| |
WILDLIFE:
RANTHAMBORE
Cat
Scan
A prized
tiger goes missing in the Rajasthan sanctuary, resulting in an unprecedented
search operation—and an unlikely row
By
Rohit
Parihar
It
is the break of dawn. a group of eight men on foot studiously follows
the dusty desert track. One of them pauses to take in the expanse of the
adjoining Ranthambore fort, from whose formidable ramparts Prithviraj
Chauhan's descendants once reigned. It's a collosal ruin now and he cannot
help wonder if the premises he is on will one day be similarly relegated
to history.
 |
| Reddy
makes little headway with pugmarks after Rathore raised the issue
of Bambooram's disappearance |
No, not if
he can help it, he tells himself as he catches up with his teammates,
all foresters out on a mission in the Ranthambore tiger reserve. A prized
cat, Bambooram, or Boomerang as visiting US President Bill Clinton would
have it, is missing and a massive search operation is on. At one junction
where tigers and their cubs frequently converge, G.V. Reddy, deputy conservator
of forests, examines a plaster cast of a huge pugmark collected the previous
noon. "Sir, this belongs to a male tiger,'' one of the officials
points out, but Reddy reserves comment. A Maruti Gypsy crawls up and Fateh
Singh Rathore, former director of the park, pops out, takes a hard look
and concludes it isn't that of Bambooram.
Missing
tigers-and their dwindling numbers as a species-are a concern everywhere
but there is more to Bambooram's sudden disappearance. No one knows from
where this tiger came but it was in December 1998 that it was first spotted
and given its rather unusual "pet name"-the locals swear it
is the first tiger in the area to have that honour-by Valmik Thapar, an
authority on the species. Six months later, the first camera-trap census
was conducted in the park, and Bambooram was identified as a male tiger
and given a tag-No. 111.
The majestic
cat soon became a must-see for tourists. And after Clinton's visit in
March, it even acquired celebrity status. The van carrying the US President
and his daughter Chelsea screeched to a halt at Bakhola when it came head-on
with Bambooram, reclining lazily across the track. "The President
asked me what its name was,'' recalls Rathore, "I said Bambooram.''
And by the time they had managed to get him out of their way-by repeatedly
switching the vehicle on and off-the tiger had got its new name, Boomerang.
As had Bakhola which is now referred to as Clinton Point.
The following
months saw tourists making a beeline for Clinton Point. Soon, just about
any male tiger was identified as Boomerang, even Bill and Clinton, to
keep eager visitors happy. It was only last week that reality struck when
Rathore announced that the real Bambooram was nowhere to be found.
It has been
a frantic hunt ever since with the foresters weighing all possibilities.
Various theories have been put forth: Bambooram could have gone uphill
after the cheetal deer during monsoons; believed to be between nine and
12 years, the ageing cat-tigers on an average live up to 15 years-could
have shifted to the periphery of the sanctuary to prey on domestic cattle
or could have changed track as one of its male cubs had come of age; it
could have strayed into neighbouring corridors extending from Kota and
the Keoladeo Ghana bird sanctuary near Bharatpur to Dholpur or to Ramgarh
near Jaipur; or in the worst-case scenario, it could have been killed
by poachers. After all, a tigress was shot in the park in 1992, as were
four leopards four years ago. Early this month, forest officials arrested
six poachers with hand grenades near the park. But grenades are normally
used to kill wild boars.
In the absence
of any evidence to support any of the possibilities yet, the investigation
is only resulting in frayed nerves. Rathore, for instance, is miffed that
he no longer enjoys privileged entry into the park. The Government, in
keeping with its decision not to extend the tenure of honorary wardens
across the state, has asked him not to use his own transport in the sanctuary
but to take a registered vehicle, like any other visitor.
Rajeev Tyagi,
field director and conservator of forests, however, denies any ill intention.
"It is a coincidence that the decision came at the time of this controversy,"
he says. "When Rathore says something, it is wise to take it seriously.''
Yet, opinions
differ on the tricky issue of identifying tigers. Tyagi is skeptical even
about Bambooram's identity. "You cannot pull out any photograph from
the past and claim that it is the tiger Clinton saw," he argues.
"Identifying a particular tiger may not be possible by just looking
at it.'' But Reddy maintains that it was the same as No. 111 photographed
in camera traps. "By monitoring a tiger frequently, one learns to
identify it by looks alone," he says, adding that he had seen Bambooram
twice in October. Rathore is not convinced since he relies on his theory
of tiger stripes based on photographs. "Stripes are like fingerprints,"
he explains. "They cannot be similar in two tigers.''
As the debate
goes on, time is running out. If the current fortnight-long census does
not yield results, Reddy will have to wait at least four months to undertake
a similar exercise because it will take that long before climatic conditions
drastically change and the scorching heat compels tigers to throng the
few water sources. As of now, the total number of tigers in the reserve
is officially estimated to be between 25 and 30 with seven males and 23
females. Reddy says in the past three years, he has spotted 24 different
tigers and three cubs. Of late, there are six to eight new cubs that are
less than six months old; three or four tigers that could have died a
natural death.
According
to feedback available, the average daily sightings number four but there
are days when no tiger is spotted and others when as many as eight are
clocked. This varies further depending on the time of the day.
Given these
swings, the outcome of Reddy's census may not be the final word on Bambooram-watch.
A blunt Tyagi says he will be happy if seven males are identified by the
end of it all. "I am not working to prove whether Bambooram is there
or not,'' he insists. But try telling the others that.
Top
|
|
Orthodoxy in economic thought is as odious as obscurantism in the socio-religious context. INDIA TODAY Associate Editor, V Shankar Aiyar, offers a contrarian take on the stock markets and the cause and the impact of policy and practice. 