More Information

paparazzi (pl n) [;pAp/:rAtsi] 跟蹤名人、為報刊偷拍照片

的攝影師，狗仔隊 photographers who follow celebrities

to take their photos in order to sell them to newspapers,

magazines etc.

Specialized Terms

sal tree (n) 娑羅雙樹，生長在印度次大陸的長青樹

savanna (n) [s/:v,n/] 熱帶或亞熱帶的草原，樹木零星，

有耐旱的矮樹叢

talc (n) [t,lk] 滑石

menagerie [m/:n,d}/ri] (n)（私人豢養或供公眾觀賞的

一群）野生動物

tigress (n) [:taIgrIs] 雌虎

apex predator (n) 頂級掠食者

buffer zone (n)（潛在衝突的）緩衝區

Getting the community involved
Madhya Pradesh has the largest tribal population of any Indian state,
according to the 2011 census. These agrarian communities play an integral role
in protecting the tiger, even though they were historically left out of the process
(and in some cases, forcibly removed from parklands). Thanks to changes in
government policy, they’re now employed as spotters and guides and have a
tangible incentive to keep the tigers alive.

A vehicle with visitors on

safari in Kanha National Park

According to the World Wildlife Fund,

only about 3,890 tigers are left in the wild.

India is home to 70 percent of them, and

its role in ensuring the big cat’s survival can’t be

understated. Tiger numbers in India are believed to

have dropped from about 40,000 at the beginning

of the 19th century to just 1,800 in the early 1970s,

when India launched the conservation program

Project Tiger.

Kanha was one of the original nine reserves

set up under that program (there are now 50).

Preliminary results of India’s latest tiger census

suggest that the nation’s tiger population will rise

from 2,226 in 2014 to more than 3,000 in 2019.

The sighting

A fresh round of deer calls sends us racing to

a forested ridge; like the paparazzi, we are with

cameras at the ready. I take a big gulp of the

crisp morning air, which has the tang of a fresh

cut lemon, and wait in silence for something—

anything—to happen.

A few restless minutes go by. Just as I’m starting

to feel deflated, the tigress appears atop the ridge,

flaunting a kind of self-assurance that only

apex predators possess. Her muscles tighten with

each step as she surveys the land, her coat shining

under the low spotlight of the morning sun. She is,

by all accounts, Indian royalty.

In the excitement of the moment, I’ve somehow

missed the larger tiger—her mate—hiding in the

brush. She walks over to him, brandishes her

2-inch canines and lies down for the briefest of

moments before they retreat into the darkness of the

forest. The whole scene lasts all of five minutes, but

it’s so cinematic, it feels as if I’ve watched an entire

nature special in the flesh.

Back at the Kanha Earth Lodge, a well-

camouflaged safari camp in the park’s buffer zone,

we toast to a successful day.

Vocabulary Focus

© Cambridge University

Press 2008

swaddle (v) [:swAdl] to wrap a baby tightly in cloth

brim (v) [brIm] to become full of something,

especially a liquid

diminutive (adj) [dI:mInj/tIv] very small

avail (n) [/:vel] use, purpose, advantage or profit

discrete (adj) [dI:skrit] having a clear, independent

shape or form; separate

clout (n) [klaUt] power and influence over other

people or events

tang (n) [t,?] a strong, sharp taste or smell

flaunt (v) [flOnt] to show or make obvious

something you are proud of in order to get

admiration

brandish (v) [:br,ndI{] to wave something in the

air in a threatening or excited way

TRACKING BIG CATS THROUGH THE ‘TIGER STATE’

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