Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Attack or Defence !!!!

As this has been a very hot topic since this video was aired on every national news channel i decided to write some of the facts of this incidence those were available to me.

Every news channel has been showing a Tiger attack video and has been telling stories. Some came up with wrong facts. Well thats not the question. But what really happenned is the real question. After seeing this video many people do not consider themselves safe in the National Parks. But thats not right. I am no tiger expert and its not been a long time since i have been following tigers but one thing i can say is that.. Till the time you don't trouble them they won't do anything.. and generally Tigers are very shy..


Download the Video


Well.. After seeing this video for the first time.. I wanted to know everything about this.. Thats natural.. and everyone who sees this video has their own views..

But..

There were some questions those were unanswered..

1. Where did this happen ?
2. Why did this animal attack ?
3. Who was on the elephant ?
4. What happenned to the people ?


and one thing more.. Who shot this Video.. ( I really wanted to know this..)

The reconstructed story goes a bit like this..

The forest department received a message early in the morning about a large tiger which had killed two cows near Tamuli Pathar village, which is close to the boundary of the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) in the north-eastern Assam state. Actually this was a Tigress who was a mother of two cubs which were recently rescued and released.

By 10 am a joint team of the Assam forest department including the director of the park, Mr N. K. Vasu, the local administration, police and the army, and the Wildlife Trust of India(WTI)-managed Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) was combing the area with five elephants trying to locate the animal.

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Second from left is D.D.Boro who darted both tigers but missed the suspected mother, who later mauled the mahout.

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Here is a Screen Shot from the Video.



Range officer, Dharanidhar Boro, Dr Chaudhary along with a guard were riding the elephant, Joymala, driven by Pegu. Boro was carrying the darting gun.As the elephant moved towards the tigress, it did a mock charge. The guard fired two blanks to discourage her and she ran away into the next field, where the paddy was thick and hid there.

The team cautiously moved towards it and could get to almost 20 feet where she was growling away. Boro could see her clearly and took a shot at it with the dart gun. The dart missed her and this enraged her so much that she charged and took a “flying” leap on to the elephant’s head.

The footage showed that Pegu saw the tigress leaping and threw the metal ankush at it to defend himself. “The tigress saw the ankush coming, dodged it in mid-leap and took a swipe at Pegu without actually landing on the elephant, which had stepped back..

It all happened in a few seconds and noone knew that both Boro and the guard had fallen down. What now happened was even more amazing. As the tigress landed on the ground Joymala quickly pinned her down with her left foot and tried to control it with its trunk. The tigress struggled under this weight for at least half a minute roaring, as other people in the vicinity shouted and fired shots in the air. In this commotion another attempt was made to dart it, but even this shot was off the mark. The tigress finally struggled loose and ran away.

Joymala saved the life of both Boro and the gaurd.. Joymala then tried to chase the tigress was then calmed by the CWRC veterinarian.. who was holding the bleeding mahout.. The 25-year-old mahout, Satya Pegu, who was badly lacerated, lost three fingers on his left hand, and was admitted in a hospital in Dibrugarh. The Wildlife Trust of India and its partner, the International Fund for Animal Welfare covered his medical expenses.

The video footage was taken by the divisional forest officer, R.K.Das.

Noone was killed in this incidence.. just because of some quick thinking by Joymala (The elephant)..

Tigers do not generally attack human being but when it was shot by the dart gun two times then it was an act done in Self defence and to save her cubs..

7 comments:

Akhil said...

Dear Aman, as i m not watching tv so i dnno about this news, but believe me, i am having this video in my pc for last minimum 8 months or i think from 1 year. so i am not getting why this news is comming this time?
i am totally agree with urs study on this video..

Urban Jungli said...

Hanji Akhil Bhai.. This is a very old video but they're showing it nowadays.. But everyone is coming up with different stories..

Thank you for your comments Akhil Bhai..

Karthik said...

Aman

Thanks for the article you have written. Have always been wondering the reason for the tiger's attack from the day I got to see the video.

You have rightly pointed out - poor cat must have been thoroughly intimidated and frightened. Any mother of any species would have done the same.

Karthik

Urban Jungli said...

Thank you for you appreciation Karthik.. I have heard about several tiger attacks and have also seen a couple of tigers who had been declared maneaters..

But on every ocassion when a Tiger had attacked a man the Tiger was under threat for life.. A very famous Tigress named Mohini(from a very famous National Park) had attacked a tourist gypsy but no one was killed.. few were injured.. but the tigress did this only after being hit by some other vehicle..

So i strongly believe.. until and unless you do something wrong.. they wont do anything..

Avinash Upadhyay said...

Dear Aman,
Thanks for the explanation. This video has been sitting on my comp for more than a few months and i had assumed that the mahout had died. Also I did not know the locale or the background. I keep visiting National parks and except getting mildly charged at, we have not been threatened by the tigers at all. In fact these beauties are more genial than the human beings. We keep encroaching their territory and yet they give us a long berth - try that with any human being, even a square foot of land encroached will invite severe repurcussions.

Thanks Aman

Urban Jungli said...

You are right Avinash..

I can remember a very famous quote by George Bernard Shaw.. “When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity. The distinction between crime and justice is no greater.”

Thank you for your appreciation..

Avadhesh Malik said...

yes, the analysis is perfect...
even Jim Corbett mentiohed that a tiger would not attack a human being unless it is wounded, a female defending her cubs, or when cornered.. in this incidence mentioned at least two of the above conditions are true....thus at least i would condsider the attack to be justified......

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