Tiger: National Animal of India

The Sundarbans jungle in South Bengal, is dark, deep and marshy with dense undergrowth of mangrove and thick overhang of trees. The sunlight penetrating the foliage from above, casts patterns of dappled light and shade - perfect camouflage for the Striped One.

As you venture further down the trail and into the gloom, you tend to get an eerie feeling of being watched. No road sign in the world is as effective as a pug mark on a trail. It will make your very heart stop! This is no Hollywood Walk of Fame - you are now in tiger country, home of the Royal Bengal Tiger!

The Bengal tiger has the classic orange coat with black stripes, a color variant being the white tiger which is hardly found in the wild.

Tigers usually hunt at night and rest during the day, often cooling off in rivers and pools.

Tigers hunt alone, stalking their prey or killing by ambush. They use their excellent eyesight and hearing for tracking prey in the dark. They stealthily slink up on the prey unseen till they are at a distance of about 65 feet and then charge with lightening speed using their powerful hind legs for the final leap.

The prey is knocked down with a single blow of the huge paws, lethal claws exposed. The heavily muscled shoulders and front limbs are designed for pulling down prey and the massive jaws with long canine teeth for stabbing the back of the neck and killing it. After the kill, the carcass is dragged into thick cover for feeding. The remains if any, are concealed with leaves for later consumption.

The Bengal tigers are poached for their valuable pelts as well as bones, teeth and penises for use in Chinese medicine. The tiger, at an estimated population of 1,200-1,500, is a gravely endangered species.

When I visited Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh way back in December 1992, I was not lucky enough to spot a tiger but I did meet Billy Arjan Singh (nicknamed ‘Billy’ - meaning ‘cat’ in Hindi - by his aunt because of his love for the big cats). This octogenarian is the second Indian to receive the prestigious J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Award. A former member of the Steering Committee of Project Tiger, Billy spent his entire life working for the conservation of tigers.

Project Tiger founded in 1973 by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi was an effort at saving the declining population of tigers in the country. The project was launched in the Corbett National Park, the first such sanctuary in the country, which celebrated its 70th anniversary during the National Wildlife Week, October 1st-7th, 2006.

Apparently, all is not well with Project Tiger, going by the spate of recent reports on its performance. The title of an article in the Times of India of 23rd September, 2006 aptly captures the scene at the end of my paper trail - ‘Project Tiger is paper tiger!’

Copyright © 2006 Noël Gama