There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
Thanks, Peter. I would love to contact Dicky and get him to start posting here. However, I don't know how to contact him. I had sent him a friend request on facebook earlier. Still waiting.
The article is amazing in details and covers every topic that was debated during that time. I personally witnessed the amount of filth that was being posted on social media against the poor guard that lost his life, the whole forest department and Dicky and other hotel owners, by the so called 'tiger activists'. In all this it was the conservationists like Ulhas Karanth, Valmik Thapar on one side and these facebook activists on the other. These are people who have seen and studied more tigers than anyone on earth, yet they were being called names and insulted repeatedly and their opinions dismissed. Not only this, their character was also maligned. I couldn't believe the amount of conspiracy theories that were being thrown around. The arguments being put forward were ridiculous and kept changing every minute. And for what? A proven man eater. These same people were silent when a far larger tragedy was occuring amidst all this, the NH7 expansion that would cut off Kanha & Pench. Plenty of tigers are being hunted even today and their habitat destroyed, yet these people are silent. These people were acting not like tiger lovers but like people whose pet dog had been taken away. And were bashing the same people who are working day and night to save the tigers. The forest guards of Ranthambhore had actually provided a written petition that if T24 wasn't taken away, they would stop all patrolling. The petition also mentioned the amount of social media abuse they were getting. All this was so sad to see.
Most tiger attacks happen on the edge of the reserve. So it's not like people are illegally entering the forests and are being killed. No one is stupid enough to venture deep in a forest filled with tigers. The attacks will continue to happen due to the presence of people around the reserves and their cattle which is too much of an attraction for tigers to pass.