I once walked sprawling jungles with a gait in my stride as I took in the whiff of the damp soil while I trampled the green long grass under my paws. Nobody dared to stop me, they would all look down meekly as I strode past, their eyes dare not meet mine. Some would lay cute offerings that I would accept, else I would demand a bigger booty if I was not satisfied. They would scramble and get it for me and my hunger would be satiated. I strolled down to a watering hole and lapped up the fresh water that trickled from the nearby gleaming river.There were majestic teak and pine trees that clouded the horizon and the skies above me, I slept under their shade while cheeky langurs pelted me with berries. I growled and they would scurry, screeching away like a bunch of err..monkeys. At times I would get down to doing business myself, I did not always delegate. I led a carefree life. I had a few wives and several children, I did not keep track. Wives came and went, they went when I sent them away. Some took my kids and walked into the twilight zone. I did not stop them.
Many stopped to admire me, some called me majestic, some called me handsome, some called me cute but above all I was supreme as I was up high on the food chain. Ahem. I was happy with it all.My servants would groom me, I would glance their way once in a while.I rolled in the hot afternoon sun and took a nap most times with my family. We were not nomadic,we just moved houses because we were bored.My children played with me, they would chew my majestic tail and paw me. I was content, I purred. I worked of course, I was not just lazing around. Once in a while I had to take some strategic decisions and meet with the Generals to safeguard my territory. There were a few treacherous Generals who I court martialed and banished them for good. I trained hard, worked out at night and developed sixty packs whimsically, effortlessly. I was King Khan. I was the force of the jungle, a force to reckon. Of course, my cousin the Lion King has the same notion, I let him live with it and I with mine.
I started noticing a few changes around me one day. Summers were getting hotter, the trees around me were disappearing. There was not much shade I could take refuge under and I noticed there were not many chattering monkeys. The water in the nearby river receded, at certain places fish were dying. Swampy areas were congested with dead fish and plastic bottles. I was bewildered. I was thirsty. I had to walk a lot further to find water, I was not used to this. Offerings were not coming my way easily, despite my incessant growling tummy. There were pangs of hunger that I had to deal with besides my growing need for rest. I started losing weight, I never knew what it meant to be lean. Only my second cousins the Cheetahs were the trim chaps. As I lapped up some water one day from a dwindling watering hole, I saw my reflection. My stripes were no longer gleaming in the hot afternoon sun, my bones were showing, I looked like an ordinary wet tom cat. I dejectedly walked back to my family.
The nights were long, we worked as teams. We united with the unknowns to hunt for food. The irritating lot, the hyenas tagged along. I felt sorry for them and allowed them, they scavenged and we scavenged. Hunting with the hyenas was unheard of in my family. My ancestors would be scorning from the heavens above. With great difficulty we managed dinner once every few days. I had to share it with the family and uninvited guests. I had no strength to fight them off. The days went by and it got worse. I was exhausted, so exhausted that I barely noticed that my family was getting smaller. I looked out for my favorite girls, they were not to be seen. I summoned my General.I demanded statistics. Most of my family was dead, the General stated. I was left with only three wives and six children.I roared, louder than a thousand rolling thunders. The earth shook. How, I asked. How? Were we attacked by the outsider? What has caused this blasphemous state of affairs I demanded. Who is responsible for this atrocity? I roared. Man, he said.
I could hear those beasts called “man” a few years back. I could hear their shrieks and cries in the neighboring villages. The shrieks got louder over the years because they got closer to us. I could hear the drilling of machines, the sound of the steel sawing through the wood. I could see fences erected in my home, to keep me away from those terrible men. Some elephants died while looking for food, they did not starve to death, they were murdered by those electric fences or they were poisoned. I was scared to drink water from the hole. My throat was parched. I could hear the screeching of brakes in the middle of the night, I could hear the echoing footsteps, I could hear the gun shots, a whine, a yelp and then dead silence. The jungles engulfed the terrible silence along with our pain. It just got worse. Our numbers dwindled.
Our skin hung on the walls of castles, clubs and in the manors of these beasts. Our entrails used in chinese medicine. Our claws hung like a talisman on the necks of the brutes, hoping for good luck. They will be damned. My mother is avenging our deaths. She comes in the form or tsunamis, hurricanes and earthquakes and shows her wrath. Most of my family have lost the battle with man. I too am slowly succumbing to his ways. I know not how many more years are left in me. On last count, my General stated that there are only 1411 of us left in this world.They said I am supreme, they said I am majestic, they made me the national animal and I was the emblem for many royal families. I have never begged, the majestic never do,I now do. Let me live.
Save our Tigers… only 1411 are left of this magnificient animal that is our National Animal… !!! Let us ensure that our kids get to see this magnificient animal in all its glory in the wild… !!!! Lets all spread awareness and save The TIGER !!
Kill History
95 tigers killed in 1994
121 tigers killed in 1995
52 tigers killed in 1996
88 tigers killed in 1997
44 tigers killed in 1998
81 tigers killed in 1999
53 tigers killed in 2000
72 tigers killed in 2001
43 tigers killed in 2002
35 tigers killed in 2003
34 tigers killed in 2004
43 tigers killed in 2005
37 tigers killed in 2006
27 tigers killed in 2007
29 tigers killed in 2008
32 tigers killed in 2009
1411 Tigers left in a total of 16 states (outside Jharkhand and the Sunderbans in West Bengal)
According to a 2008 census
Comment Me if my story has impacted you.
Lets all spread awareness and save The TIGER !!!!
Ur's Pavan Survi
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