Tiger, tiger out of sight!
Introduction..
- Revered, worshiped, loved, respected and even feared; The feline species of India, from the tigers to the snow leopards, to the lions and the cheetahs are on the verge of extinction. But hardly do we realise, the impact globalisation has made on these species that have fallen trap to poaching, urbanisation, and deforestation. Can we do more than just talking about their extinction, finds out Puja Goyal speaking to Prerna Singh Bindra, the author of recently released 'The King and I.'
Source: Vijay Times, BVT- Pg 4.
Copyright © 2005 Puja Goyal.
Revered, worshiped, loved, respected and even feared; the feline species of India from the tigers to the snow leopards, to the lions and the cheetahs are on the verge of extinction. But hardly do we realize the impact, globalization has made on the species that have fallen trap to poaching, urbanization, and disforestation? Can we do more than just talk about its impact on our animal planet?
Today, the Royal Bengal Tiger faces its worst ever crisis as less than 2,000 wild tigers survive in India (the number is rapidly declining). Lions number fewer than 350, and the fate of the Snow Leopard is hardly known because the estimates of the Snow leopard do not exist. Problems like genetic defects due to inbreeding, isolation, poaching and inadequate facilities for the cat species have not helped its dwindling numbers. Prerna Singh Bindra had released her new book "The King and I" recently and we caught up with her to find out more and to speak in depth about the threats the cat species face.
"The king and I is very dear to me. It is not about putting articles together… it's about a journey that one takes in an attempt to restore hope that someone is doing something about our animal kingdom", says Prerna. The book is not merely a travelogue of the various sanctuaries that Prerna has visited; it contains stories connected to the feline species, facts, and the state that our cats are in. Contrary to the belief, Prerna says that the feline species do not consider human's as part of their stable diet. "Tigers do not like eating human flesh; it is not part of their diet. The idea that man-eaters have a thirst for human blood is overrated. In villages surrounding the sanctuaries, women and men tending to their fields look like animals… because of which the tigers attack them. Even then, the one's that do attack humans are the ones who are either old or sick."
Most tigers who invade the human territory are either the one's who have outgrown their own territory, or are searching for food because cattle are easy prey. The poor villagers kill them because they need to protect their livelihood. Prerna elaborates that, "One of the problems the tigers are facing is that of space and reproduction. Tigers are territorial creatures and as they grow, the cubs will want to move out and mark their own territory… but the problem is that there is only so much space, as land is fast depleting. Because of this, they start to move into the villages. The second problem is that of inbreeding. The tiger population is declining and tiger families are put together in one sanctuary. As they grow, they start to breed amongst their siblings, uncles, aunties etc. These results in genetic defects and many of them die or grow up weak."
"Poaching is very sophisticated nowadays…" explains Prerna, "they carry mobile phones, AK- 47's and other hi-fi equipment to bring the tiger down. They even hire villagers to poison the water holes and guide them to the kill for a petty amount. In such a scenario what can a forest attendant with a stick in his hand do? The attendant is not equipped, with even a workable walkie talkie to call for help!!" What is worse is, though our environmental protection act is very good, the poachers get away on bail.
Animals are such that, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. "I have been surrounded by more then four tigers at times, but have never been attacked. If you do not mess with them, they will not mess with you. What is disheartening is, the tigers are so stressed out and petrified by the presence of humans that they nowadays move around in clusters, when they see humans."
The controversial Sariska, near Delhi, is known as a haven for tigers, but it does not have any tigers and can now be called "the Valley OF Death." Palamau the only tiger reserve in Jharkhand was once a verdant forest with an assortment of animals, but now is a base for MCC, an extremist group managing risky business. The tourist zone of Betla now has only one tigress living in a world deprived of a mate, motherhood and company. "The tiger is still alone…" says Prerna and drifts into a melancholy. There are many more stories in the "King and I" that will give you a birds view into the affairs of the King of the Jungle. Let us hope that the generations that follow us do not have to read about tigers only in books to find out more about them.
