Do you know the tiger came to Delhi for a special purpose?
"Madam, how do you feel about a tiger prowling in Delhi? Why is the government not doing anything to protect the people from the menace of the tiger?" asked the hysterical voice at the other end of the phone. This was last week. Wait a moment, though. A tiger in Delhi? A tiger? My first thought was disbelief, quickly followed by the possibility of it being a leopard, given that there have been various cases of leopards in and around the National Capital Region - including the recent - and horrific - reports of leopards being baited, and hunted, in Gurgaon (and a few miles from my home). I worried. If it was indeed a leopard, would it meet the fate of other such cats - harried, mobbed, beaten, bludgeoned, burnt - caught in conflict situation amidst panicked human?
I must admit to another thought that crept in: Had the tiger, driven to despair by the rapid erosion and fragmentation of its habitat, marched to Delhi to petition the government to "save the tiger"? Perhaps we would we see it shortly in Jantar Mantar, jostling for space among sundry petitioners - seeking justice for a murdered soul, defending their right to land, or demanding a hike in wages. Would our tiger be there too, urging the powers-that-be (and dishing out sound bites) that as the national animal it surely had a right to a tiny bit of the country and its conscience - particularly given the vital services it provided: like the water we drink from the rivers that flow of its forest?
My flight of fancy - though not ungrounded - was halted by frantic calls from myriad newspapers and channels, demanding my views on "how the public could be saved from the terror that gripped them?"
One particular channel announced (rather self righteously, I thought) that it had been following this story for days, thereby doing Delhi, and the nation, a great service by alerting it to the danger it was in from the khauf (terror) of the aadamkhor (man-eater). On March 28, the excitement reached fever pitch, with the channel claiming that the capital had the national animal in its midst, "established" by "exclusive" footage of the tiger in the Usmanpur area of Delhi. The videos aired repeatedly on the channel, accompanied by shrill reportage on the terror it had spread in the neighbourhood. The footage made it to the social media, and to other dailies and news channels.
But this "exclusive" video footage of the tiger in Delhi, was not in Delhi. It was shot in the Corbett landscape, specifically, the forests of Sitabani in Ramnagar forest division which abuts Corbett Tiger Reserve. AG Ansari, a wildlife conservationist based in the region, informed that the clip was shot by some local people on October 14, 2014 between Bhandarpani-Tedha village on the main Ramnagar-Patkot Road. He also circulated the original video - which had been clearly edited and shown on the channel.
Meanwhile, the story was taken up by varied news channels and papers. A colleague (a conservationist) who was at the spot said that no less than 20 OB vans were stationed there, and the place was rapidly developing the atmospherics of a mela. Stalls selling tea and snacks had sprouted, and the presence of the vans had birthed many locals knowledgeable on the tiger. Residents reported sighting of leopard, tiger and leopard with two cubs. Some locals were quoted as sayingthey have stopped going to college, school, etc.
Yet, on the ground, reports by conservationists and authorities verify that there is no indication of the presence of a tiger. A team from the Delhi-based Wildlife SOS has been monitoring the situation, and reports that they could not find any pugmark or any other clue of a leopard, let alone a tiger. The footprints that they (and forest officials) found, after thoroughly scouring the area, were of the Canidae family - probably that of a large dog.
The possibility of a hyena or a transient leopard cannot be ruled out. Such admittedly vexing, if not terrifying incidents, of finding a predator in an urban jungle are not uncommon. Why wild animals are increasingly been sighted in human habitation and the rise inhuman-wildlife conflict is a complex issue, and demands another column.
And it need not - must not, generate panic.
A leopard, indeed most wild animals, try their best to avoid humans (not surprising given our not so savoury track recording of hunting, poaching etc). We need to extend them the same courtesy.
Most predators are people-shy, the panic, and the hysteria that usually accompanies such a situation is practically a guide on "what-not-to-do" if confronted by such a situation. Cops running around with guns, media poking their cameras into the predator's face for exclusive footage, a frenetic mob chasing after it with stones, rods, etc is a recipe for disaster - further panicking an already traumatised wild animal who will lash out in self-defense - when all that really needs to be done to is to control the frenzy, calm the animal by sheltering it from the crowd, and allow it safe passage - possibly to where it came from, or allow the tranquilisation team to perform their duties effectively.
Media, especially in the current climes of "breaking news", where updates are dished out minute-by-minute, plays a crucial role in shaping the attitudes of the public. Unfortunately, the media tends to be sensational. Pick up relevant news reports - and you would find it peppered with words like "marauding elephants", "jumbos on a rampage", "leopard on the prowl, looking for you", "menace"… You get the drift?
The tone of reports that cover conflicts usually suggests that the animal sought out and attacked humans, giving the impression that wild animals deliberately search and attack people, leading to panic, hysteria, etc.
When did you last see a report of leopards living proximity to human settlements, with surprisingly low levels of conflict? It does not make news. Yet, a study by Athreya et al shows that a human-dominated landscape (350 people per sqkm), with a high density of both leopards and striped hyenas (five adults each per 100sqkm), there were no reports of any people being attacked or killed.