world’stiger populationoccurringin 13 tiger-range
countries, anda largepartof thispopulationis restricted
to protectedareasin ourcountry.
Nowwiththe governments’ effortsin the sharpfocus
of national andinternationalcommunities,eachtiger
death in thewildunfailingly makes headlinesin the
media andis discussed passionately.Thisis moreso if the
death occursin a prominentwildlife-protectedarea.So-
cialmediaalsoprovidean excellentplatform for quick
textualand visualcommunications and interactions
betweena vastnumberof individuals andgroups.Be-
sidesseriousdiscussions,opinionsandconcerns, these
exchangesalsoresultin misplaced aspersions,andout-
landishsuggestionsandconclusions.Predictably,the
managementof the protectedareaconcerned facesa lot
of criticismfromall quarters.
Overthe years,tigerconservationhasreachedsucha
passthatevenif a tigerdiesa naturaldeath,thepublic
generallydoesnot believe it. While tigerpoachingcannot
be ruledoutevenin the bestof wildlife-protectedareas,
nobody acknowledgesthattigers,beingmortals,may
alsodienaturallyon accountof sickness,infectionor
graveinjuries sustainedin afight.Parkmanagersoften
havea hard time explainingthe“naturalness”of such
deaths, especiallyon account of infightingandthe occa-
sional cannibalisticbehaviourof tigers,butthereare
hardlyanytakers!However,theupsideof sucha situ-
ationis thatsuchpublicreactions anddebateshelpim-ATIGERWITHA CUBit partiallycannibalisedafterit
crushedthe cub’s skull. (Left)Anotherpartially
cannibalised cub.R.B.
PATHAK
SUDHIR MISHRA