South Asia Daily

The tiger v. the chiru

 

© WWF-Canon / Vladimir FILONOV Chiru Tibetan Antelopes © WWF

China sees bargaining possibilities everywhere. That is a cultural characteristic. When it comes to India China's bargaining skills become even more sharpened.

New Delhi has for long been requesting Beijing to crack down on the illegal trade in tiger parts that flourishes in China. Everything tiger is coveted in that country with near erotic zeal. As a result India's rapidly dwindling tiger population remains under intense pressure. There are some 1,400 tigers left in India. When India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh recently requested China to employ stricter measures against the illegal tiger trade, the latter harrumphed and said something to the effect, "Yes, but how about India cracking down on the shahtoosh trade?" Shahtoosh, incidentally, is a shawl made from the fine wool extracted from the chiru or the Tibetan antelope, which too is under severe ecological pressure. The only difference is against India's 1,400 tigers there are still over 70,000 chiru roaming the Tibetan plateau. While that number is low it is not comparable to the existential challenge that the tiger faces.

On its part India has done quite a bit of work to minimize the illegal trade in shahtoosh unlike China where tiger parts are sold with impunity. According to the World Wildlife Fund only 4,000 tigers remain in the wild. It also says, "In the past century, the world has lost three of the nine tiger subspecies. The Bali, Caspian, and Javan tigers have all become extinct ... and many scientists believe the South China tiger is 'functionally extinct'."

Among the majestic cats

The tobacco color of the dust appeared even more saturated in the waning light of a hot summer day in the Gir forest. A mere drive through the 1412 square kilometers greeted by an occasional flycatcher or a kingfisher was reward enough. But then suddenly we were face to face with the central attraction of the jungle—the Asiatic Lion. The first one was a lioness just beginning to look for a prey. Those of us ensconced in our Maruti Gypsies and Toyota Innovas were not attractive enough. She sauntered by without so much as raising an eyebrow at us. The second sighting was of two young beats, one male and one female, engaged in what our guide whispered in my ears was a mating dance. "Sambhog ni taiyyari kare chhe, (They are getting ready for intercourse)" were his precise words in Gujarati. They were spoken with hint of embarrassment that could not hide his voyeuristic instincts. A third sighting was a couple of cats resting under a cluster of saag trees with dust-laden leaves. A final sighting was a lioness walking away from us after an unsuccessful hunt. She had the feel of defeat in her demeanor. I will write more about our Gir visit in the coming posts.

All pictures by Mayank Chhaya