Save The Tiger

Whew.....entered this space after a really long hiatus. Watching an Ad yesterday on Save The Tiger and was wondering if we want to show our kids the real animals, the only place they will be is a Zoo: caged, subdued, fed by the same people who caused their disappearance from their homes. Only 1411 left? We killed thousands of them?

I can thank my fortune that I have watched them in their natural habitat, living on their own conditions, mesmerizing us with their wilderness and beauty.

My first sighting, or a heavenly sighting, was in 1994 in Ranthambore. We took a night train, reached there at wee hours of the morning, but were still so excited and fresh that we booked ourselves the morning safari in those treacherous canters. With wind chill factor pushing down the mercury and lack of sleep, all we could feel of our exposed ears and noses were just some numb something. But even that couldn't kill our enthusiasm to experience the jungle. We would stare into the thick bushes at every sound as if the king of the jungle was right there waiting for us. After hearing constant cribbing of fellow tourists about non-existence of these creatures and how they have been visiting Ranthambore for years without any luck, we were thrilled just to be in the jungle watching so many cheetals, stags, crocodiles, fox, monitor lizards, porcupine, etc. And finally we saw what the real king (or in this case a Queen) looks like: there she was, sitting on a plateau, her skin shining like a strands of Gold as if she had just shampooed her hair. She strolled around caring nothing of the selfish humans around her and then slowly vanished in the thick growth of grass which camouflaged here perfectly. I was so nervous that I almost started trembling at the sight of this magnificent carnivore.

All I could feel was few moments of euphoria; guess Nirvana would be an understatement. What an inexplicable sight: a proud and elegant animal!

Thereafter I have had many a sightings notably in Corbett National Park when I was part of a hotel chain marketing its resorts. The best one being on a elephant safari, with 3 elephants enveloped a tiger and he walked almost 200 meters parallel to us growling and roaring in between to show us his anger.

But since last 4 years, I have been to few national parks but could never catch a glimpse of a tiger, only few langur calls and pretentious guides. Have we lost most of them? Seeing this ad makes me sad and more for our kids that these wonderful animals will only be part of stories for them. Our human blunders are irreversible and all we are left with is: a scared, lost, lonely wild devoid of its living beings.

Lets try to do whatever we can, in any little way, pledge to save whatever is left of our history. And lets do it soon before our kids start accusing us of robbing them off the most valued possession provided by our nature and mother earth.

SAVE OUR TIGERS!
http://www.saveourtigers.com/