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

[peter]

TIGERLAND

a - Introduction and links

'Tigerland' is the title of a new documentary. I recently saw it at Discovery. In the documentary, two leading tiger conservationists feature: Kailash Sankhala (India) and Pavel Fomenko (Russia). Sankhala is the man who initiated 'Project Tiger' in India. Pavel Fomenko is one of the men continuing the good work in Russia.

Here's a link to a review. There are many more. My advice is to read a few of them if you can:   

https://theplaylist.net/tigerland-review-20190323/

http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/siberian-bengal-tigers-tigerland-documentary/P6

b - Kailash Sankhala

In the documentary, Sankhala is presented as the man who initiated 'Project Tiger' in India. He's the one who informed us about the plight of the tiger and proposed to take steps to protect this iconic representative of the natural world. He inspired by Indira Gandhi and she protected him. Protection? Yes. Communication wasn't on top of his list. The result was he had enemies.   

c - Pavel Fomenko

In a way, Fomenko compares to Sankhala. Last year, most unfortunately, he was attacked by a tigress involved in dogs. When the tigress had been arrested, they found out she had cubs. One of them was captured a day later, but they needed 6 weeks to find the other (...). In the rehabilitation center, the tigress and her cubs were initially separated. The tigress, however, could see and hear them. When rangers and researchers approached the cubs, they showed signs of distress. The tigress snapped. She crashed through a fence (...) and attacked the first man she saw. 

Of all men, it had to be the one who devoted his life to tigers. Life is very complex. Fomenko was quite badly injured, but escaped after she, again, was distracted by her cubs. There was no intention to kill, but I'm afraid Pavel, who needed surgery, has a somewhat different opinion. He now really entered the world of the tiger. The hard way. It will result in more respect for sure:

https://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/leading-tiger-expert-mauled-by-dog-eating-tigress/
     
d - Guate

Sankhala featured in a debate not so long ago. This thread. Initially, it was about wild dogs and tigers, but it quickly developed into something different. Wolverine, Shadow and yours truly said Sankhala was the man who saved tigers from extinction in India, whereas Guate, supported by Smedz, said he didn't quite understand modern biology. As Sankhala, in his book 'Tiger!' published in 1977, also wrote a tiger, in his opinion, was no match for a lion of similar size, he was dismissed. Sankhala dismissed? Yes. This Forum? Yes. In the tiger thread? I'm afraid so. By Guate? One of the best posters? Most unfortunately, yes.  

I like freedom of thought and freedom of speech as much as you do. It was offered to us by those willing to risk even their life some 80 years ago in a terrible conflict. A conflict that resulted in the death of more than 60 million people. People like you and me, they were. How deal with this gift? I'm not sure, but my guess is freedom of speech shouldn't result in dismissal, animosity and all the rest of it. No matter what. It should start, and end, with respect. Even if you disagree. Learning how to disagree in a respectful way never is a bad idea when you're involved in communication of some kind. 

Anyhow.

Guate, on account of everything he posted over the years, is much respected by those interested in big cats. For this reason, he was invited to explain his view. He did use the stage offered, but I wasn't the only one who concluded his speech was quite defensive, if not very evasive. He said he would do another post on Sankhala in some time, but it seems this could take a while. For this reason, we decided to get to a conclusion without him.

The conclusion is Guate more or less dismissed a man whose efforts resulted in a different view on the natural world in general and tigers in particular. Not only in India, but everywhere. Sankhala, like Lev Kaplanov, was one of those who saved the tiger from extinction. Kaplanov paid with his life. Sankhala didn't, but he isn't going to be dismissed. Not on this forum.   

Guate won't be banned, but he will quit posting in this thread. The reason is we don't want it polluted by conflicts all the time. I'm sure Guate, who is a mature poster, understands this decision will have a positive effect on the thread. What we want, is posts like that of Phatio (on tigers in Borneo). Good information. And respect. At all times.

Smedz, by the way, wasn't banned as well. He still is a young man and will practise his skills in other threads. I like the mustang thread.  

e - Future

You may have noticed I don't post as often as I used to. I'm busy at the moment, but the last clash also had an effect. After talking to Sanjay and a few others, I decided to continue in a different way.

You may have noticed we added a new section. It's more bloglike. I will focus on developing one part of that section. When it attracts readers, it will become a Premium Section. This means those interested will have to pay to read the posts. We don't know if it will serve a need or not. If it doesn't, we will continue the way we did. But not quite, as I'm done with conflicts.

Sanjay will explain a few things soon.

f - To conclude

Pavel Fomenko is still with us. A great relief. His body will recover, but dealing with an attack is more difficult. I don't doubt he will succeed, as he's half a tiger himself. Knowing about tigers isn't easy. One reason we're very different from tigers. We don't really have what it takes to communicate on, ehh, equal terms. Another is knowledge can't always be expressed in words. Finally, it isn't easy to talk to others. Most of us are quite unable to understand what animals struggling to survive really experience. Pavel Fomenko is different. Every time a wild tiger is wounded or killed by poachers, he suffers. 

What is needed, is a new way of communication. A forum could help a bit, but the problem with forums is they explode sooner or later as a result of conflicts. Most posters say they prefer reliable information over something else, but the fact is not a few of them are driven by preference. Preference can be helpful, but most of us are unable to understand how to use it in the best possible way. 

One famous trainer who worked with big cats and bears said (captive) lionesses are 'better' mothers than tigresses. His opinion features in many forums. Those who really know about tigers agree there's no more terrible thing than a tigress feeling her cubs are threatened. There is a reliable report about a captive Amur tigress climbing a 10 feet 2 inches fence to eliminate a threat ('The passion of John Aspinall', B. Masters, 1988, pp. 271-274) and Pavel Fomenko can tell you all about fences and Amur tigresses with cubs as well. In the days cubs were taken from wild tigresses in the Caspian region, desperate tigresses not seldom visited villages and even entered huts. Those born and bred in Indonesia told me similar stories. 

I often read tigresses are more aggressive than male tigers. Maybe captive male tigers are less interested in humans, but reliable information from the Russian Far East says some male tigers are prepared to engage brown bears of about similar size. Anyone ever saw a male brown bear of 400-500 pounds up close? No? I saw a few captive male brown bears ranging between 400-900 pounds. Even a 400-pound male is a very powerful animal.             

What I'm saying is preference had the upper hand in quite many forums in the recent past. The result, apart from countless flame wars, was misinformation. That and contempt of those really interested in the natural world. In this forum, we want to do things in a different way. The aim is good information. Not easy, as humans and conflict are very good friends. The last option is a blog. It's quite sad it had to come to that. Reply