DEATH IN THE JUNGLE:Tiger tussle leaves 1 feline & a forest guard dead, Jumbo injured

The Statesman
Kolkata, 18-July-2014

TIGER TUSSLE LEAVES ONE FELINE & A FOREST GUARD DEAD, JUMBO INJURED
DEATH IN THE JUNGLE

Gaurav Chandra
gauravchandra9@gmail.com
Bhopal, 17 July,14

It started as a fierce fight among three tigers in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh yesterday, but it ended with one of the tigers getting killed, a forest guard dead and two other officials and the elephant they were riding to stop the fight injured.

According to forest officials, the fight began in the Mirchaini area under beat no. 313 of the reserve's Tala range. A two-and-a-half years old tiger from the Hardia area intruded into the Mirchaini area and soon after two tigers both one-and-a-half-years old lunged towards it to ward it off and drive it out of their territorial zone.

On getting information about the fight, forest Dy. Ranger R A Pathan and forest guard Vinod Pakhale rushed to the spot on elephant back along with Mahaut Neelam.

But the moment the elephant reached the spot, both the tigers of Mirchaini area broke off from fight and made the pachyderm their target. Onr of them mauled it on its trunk, while the other pounced on its foot. The elephant panicked and went into bucking frenzy in an attempt to throw off the tigers.

It did succeed in throw off the tigers, but in the process the three forest personnel tumbled down from its back. Mr. Pathan and Neelam somehow managed to get into shelter of nearby trees. A panic-stricken Pakhale too started running with all his might, but he fell to the ground at some distance and never got up again, forest officials said.

By this time another team of forest personnel reached the spot. They picked up Vinod who was rushed to the Umaria district hospital. However doctors at the hospital declared him dead. It was a mystery how he died. Forest officials could not say with certainty whether he had a fatal fall or whether the attack by tigers had anything to do with his death.

While the rescue operation was going on, the tigers resumed their fight. It ended only after one of the three was killed. Later, forest officials found the dead feline was one of two tigers from Mirchaini area.

"It is very tragic incident. What makes us even sadder is the fact that we found after checking Vinod Pakhale's service record that the day he died was his birthday," Bandhavgarh Park Director Mr. C H Murlikrishnan told the Statesman today.

" Only the post-mortem report will reveal the cause of his death. According to information we have got so far there was no external injury marks on his body," Mr. Murlikrishnan added.

(a representative photograph not produced here)

Sad to hear that one tiger has died and one forest guard has lost his life. I guess the forest guard might have suffered a heart attack due to the fall and the extreme panic due to thought of being mauled. Any one can panic in such nerve wrecking situations. Nevertheless we will wait for the official post-mortem reports.

This situation brings into light the focus of our preservation efforts to individual tigers rather than taking a holistic view of protecting the landscape and its inhabitants. When there is a conflict between two tigers, in this case one larger tiger vs two adolescents, it is likely that one of them and most likely the adolescent displaying bravado to lose its life. I think that forced the forest department to intervene. An angry tiger can jump on an elephant back and cause serious maulings. I have seen elephants becoming nervous when tiger comes close by and there have been situations where people have fallen from the elephant back. In one situation a tiger had non-chalantly tried to stalk through the four legs of a forest department elephant. It was a bit too much for the elephant and it panicked and fled throwing away the tourists on its back.

Ideally the forest department should have gone with two or three elephants and approached the situation with the elephants moving side by side. This would have ensured that the tigers won't have the courage to attack.

It is also very important to understand the behaviour of the tigers and make the approach. One cannot simply walk into a fight and not suffer the consequences. One needs to make the tigers nervous and then break the battle. These are wild animals. Despite behaving like beautiful fluffy cats when one approaches them during a Safari, the power of these tigers is massive. Tigers even when tamed from childhood never lose their wild instincts. There will be conflicts when the space is limited. All around bandhavgarh tiger reserve there are private resorts or estates or the land is used for agriculture. A road passes through it. Contiguity with other forests is lost. Where will the tigers go to find a territory? We are only trying meekly to resolve some of the symptoms. The larger malaise of forests becoming islands among the sea of people goes unchecked. Is anyone listening?

It is really an unfortunate incident. With limited territory, this issue will remain and there is no solution in sight. I hope the Forest department takes some action.

Sad news. Agree this is a perfect example of 'trying to treat the symptoms instead of the disease' which turned into disaster. we need a paradigm shift in everything from conceptual understanding to focus of research, policy making to implementation strategy, media coverage to professional discourse related to nature conservation before there can be any progress in understanding or assimilation at ground level. The tragedy is that as in everything else it is the lowest rung which suffers the most due this lack of vision and will... be it man or animal. The mouse deer and the forest guard are don't weigh much in our flawed scale of priorities.

Rgds
Roopak

Thank you for sharing such sad news! Infect, this is foolish & irresponsible behaviour by forest officials. They don't have right to interfere with Nature. None can stop territorial fights between any wild animals. This is not protection & conservation of Tigers or Nature at all...!!

Nature has right to flourish at her own pace & rules. Such wrongful incidents are lesson for all to learn & to stay away. Don't breach the rules of survival in wilderness. One precious life is lost & innocent elephant is wounded physically & emotionally tortured.

Indeed, Forest Department has lot to learn and officials have to show responsibility & need to take accurate measures in terms of conservation & protection process!!!

- Rahul