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Book Review
Showcasing the big cat
G. ANANTHAKRISHNAN
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A visual treat of tigers in their natural habitat through the lens of a wildlife conservationist
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RANTHAMBHORE — 10 Days in the Tiger Fortress: Rs. 1595.
THE SECRET LIFE OF TIGERS: Rs. 325. Both by Valmik Thapar; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110001.
As the last wild areas of the world come under pressure from a growing human population and its insatiable demand for resources, conservationists fear that many well-known species may not survive for long. In fact, some experts thought the tiger would not witness the dawn of a new century other than in captivity. The presentiment of these nature lovers was strengthened by reports of rampant poaching and failed national conservation policies. The prevailing gloom prompted V
almik Thapar to write The Last Tiger: Struggling for Survival about three years ago. The tiger appeared doomed and this may even be his last book, he thought. Tigers continue to be poached and hounded out of their habitat. Yet, miraculously, they persist in India. Their fortunes have improved in parts of the Western Ghats where scientific conservation has been introduced. Some reserves such as Ranthambhore in the north also report noteworthy tiger populations. Valmik has always loved Ranthambhore and he returned to his favourite haunt during summer this year for a personal check.
Miracle
He came back from his 10-day break with brilliant photographs of the cats in all their glory and more importantly, convinced that a small miracle had saved them (for which he credits the State government in part). This visit has resulted in a new pictorial book on the Ranthambhore National Park; he has also updated an earlier title. We thus have Ranthambhore: 10 Days in the Tiger Fortress and The Secret Life of Tigers.
Valmik has spent nothing less than 33 years with the tiger. He has been fortunate enough, he says, to see 16 different tigers in a single day in Ranthambhore. Those thrilling encounters along with several others have inspired his writing. With these latest releases, one of them lavishly visual, he hopes to enthral many more tiger lovers. Tigers, as we learn, continue to roam the abandoned 1000-year-old fortress in Ranthambhore. This conservation site has developed around the ancient fortresses that at one time was the private hunting reserve of the Maharajahs of Jaipur.
The tigers have fascinated Valmik ever since he saw one here in 1976 and prompted him to crusade for them, at times swimming against the tide. He has devoted many days and nights to study the enigmatic species, often in the company of his “guru”, the forester Fateh Singh Rathore.
The Secret Life of Tigers captured, two decades ago, a lot of the mystery surrounding the lives of the big cats. In the book, which is updated with a new preface, he tracks the lives of tigresses Padmini, Laxmi, Noon, Nalghati and so on, their mates and cubs. They remain lingering memories. A tiger hunt is a spectacular event and any visitor to Ranthambhore hopes to witness one. But this can only be a rare, chance occurrence.
Valmik has witnessed quite a few and provides some interesting anecdotes. Among the battlements, there are lakes, and the cats have evolved a distinct technique of surprising herds of sambar and spotted deer here. “Observation of wildlife around the lakes is a naturalist’s dream,” he notes. Padam Talao and Rajbagh lakes are normally placid, and attract timid deer. As they enter the water or skirt the margins, they are watched by tigers and crocodiles. The stillness is occasionally shattered when a tiger charges from behind the grasses. These chases bring much greater success than those on land as the panicking deer blunder around in the water in a frantic escape bid, making the predator’s job easier. The weakest one falls. It is striking that tranquillity returns immediately, and the herd goes back to its business. Valmik tells exciting stories about the inexorable system of the forest — of tigresses helping cubs sharpen their hunting instincts (unlike leopards, tiger cubs spend nearly 20 months growing up with their mother), of dominant males like Kublai, Genghis and Bakaula, of careless langurs and helpless fawn falling to powerful fangs.
Enduring charm
The Secret Life of Tigers is not really new, but like all tiger tales, it has an enduring charm. The author is characteristically blunt in his assessment of the state of conservation. He calls the tiger’s plight “grim”. In the new coffee-table book, though, he does talk of the miracle of Ranthambhore. Like Valmik, many critics feared all along that the national tiger population was eroding steeply due to official apathy. Indeed, when a serious assessment was conducted earlier this year, the figures showed a vertiginous drop to an estimated 1,411 individuals. If this number is to rise, it will take serious commitment to create inviolate spaces for tigers, something that the Tiger Task Force has already recommended. That would mean relocation, with the wholehearted support of the residents, of entire villages.
Conservation issues
These books briefly refer to the challenges involved in this complicated exercise even in Ranthambhore; they praise good officers and identify the weak spots. Voluntary relocation has worked quite well in Nagarahole in Karnataka with State government support, but has proved difficult elsewhere. So what does the future hold? Can the substantial earnings from tiger tourism be sequestered to help relocate villages, in addition to deploying budgetary funds? Do people represent a greater threat to tigers compared to the annexing of habitat for commercial exploitation?
The urgency of such issues is evident from a photo sequence in the Ranthambhore book, in which a man travelling with five children on a motorcycle in the reserve area is surprised by the sudden appearance of a tiger cub on the tarmac road. That tense moment highlights the incompatibility of coexistence when humans and tigers are cheek by jowl. The people initially retreat in terror and then, mustering some courage, make a hasty exit.
Valmik Thapar’s books are celebratory but they also provide some hope that if people understand, sustainable conservation is indeed possible.
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