super tiger
The Man-eater of Kyari
Located in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttaranchal Pradesh, India, Corbett Nation Park--named for Jim Corbett, a domiciled Englishman who grew up hunting and camping in the jungles of the Kumaon and became a great hunter (Shikari), a legendary killer of man-eating tigers and leopards, and then an early and vigorous champion of wildlife protection-- was India's first National Park and was chosen as the location for the official launch of Project Tiger in 1973.The Corbett Foundation was founded in 1994 by Dilip Khatau of Varun Shipping as a private NGO dedicated to improving relations and facilitating cooperation between conservationists, the Forest Department, and the local villages that surround the park.
DPugmark of the Kyari tigress. Photo © Gideon Egger 2004
DPugmark of the Kyari tigress.
Photo © Gideon Egger 2004
At the Foundation's tenth anniversary, in April of 2004, special commendations were awarded to the range officers who patrol and protect the Park. As their names were read off, the Range Officers approached the front of the room and their efforts and sacrifices were acknowledged with grateful applause from those of us in attendance.
One man, however, was not available to receive a commendation; his name is Ramakant Tiwari and the area that he patrols is not, in fact, a part of Corbett National Park proper, but rather an inhabited area just outside the park's border where humans and wildlife (sometimes uneasily) coexist. That tiger populations survive at all outside the designated parks in India is both a testament to the success of conservation efforts there and a reminder of perhaps the most difficult challenge in conservation today; namely, the management of the interactions between wild animals and human populations. In the Ramnagar region, just outside of Corbett, there are now tigers whose entire home ranges lie outside the protection of the National Park. The forest officers who are responsible for these territories have among the most difficult assignments of anyone currently involved in wildlife management. They have conflicting responsibilities to both the human and wild inhabitants in their charge; they must protect the people from the wild animals and protect the wild animals form the people; they must weigh and balance each decision in light not only of ecological but also political, ethical, emotional and practical considerations and must sometimes make decisions nearly instantaneously or face dire consequences.
Ramakant Tiwari was absent from the Foundation's anniversary celebration because he was guarding a wild tigress with his life; literally standing between an injured tigress and the angry villagers bent on destroying her. The day before she had killed a Sambar deer just a few yards from a house in the tiny agrarian village of Kyari. Some of the villagers had heard a disturbance and, rushing to the scene, had witnessed the kill. In a panic they ran to find Mr. Tiwari, who was eating dinner at the time, and insisted that he come to the village at once to shoot the tigress. This tigress was not a stranger to the people of Kyari; she had frequently been seen sitting under a tree about a hundred yards from the edge of town and she had recently been seen near a tourist camp on the outskirts of the village where she was chased away by a (very brave) domestic dog.
This dog chased away the Kyari tigress. Photo © Gideon Egger 2004.
This dog chased away the Kyari tigress.
Photo © Gideon Egger 2004
Ramakant Tiwari grabbed his rifle, got in his jeep and drove to Kyari. When he arrived he found the tigress still eating the Sambar. Parking his jeep about ten yards from where she stood gnawing on the carcass, he picked up his rifle. From his perspective, with the vehicle giving him height and stability, the tigress was a perfect target--distance and elevation were optimal for an easy shot and a near certain kill. The villagers were frightened, agitated and adamant that the tigress should be shot and killed on the spot. And they had reason to be afraid, for the Sambar outside their village was not the only recent victim of tiger predation; a few weeks before at the nearby village of Gebuwa-dol a man had been killed and partially eaten by a tiger. Ramakant didn't know whether or not this tigress was the same animal who had killed the man at Gebuwa-dol but he was determined to find out without first sentencing her to death. He knew that she wouldn't eat the entire deer that night but would likely return over the next few days to continue her meal. If left unguarded there was a danger that the villagers might poison the carcass in an effort to kill the tigress when she returned to feed (a common means of killing tigers in India). However, if the deer could be moved into a trap there was a good chance that the tigress could be safely trapped and removed and a full determination of her condition--and possible guilt--could be made.
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