Tiger in Kerala zoo with indomitable survival spirit hailed as hero in France

Not too long ago, George was giving headaches to the authorities.
George
George

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Not too long ago, George was giving headaches to the authorities. The teen-tiger had strayed into human settlements in Wayanad and killed cattle there. Now, the 21-year old tiger, being cared for at the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, is a hero in faraway France. Middle school students of Jean de La Fontaine School in Thénezay are studying George’s life as part of their lesson on the necessity of wildlife and tiger conservation.

The tiger’s fight to sustain himself and how humans around him facilitated his survival are among the topics for French students, thanks to ‘The Story of George’ penned by Claire Le Michel. It was in 2015 that a notorious tiger was spotted in Sultan Bathery killing and injuring cattle in the villages. The tiger, which killed more than 25 domestic animals, was caught by forest officials.

After veterinary surgeons identified that the captured tiger had difficulty in hunting in the forest, the authorities transferred him to the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo. They named him George, after Nivin Pauly’s character in the movie Premam. They had little hope that he would bounce back in life as, apart from maggot-infested wounds all over his body, there was a lacerated wound on the left thigh which was as big as 12 inches exposing the knee joint.

‘The Story of George’ wins over French school

Tape worms had infested his intestines while a claw on the left forelimb was injured and exposed with severe inflammation of the paw. The tip of George’s nose was missing and he could not lift his neck properly.

Dr Jacob Alexander, senior veterinary surgeon at the zoo, recalled that the laboratory investigations revealed that his lungs were severely affected with worms, which occupied a major part of the vital organ causing severe dyspnoea (laboured breathing).

“Initially, we were under the impression that George would live for just a few days. But with excellent medical care and a slew of surgeries, he made a remarkable recovery. Due to old age, George is toothless now. We have to feed him boneless meat and food supplements,” said Dr Jacob.

Just before the Covid outbreak, Claire Le Michel, a French writer and dancer, had visited the zoo and George caught her attention. She also found out his story of survival from the zoo authorities. A regular visitor to Kerala since 2015, Michel had done several projects with the Alliance Française Trivandrum. On her return to France, Michel wrote ‘The Story of George’.

“I was amazed and I still am on the way Dr Jacob cared for every animal in the zoo, including George,” Michel told TNIE over the phone.  The Story of George was noticed by Marie Courtecuisse, head teacher of a local school, and she along with Marielle Palancher, the English teacher at Jean de La Fontaine School, introduced the story to children aged 12 to 13 years.

“The children are so moved by the struggles George had overcome,” said Michel who runs a theatre company in France. Last Saturday, Dr Jacob received a bunch of moving ‘thank you’ notes from the students who had learnt the story of George.

Michel’s text in French about the valiant tiger has since been recorded by a local radio station in France and is going places. Eva Martin, the director of Alliance Française Trivandrum, has plans to set up a project with the ‘Story of George’ in Kerala, after the pandemic.

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