Man-eaters

[Pckts]

 Prabha Narayan shared Bina Kak-Politician,Actor,Social Activist's post to the group: Sanctuary Asia.1 hr · Sharing a view point ‪#‎savet24‬

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

"Is this really the picture of a maneater ??

Disturbed by the news of T24 mauling a guard and the tragic loss of life I pondered over the several years of my close encounters with T24 in Ranthambhor forest,

On several occasions' T24 crossed the patrolling jeep I was traveling in at close quarters. A powerful adult in its prime ,our eyes had locked each time ,for that brief moment as he checked us out and ambled away .I never saw even a hint of aggression in the placid ember pools ,only momentary curiosity as he moved away with hardly a grimace or reaction, this was in sharp contrast to my interaction with others like T 25 and T whose body language and eyes held that slightly hard stroppy look and the "this is my domain stance " the active twitching tail betraying the resentment..

I am posting a sequence of photos of when T24 suddenly emerged from the jungles right in front of our jeep.

We could see 3 women pilgrims on way to the temple walking thru the forest towards us ... When T24 suddenly emerged from the forest on our left on to the road. He spotted the women ,they froze in their tracks . he gave them a look.. we werealready moving back ..my camera was on multiple click mode and I managed to capture a sequence that speaks for its self..

Photo 1. women on road.. tiger T24 emerges suddenly..spots the women ,who were singing, gives them a look…women freeze , song forgotten .. our jeep reverses to give T24 space .

2. T 24 turns away..does not even look at our jeep and crosses the road.

3. Is this the face of a maneater.. belly is shrunk so hadn't eaten.. not even curious but in a hurry to get back to the security of his forest.

Interestingly. According to some reports several guards who were witness to the incident rushed to the spot shouting..and waving sticks..T24 moved away .

The tiger is the most powerful powerful predator on the planet..a deep full blooded growl of a tiger would have sent everyone scampering. But we heard of no growl or charge…he left the spot and did not attempt to drag it or eat it. A predator always defends its kill.

The question you need to ask is why did he move away so easily. 2. Was he defending his territory… What was the provocation if any.? Is moving him away to a zoo the solution ?

It is also reported that T24 killed a sambhar just a little later after the incident…he also returned to the spot and kept sniffing the area..

A viable solution needs to be arrived at…quickfix is not the answer…greater challenges lie ahead as the tiger population expands and habitat keeps

These pictures were taken by me in 2013"


My Thoughts:
Its amazing this doesn't happen more often, look how encrouched these tigers are by us, if we wan't to invade their territory then we must understand the risk and while its unfortunate when incidents happen, they are extremely rare and the tiger shouldn't be punished for being a Tiger.
Its a tough predicament to be in, but their rights need to be protected just like ours and they must be allowed to live by the rules of the jungle not the rules that we as people feel we're entitled to.
 

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