BENGALURU: Almost a month after the news first broke out, people remain scared for their lives, baffled officials continue their search, and the man-eater is still at large in Kodagu, the blood of four villagers probably still staining its teeth. As Jim Corbett, the British naturalist and, without doubt, the biggest hunter of man-eating cats that India has ever seen, said, there is no simple reason that makes an animal turn towards devouring humans. While Corbett’s experiences in taking down such tigers and leopards in the present-day Uttarakhand took place a century ago, most of his observations on man-animal conflict would be holding true even now. Supplemented, I am sure, with a lot more sad deductions about the encroachment of humans on the home of the wild.
As someone who has travelled to quite a few wildlife sanctuaries and national parks in the country, and spent hours trekking in the jungles of Kumaon and Garhwal, including the village where Corbett shot dead the ‘Muktesar man-eater’ (the spot can be seen, by the way, from my house in the hills), I am dismayed each time I come across a jeepful of boisterous tourists, complaining loudly to the driver about not presenting them with the sight of a tiger.
As one driver said to me at Kaziranga, “Don’t they know this simple fact: this is a forest, and not a zoo?” But the guides conducting these safari drives have learnt how to satiate the stream of eager questions and demands from the rimmed hat-wearing, binoculars-holding goggle-eyed visitors. With their tales of favourite water holes and exchange of whispers with fellow tour conductors about ‘a tiger spotted just this morning in the area’, they succeed in keeping the hopes alive, and thwarting any possibilities of chagrin coming their way. And the tourists return to their air-conditioned rooms in hotels, tch-tching their luck but then, thanking the fast pace of ‘development’ in the vicinity, that has made potato chips and aerated drinks available just a short drive away.
And I know I appear to be contradicting myself here. After all, am I not visiting these places and disturbing the wildlife as a tourist myself? I know I am, and wish I could keep away. But then, how do you become sensitive, and sensitise the children, to the needs of the forest if you don’t see and feel them up close?
There are no easy answers to some questions.
My own experience in tiger-sighting has been a lone one, when the animal emerged among the bushes on the side of the road, just beside the vehicle we were in, being driven by a forest officer friend. That was one of the last tigers in Sariska, shortly before it was reported in 2004 that there was none left in the Reserve.
The ‘reputation’ of sighting notwithstanding, my visits to the forests in Karnataka have been marked with inspiring feelings that only a lush tree canopy can arouse. The trip that we took to Virajpet last month is, however, likely to remain with us for a long time for a couple of reasons. One, the knowledge that a man-eating big cat has been on the prowl in the area. And then, the sheer plentifulness of the goods available in the local market, which even has a KFC outlet.
That’s Kodagu Fried Chicken, by the way, with a menu that’s complete with strips, wings and buckets. Both the reasons were enough to thrill my teenaged son, and as I reminded him of the recent killings made by the feline, he casually remarked, “What will you do if someone forcefully enters your house?” I sighed.It’s certainly not simple to choose between mourning the death of a human life and defending the rights of wild animals in their surroundings. Yup, no easy answers.