Tiger, Tiger
I like cats, even those strays that find themselves in my
backyard. I shoo them away just to protect the birds on my feeders but I know
they only leave if they choose to; they own whatever territory they are in.
Recently, I had the opportunity to expand my sense of
backyard to Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in India. There was no guarantee that we
would see any tigers as we drove around the national park but we were lucky and
saw two, a male and a female, in different parts of the Reserve. Those cats
were magnificent. There was no doubt about who owned this territory. I was in awe as I sat in the open Jeep
watching them stroll from the brush, unhurried and tolerant of the gawkers
snapping their photos.
It is hard to describe the impact of seeing a tiger in the
wild. The animal is big, a housecat on unbelievable steroids. It has authority;
the sheer bulk of its muscular body demands attention and caution. In this
natural setting, its presence is both stunning and formidable. I felt
privileged to have had the chance to see them unburdened by any cage, free in
their own environment. Someone said that in a zoo people are the observers and
the tigers are the observed but it is the reverse at Bandhavgarh – we are the
observed and the tigers are the observers.
I found it quite a stunning reversal of awareness. It opens
up a new perspective of what it means to co-exist in a world that is home to a
great diversity of beings. We need to respect, and often to protect, life in
its myriad forms. The Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is doing its part for the
tigers.
Here are facts about and the history of Bandhavgarh National
Park and its Tiger Reserve:
http://projecttiger.nic.in/bandhavgarh.htm
Wow!!!!! Your words and picture truly give a sense of how magnificent this sighting was. Thank you for sharing this magnificent experience with you readers.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Claire. Those tigers were truly magnificent. I wish everyone has a chance to see them in the wild at some time in life.
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