The tiger after his capture: Proliferation of man-eaters?He was a perfect specimen of his breed. A full-grown male in the prime of his life, measuring an impressive 10 feet from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail. For years, he had stalked his prey in the Sitabani area in the lush foothills of Nainital district, unmindful of the honey gatherers and woodcutters who were intruding on his domain in increasing numbers.Almost overnight, everything changed. From the hunter he became the hunted. And, instead of being just another tiger he now had a specific and dreaded name the man-eater of Bangajhala. Exactly two years ago, he made his first human kill, a poor anonymous woodcutter.Over the next six months, he disappeared for weeks, sometimes months only to reappear suddenly, notching up another human victim. The villagers, in their ignorance, failed to report the matter to forest authorities till his third officially recorded human kill on June 26, 1981.His victim was Budda, a local who gathered honey for a living and was forced to go deep into the forests to look for prospective spots. According to the villagers, Budda had been his seventh victim and it was only after his remains were discovered that the presence of the man-eater was relayed to the Field Director of Project Tiger (Uttar Pradesh).Due to the reign of terror the man-eater had unleashed, all woodcutting and honey gathering activity had abruptly ceased. For a month. Project Tiger officials tracked the tiger, hoping to get close enough to tranquilise the animal. Finally, the officials cabled Brijendra Singh, a wildlife expert who had been involved in the capture of the famous Dogadda man-eating leopard.Singh's speciality was his uncanny ability to imitate the mating call of wild cats and officials hoped that by using Singh's talents the man-eater could be lured into the "drop-door" type of cage that had been transported to Bangajhala. Singh arrived on July 26 to find that the tiger had been "localised" by baiting with a young calf.The tiger had been sighted a number of times in the vicinity, but had so far steered clear of the bait. He was, however, getting increasingly bolder. On one occasion, hearing human voices near his kill, the man-eater had "treed" some labourers who were engaged in setting up a machan. Only after a terrified forest guard fired three shots in the air, did the tiger leave. A day later, the man-eater finally took the bait.He had only eaten a small portion of the calf and was certain to return. Armed with a tranquiliser gun, the field director and an assistant sat up for the next 36 hours, but the tiger, sensing their presence, stayed away.Camouflage: Finally, the group dragged the remains of the calf into the cage, which was carefully camouflaged. Singh then started imitating the mating call of a tigress. Half an hour later, his efforts were rewarded when a sambhar started belling - a sure sign that a tiger was approaching.Singh hurriedly left and the group returned the next morning only to find that the tiger had stepped halfway into the cage but had refused to grab the bait. If he had, the trapdoor was wired to slam shut behind him. By now, the Kosi river was swollen with the incessant rain and the group knew that another day's rain would make it impossible to ford the river and they would be cut off. They had been constantly on the tiger's trail for a month with hardly any rest. It was decided to give it one more try and then pack up and come back after the monsoons.On the final day, July 31 the cage was again camouflaged with fresh leaves and branches and the more juicy chunks of meat from the bait were scattered outside the cage. Singh once again called and almost immediately the tiger roared somewhere close by. Singh left and the party returned the next morning.To their relief, the man-eater was inside the cage snarling and swiping at the bars with his paws. To prevent the magnificent animal from injuring himself, a tranquiliser dart was fired into his body. After the nerve-racking effort of transporting the cage on a tractor trailer across the swirling Kosi, the party finally reached Lucknow, where the man-eater was handed over to the zoo. But the man-eater's saga is hardly over.A few days later, there was a report that another tiger from Corbett National Park had killed a woman labourer in the same area. The woman was part of a large group of squatters who have settled in the area outside the park with the active backing of a group of local politicians. They have cleared the jungle on the fringe of Corbett Park and settled down there.Lately, they have started moving deeper into the forest to gather firewood, intruding into the natural habitat of the myriad tigers who inhabit the area. "There was absolutely nothing wrong with the Bangajhala man-eater." says Singh, "he turned into a man-eater because of people invading his habitat." The big wild cats have in the past traditionally turned into man-eaters only when injury or old age prevented them from hunting their natural prey.Now as the number of tigers increase as a result of Project Tiger, in tandem with encroachment of forest areas, the chances of more tigers turning into man-eaters is increasing. It would be tragic if in this unequal battle between man and beast, the tiger were to lose out by default. Nothing would work against the tiger's interest than a proliferation of man-eaters-brought about, ironically enough, by man himself. encroaching on the tiger's domain.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 5, 2013 11:55 IST--- ENDS ---
