More at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com | In The Field
More at http://www.sanctuaryasia.com | In The Fieldassistant Bhiku, a man in his mid-40s
with enviable composure and skill in
the jungle, walked up to me and said,
“Aaj rewa dejo Saheb, kal havar thi
naowe-kas thi chalu kariye, mali jahe.”
He wanted me to drop the evening-
night search, and start afresh next
morning. Given that both muscle
and diesel needed a break from the
continuous search, I agreed.
TRACKING A LIONESS
Early next morning, at 5:30 a.m.,
with renewed spirits pumped up
by steaming cups of tea, we set
out before the last remnants of
the pleasant night-breeze were
transformed into a blazing wave. We
decided to begin our quest again from
where we had collared her: Jabal village
in Amreli district. We stopped three
times on our way, looking for signals. I
stood up on our vehicle-roof extending
the telemetry antenna, trying to
maximise elevational advantage in an
otherwise fl at agricultural expanse.
My assistants kept a wary eye for
any pugmarks on the fi elds before
the bullocks began their morning
ploughing routine (farmers had begun
to sow their crops anticipating early
showers). The radio-receiver sprang to
life incessantly, only to emit crackling
statics, but no beeps! We stopped a
few farmers heading back from their
night shift, guarding standing crops
from nilgai and wild pigs to ask if they
had seen a lioness with two cubs. The
farmers in the landscape are quite
welcoming of lions and keep a regular
look out for them as the latters’ mere
presence helps to keep nilgai and
wild pigs at bay. With no affi rmative
answers, we moved on towards the
highway, under which fl ew the main
water-channel of the area. The channel
was dry barring a few puddles and my
assistants went down to explore for
tracks on the sand while I tuned into
the radio. Tick, tick and it was gone,
back to the gurgling noises again! I
turned rapidly towards Ismail, another
of my assistants in eagerness that
he might have heard it too, and from
his expression it was clear that he
did. In the ensuing minutes, we tried
repeatedly but our attempts were notanswered. Could this be it or was it just
a fi gment of our imagination?
Finally, with some tangible hope
we climbed an adjacent rocky outcrop
and tried once again. Yes! The beeps
were faint but very much real. We
fathomed that she was over a few
kilometres away, towards a series of
rugged hillocks infested with scraggly
mesquite, locally called as ‘bid’. With
an antenna in one hand, a stick in
the other and the receiver pendulous
on my neck, we briskly followed the
signals along a livestock trail. Covering
the distance as fast as we could, we
suddenly stumbled upon a strong
stench of a kill as we neared the
hillocks. She had possibly dragged one
of the unguarded village livestock into
the thickets. As we inched forward,
we could hear the beeps even without
the antenna being attached to the
receiver. Our lady was possibly within
50 m.! Pinpointing in the direction of
the signal-emitter, I slowly let-go of
the antenna and grabbed the stick
tightly in my hands. A lioness out of
sight is dangerous but a lioness out of
sight with cubs is doubly so! Our nextA lioness stutters to her feet after radio-collaring, still disoriented under the eff ect of the dissociative anaesthetic, while other pride members inspect
her new necklace.
DR. Y. V. JHALA