A date with tiger

Arun Dev (Mumbai)
Visited: 20.9.2002
Right from my childhood I was always a wildlife enthusiast, I remember I use to cut down all the pictures of wild animals and get them pasted on my room walls. I was always inquisitive to know more and more about these wild beasts particularly those majestic predators called tigers. During my visit to the various tiger habitats of India I had an extensive study on these creatures.

The most dominant tiger reserves in India are Jim Corbett National Park, Sunderbans, Ranthambore, Bharatpur and Periyar and wherever I went, I saw them leading a solitary existence, each in its own domain. It is just superb watching these elusive beasts in their natural habitat wandering nonchalantly in the green meadows or sometimes patiently waiting for its prey to come in its territery.

I learnt from my guide that these stalwart hunters with their very sharp teeth, powerful jaws and an active body are seldom out for stalking its prey unless they are restless by throbbing hunger. But if the tiger is hungry then there is no twisting back, it will jump and grab any big or small sized herbivore that approaches its way- it could be an antelope, a wild pig or a deer. I was absolutely awe struck to know that tiger's forceful claws can even tear off the flesh of buffaloes and zebras too. It was equally surprising to know that these majestic beasts also prey upon very small creatures like lizards, birds, turtles, fishes and frogs when they are in their lazy mood, which is a rare sight. Other interesting fact about this tiger which my guide told me was that these animals can normally eat up to 40kg of food at a time as a single meal and usually come out for hunting at the time of dusk.

My guide who himself was a tiger enthusiast and a well educated guide up dated me about its physique and its breeding time. These gigantic creatures are quite huge and heavy in their length and weight. A male grown up tiger, can measure up to 10 feet in length and as heavy as 260 kg. Its female companion is slightly varies in seize, normally it is smaller than its male seize; the female tiger grows up to 8.7 feet in length. While the females gain sexual maturity at 3- 4 years, the males lag behind by a year. It was thrilling to know that after a gestation period of 98- 110 days the females give birth up to 4 cubs at a time. I could store some memorable moments with these wild mammals in the jungles of Jim Corgett in my camera.

By maintaining a check on prey population, these daring poachers assist to maintain the ecological balance. Unluckily they are bearing the coercion of extinction from the face of mother earth. It was really nice to know that our Indian government is doing immense efforts to regenerate and protect these highly endangered species in their natural surroundings.