Sanctuary | Perspective
The author, from a very young age, took advantage of every opportunity to go on fi eld with her father. She checks the body temperature of a tranquilised
hyaena at Kutchh as her father and his team put a radio collar on it.sharper, cleaner and longer canines. This
particular wolf was around two years old.
While the team went about
their business, I wondered what the
anaesthetised wolf might have been
dreaming about (anaesthesia does trigger
vivid dreams in humans!). His wolf family,
perhaps or hunting down prey?
If that happened to be a goat or
sheep, the migrating Rabari who had
travelled from Gujarat with camels would
be anything but happy.
Though the wolves prefer to keep
to themselves they are destined for
confl ict with humans when they turn to
livestock. Legal or not, Rabri often pride
themselves on being wolf-slayers. The
war waged against the wolves is generally
restricted to denning areas, but once in
a while a sheep carcass will be poisoned
and wolves, hyaenas, jackals and vultures
all die.
I always feel alive being out there
in the wilds with my father. The part of
such exercises I most looked forward to
was post the frenzy when the animal
was administered the antidote to revive
it, soon after we had taken a closer look
to check for the state of health of the
creatures we wanted so much to protect.
By now the operation was generally over,
and the sun had driven away the coldextraordinarily quiet... doing nothing but
waiting. But the anticipation and hours
of training by the side of my father on
innumerable trips made it really easy for
me. Hours passed. This was to be my fi rst
lion-radio-collaring experience.
Gir’s lions are a diff erent lot than
the ones in Africa. A relic population has
survived here and now is on its way to
recovery, their numbers estimated to
be around 500. Like wolves, India’s lions
too have learned to live close to humans,
but unlike their African cousins, our lions
have evolved a strange harmony with
Maldharis (cattle herders). The lions do
prey on domestic livestock, yet tolerance
levels are high, though once in a while a
confl ict arises.
Today a good chunk of Gir’s lion
population lives outside the Protected
Area in human-dominated areas.
Radio telemetry therefore becomes
the default strategy of choice to
understand their ecology.
Finally, just before sundown
(near-impossible to tell when that
happened because of the pouring rain)
the lioness appeared from behind a
thicket, presenting my father with a
clear shot! The procedure was more or
less the same as that with wolves. Dart,
wait for her to go under, move her intoKARTIKEYASINGH CHAUHANwind that made teeth chatter... only to be
replaced by hot, dry air or ‘loo’ that stole
the moisture from our skin and breath.
Come evening, we would track our
subject on horseback. I loved everything
about it, the wilderness life, the dust in
my hair, the smell of horses, the soft
clatter of hooves, the howls of wolves
in the distance, the cold morning wind
and the hot ‘loo’ that cracked the skin
on my face.
Everything about being out there in
the wilds of Kutchh was like being
in paradise.
My father has the best job in the
world and all I wanted someday was to be
like him.DIFFERENT PLACE,
DIFFERENT TIME
Memories.
When it rains, a dry deciduous
teak forest can give the untrained eye
the impression of being in a tropical
rainforest, replete with lush vegetation... I
was in one such and in my book it
was the most beautiful the forest had
ever looked.
As I sat in the vehicle, waiting, it
seemed like the rain would never stop.
The team had been waiting on that
lioness all day and despite being six I was