Let's see how more human can we be

Last few days most facebook users has seen unprecedented  social media movement with respect to the captivity of T24 aka Ustad for killing a forest guard. This movement has garnered support from all part of the nation and also internationally and there has been intense and emotional out pour in most of the threads that were there on the face book  for saving Ustad  and returning back into the wild. Most comments on these post were questioning the Tiger expert's comments and the nexus of businessmen & RTR authorities who were supposedly behind the secretive shifting of the tiger 400 kms away from Ranathambore. 

Subsequent High Court's dismissal of the petition filed by a wildlife enthusiast meant that T24 aka Ustad has to remain in captivity. It is indeed sad that the free spirit of the tiger T24 has been curtailed by the whims and fancies of the superior species..human being.

Reproducing an apt comment from one of the post "Okay, we have slapped a wild animal for being wild.... let's see how more human can we be "  (copy right PS Anand) . Humans are the second deadliest species in the world after Mosquitoes for the maximum number of kills

 Personally I have never visited any of the Tiger reserves other than those in South India and my stance for not visiting sanctuaries in north is not a recent one. I have never liked the idea of over 20 gypsies crowding a single tiger for the sake of photographing the animal. With the advent social media network and its reach to the masses there is a fierce competition among the photographers to gain social awareness for it does make business sense in the event for those who livelihood is photography. And hence there is a constant demand of posting better images or the wildlife from various parts of the country & world. Hence the crowding of the forests in places where no rules prevail. Last year i did object to one such incident at RTR on the social media network wherein a guide for additional tips from the photographers breaks all rules .... instead of taking my comment objectively i was abused by friends and supporters of the specific guide. Similar topics of RTR has been posted and discussed in lengths for several years but there seems to be no change in the attitude and functioning of RTR.

 

Now that this episode of T24 has brought forth so many like minded people together for a common cause of saving our wildlife let us all channel our collective energies in bringing out a change in the system and wild life  conservation .

Thoughts to ponder about the tiger Ustad !!!!

Hasty decisions in labelling T24 aka Ustad as man eater by Tiger expert Mr. Valmiki Thapar. But then being a tiger expert he would know that the actions of Ustad are not that of a man eating tiger. He has never stalked or attacked human beings for his meals in spite of having maximum human intrusions in form of pilgrims going to the temple on foot. Mr. Valmiki stated that he had insisted that Ustad be put in zoo after killing of two villagers in 2012 and partially consuming too. Once a tiger tastes human flesh they start to like the salty meat and thereby start preferring human flesh and become man eaters. Whereas even though it is supposedly stated that Ustad has partially consumed human flesh of the human kills he has not killed humans till recently and that too because he was surprised by the guard.  Now my question to the expert is “Why did Ustad not kill humans till date from 2012 in spite of heavy human traffic in his territory?? Why suddenly Ustad is termed dangerous and need to be put away??

A similar human corollary to the tiger incident “A burglar enters you home and you would surely take actions to protect your property and in course of fight kill the person. Are you termed a killer?? I am sure you would say no but in case of an animal that killed because man intruded into its space you term it a man eater. This is an unfair judgement by experts and authorities of RTR!!!

Moreover it is not still conclusive proved that T24 is responsible for the human kill, for immediately after the killing of Mr. Ramphal, other guards & a writer  who were around noticed another male tiger there T72 aka Sultan in the vicinity and was suspected of killing the guard. The blame was shifted on to T24 just because he came back to the spot and was sniffing the bloodied area…

All felines/ canines are having a keen sense of smell and yes they would investigate if that smell of blood is in their territory.  Forensic investigation of the area would have clearly indicated as to what had happened on the eventful day and which tiger was involved and this was not done, instead statement made earlier by guards and few other persons were changed few hours later implicating T24 aka Ustad and the reasons for this change is unknown. This incident on the whole is quite murky and is filled with so many controversies and the affect party is the Tiger Ustad who cannot express himself.

I have seen so many comments where the person is saying that this being done to safe guard the forest foot patrol and pilgrims but then are they ensuring the safety of those people by taking T24 out of the equation now. Who takes the responsibility if the T72 now kills couple of pilgrims or a forest guard?

We may be armchair activists without venturing on foot patrols within the forest or know the ground realities, but then the villagers and the forest guards knew of Ustad’s notoriety and suspected kills by him yet continued to go about their works without a worry till date. Why?? (This is a question to expert who stated that T24 has to be put down)