- Revered, worshiped, loved, respected and even feared; The feline species of India, from the tigers to the snow leopards, to the lions and the cheetahs are on the verge of extinction. But hardly do we realise, the impact globalisation has made on these species that have fallen trap to poaching, urbanisation, and deforestation. Can we do more than just talking about their extinction, finds out Puja Goyal speaking to Prerna Singh Bindra, the author of recently released 'The King and I.'
Source: Vijay Times, BVT- Pg 4.
Copyright © 2005 Puja Goyal.
Revered, worshiped, loved, respected and even feared; the feline species of India from the tigers to the snow leopards, to the lions and the cheetahs are on the verge of extinction. But hardly do we realize the impact, globalization has made on the species that have fallen trap to poaching, urbanization, and disforestation? Can we do more than just talk about its impact on our animal planet?
Today, the Royal Bengal Tiger faces its worst ever crisis as less than 2,000 wild tigers survive in India (the number is rapidly declining). Lions number fewer than 350, and the fate of the Snow Leopard is hardly known because the estimates of the Snow leopard do not exist. Problems like genetic defects due to inbreeding, isolation, poaching and inadequate facilities for the cat species have not helped its dwindling numbers. Prerna Singh Bindra had released her new book "The King and I" recently and we caught up with her to find out more and to speak in depth about the threats the cat species face.
"The king and I is very dear to me. It is not about putting articles together… it's about a journey that one takes in an attempt to restore hope that someone is doing something about our animal kingdom", says Prerna. The book is not merely a travelogue of the various sanctuaries that Prerna has visited; it contains stories connected to the feline species, facts, and the state that our cats are in. Contrary to the belief, Prerna says that the feline species do not consider human's as part of their stable diet. "Tigers do not like eating human flesh; it is not part of their diet. The idea that man-eaters have a thirst for human blood is overrated. In villages surrounding the sanctuaries, women and men tending to their fields look like animals… because of which the tigers attack them. Even then, the one's that do attack humans are the ones who are either old or sick."
Most tigers who invade the human territory are either the one's who have outgrown their own territory, or are searching for food because cattle are easy prey. The poor villagers kill them because they need to protect their livelihood. Prerna elaborates that, "One of the problems the tigers are facing is that of space and reproduction. Tigers are territorial creatures and as they grow, the cubs will want to move out and mark their own territory… but the problem is that there is only so much space, as land is fast depleting. Because of this, they start to move into the villages. The second problem is that of inbreeding. The tiger population is declining and tiger families are put together in one sanctuary. As they grow, they start to breed amongst their siblings, uncles, aunties etc. These results in genetic defects and many of them die or grow up weak."
"Poaching is very sophisticated nowadays…" explains Prerna, "they carry mobile phones, AK- 47's and other hi-fi equipment to bring the tiger down. They even hire villagers to poison the water holes and guide them to the kill for a petty amount. In such a scenario what can a forest attendant with a stick in his hand do? The attendant is not equipped, with even a workable walkie talkie to call for help!!" What is worse is, though our environmental protection act is very good, the poachers get away on bail.
Animals are such that, if you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. "I have been surrounded by more then four tigers at times, but have never been attacked. If you do not mess with them, they will not mess with you. What is disheartening is, the tigers are so stressed out and petrified by the presence of humans that they nowadays move around in clusters, when they see humans."
The controversial Sariska, near Delhi, is known as a haven for tigers, but it does not have any tigers and can now be called "the Valley OF Death." Palamau the only tiger reserve in Jharkhand was once a verdant forest with an assortment of animals, but now is a base for MCC, an extremist group managing risky business. The tourist zone of Betla now has only one tigress living in a world deprived of a mate, motherhood and company. "The tiger is still alone…" says Prerna and drifts into a melancholy. There are many more stories in the "King and I" that will give you a birds view into the affairs of the King of the Jungle. Let us hope that the generations that follow us do not have to read about tigers only in books to find out more about them.
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