ON THE EDGE OF EXTINCTION - A - THE TIGER (Panthera tigris)

[peter]

TIGERS IN NORTHERN INDIA AND NEPAL - PART XVI


Nepal (males - c)


a - Tiger 36 in table XVI - Smythies

There's a bit more on tiger 36 in table XVI, both in the book of Smythies and in a short story posted by a relative of the Maharajah of Nepal. I'll start with Smythies. The part quoted below is from Chapter V ('The Maharaja in Naya Muluk', pp. 50-79):

" ... A few days later, Colonel Bailey (the British Minister) wrote again to the Maharaja saying another distinguished visitor had arrived, the famous Field-Marshal Mannerheim of Finland, who was also very anxious to see Nepalese tiger shooting. His Highness replied that he would of course be delighted and he hoped during the next few days the Field-Marshal would be able to shoot a good tiger. " The British Minister motored over and introduced the Field-Marshal to his Highness, who said that he felt great pleasure in making his acquaintance, to which the Marshall replied that he felt highly favoured to have this interview with 'the greatest head of the only independent HIndu kingdom', and that he had fought in the Great War as an ally with the Nepalese. He further added that by His Highness' favour, he was greatly looking forward to the pleasure of a fine tiger hunt " (the last part is a direct quote from the diary of the Maharajah of Nepal).

On February 6 (1937), a very big tiger was ringed by elephants and white cloth, and an invitation was sent to the British Minister to bring his party, which included Field-Marshal Mannerheim, the Earl of Aylesford, Mr. Lloyd Smith (an American millionaire) and several ladies. For an hour and a quarter the party enjoyed all the thrills of a tiger ring shoot, with the tiger appearing and disappearing in the heavy growth of gigantic grasses. Field-Marshal Mannerheim was often unable to spot the glimpes of the slinking form, and several shots missed the mark. At last a shot went home, but it required three more to finish him off. The diary notes - " This was an eight-toed tiger who had eaten eight padahs, and was killed with eight bullets. Four bullets had hit him, and he measured 10 feet 7 inches, being the record size for the Naya Muluk jungles. His Highness expressed his congratulations, and the Field-Marshal replied that he felt himself very highly favoured in killing such a magnificent and enormous tiger " ... " (pp. 78).

The second paragraph suggests that the big tiger had been seen and monitored some time before he was shot. It apparently took eight padahs (young male buffalos) to keep him in the part of the jungle that was later ringed (...). This to say that the tiger most probably had been baited for some time. Judging from the eight toes, it's likely the tiger had been wounded well before he was shot. Although Mannerheim, shooting from an elephant, had some trouble finding the target, he wasn't a rooky in tiger shooting. Not according to the story below.


b - Tiger 36 in table XVI - Subodh Rana

The story below was written by Subodh Rana and posted on January 28, 2009. Most unfortunately, I forgot on which forum it was posted. I assume it was AVA, but I'm not sure.

Anyhow. Subodh Rana, managing director of Marco Polo Travels when he wrote the story below in 2009, hosted many guests interested in Chitawan tigers. The difference with 1937 is only cameras were allowed in 2009. 

As for tiger 36 and Field-Marshal Mannerheim.

Subodh Rana wrote that Field-Marshal Mannerheim had been in Nepal before he was invited by the Maharajah in 1937. After he had bagged his first tiger, Mannerheim " ... made his way back to southern India and visited Madrad and Hyderabad ... " (second paragraph below).

Does the story below carry some weight? Yes.

Subodh Rana is the grandson of the Maharajah of Nepal and apparently had access to the archive of his grandfather:     

*This image is copyright of its original author

 

*This image is copyright of its original author

c - Tiger 36 in table XVI - summary

In order to prevent scrolling up and down all the time, I decided to repost the table in which tiger 36 featured first.

Table XVI (repost):

*This image is copyright of its original author

The 9 male tigers shot in the Naya Muluk jungles in December 1936 and January and February 1937 were impressive animals. Tiger 36, shot on February 6, 1937, not only was very long (at 10.7, he was only 2 inches shorter than the longest ever shot in Nepal), but also 'enormous'. The most likely reason is he had been lured to and kept in the part of the jungle later to be ringed.

In the weeks he stayed in the hotel the Maharajah had offered him, he got roomservice and no less than 8 padahs. They proved to be poisoned. The lesson is never to accept a room you didn't select yourself. If you ignore the message, chances are they will share your bed first and take your skin later.

Is the tiger with the Field-Marshal and the Maharajah (second scan) the 10.7 Naya Muluk tiger? My guess is no.

Is Marco Polo Travels still in business? I don't know. But chances are I will find out a bit more in the next days. When it is, I will visit it in the near future. For sure. Reply