense of anticipation and excitement. Providentially - perhaps the Tiger God was smiling on us - another elephant appeared and the mahawat quickly realised we needed his jungle transport. With great speed, the adrenalin pumping, we leapt from the jeep's roll bar on to the elephant's howdah and she sped off in pursuit into the forest. What ensued was amazing; the tigress did not leave the area and we came face to face with her and then she turned and pounced. There followed a short desperate scream and the tigress stood looking at us with the body of a chital fawn in her jaws. Chital, the spotted deer are a favourite prey for tigers and the little one had obviously been abandoned by his panicked mother and had hoped to save itself in the long grass. The tigress regarded us steadily for a few moments then bounded away. We were spellbound and returned on the elephant to the track. I patted the elephant and noticed her most wonderful eyelashes - they are about two inches long. Patiently she stood and let me talk to her at her eye level, as I was by now standing in the jeep.
Be it in Ranthambhore (where incidentally there are no elephants), or Bandavgarh where this incident took place, or Kanha or Pench or Corbett there is the thrill and anticipation of seeing the king of the jungle. Sometimes however they see you and you are not as fortunate. Go and enjoy India's great wildlife parks and have an ear and an eye open for all the creatures, be it a small sleepy looking owl to a solitary leopard high on a rampart looking down at you in the dawn light. Chital stags battling for territory, kingfishers of all sizes, serpent eagles, nilgai and sambar deer, wild pig, peacocks strutting in a jungle glade, porcupines, jackals, a sloth bear if you are very lucky, all these and much more will make a visual feast. In Kanha you will see gaur, the huge bison with horns, and barasingha the swamp deer. As well as all the animals the birdlife is immense and very beautiful.
India has the highest number of migratory bird species of any country in the world. Go to Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary at Bharatpur, which is just inside the border of Rajasthan. No motorised transport is allowed inside the park so one either walks, or more sensibly hires bicycles or is carried in a cycle rickshaw. Our rickshaw wallah was so knowledgeable and fun to be with and I wrote of him in my book India: The Peacock's Call. Kanha is considered to be the king of the parks and one can understand why, it is huge and very well maintained. We were very fortunate and also saw a tigress from elephant back at Kanha. Pench has now become accessible to the travelling public and is quite easily reached by flying into Nagpur and then travelling by car for a couple of hours. Pench still retains my ideal of animal watching, few people with lots of opportunity for the dedicated wildlife seeker, but with simple and adequate accommodation.
There are 500 national parks and wild places in India, but in the long run unless there is a more integrated conservation policy these will be substantially subsumed by population pressure. It requires us all to be proactive and help exert pressure on expedient politicians to ensure these wonderful wild places are conserved and enhanced, so that the tiger, emblematic of India, a glorious animal is allowed to live in the wild and thrive, admittedly not in the numbers it once did.
Each park has its own specific attractions in terms of topography and flora and fauna for one to see. All of them have that intrinsic beauty of a wild special place with peace and tranquillity. By mid November the elephant grass is in flower and looks quite superb, a sea of waving white and silvery plumes in a jungle savannah with a herd of chital grazing. A jungle pool within a quiet glade and a tiny kingfisher about his business; stop be still, and let the magic of India's wild places enter your heart.