Goodbye Munna : Tiger Iconic at Kanha

Munna Imprisoned!

Munna is an epitome of the tiger. His resilience, stamina, sagacity and the spirit of survival is insuperable.  

Munna - Mary & Andrew

The cage was a dreadful sight for us or for any tiger lover. The crowd comprising police and forest officials made evident the sad event about to take place. We were shunned by the officials and we could not witness the capture. But the saddest part was his translocation to Bhopal a faraway land. We expected him to be immortalized here!

The contingency had arrived because of the death of a young girl in her teens. Upon inspection, no pug marks were seen in the vicinity as per some mahouts. Actually, event details are not known accurately to me. But the teen was deep in the forest and could have been a victim of rape or could have been killed by another animal as the goats she was herding could have attracted the killer. 

Anyway, it is unlikely Munna could have done this because even in old age he was still able to kill cattle frequently. He was thus drawing the ire of villagers by becoming a cattle lifter. He could have been poisoned or killed by an irate local. But with locals, no one dares to take a chance, and so the sad incarceration of a majestic and iconic carnivore.      

He is still living, seventeen years plus but now far removed from his home at Bhopal conservancy. Born and brought up in Kanha National Park there was no tiger like this amazing big cat in the World. 

Munna With Bison Kill - Image Gopal Desai 

Red Eye - Paul Fear

I must have seen him earlier on my frequent visits to Kanha National Park as a naturalist but my first memorable meeting was in 2009. He had killed a bison and was fiercely protecting it from the crow nuisance. The place was near Schaller's hide at Kanha and some lucky tourists had seen him making the kill. 

As a freelance naturalist, I was frequently encountering this magnificent beast and learned to track him with ease. He was one tiger that I had seen very often more than others as a naturalist. The study was revealing but the most awe-inspiring was his controlled aggression and sagacity rarely seen in dominant tigers. Another feature was his tolerance for humans whom he knew were not part of his food chain.       

Though he moved from one area to another all were within his dominance. I had seen him tackle red eye whom he managed to subdue using his posture and roars. Red Eye equally huge never ever came close to him, for Munna was more than a match in his prime.  

The iconic tiger made careers of many naturalists in Kanha and brought into prominence the forest guides as well. For us, the awe had turned into an extreme fondness for this mighty predator who made many holidaymakers fulfill their lifetime desire of seeing and photographing this amazing tiger in the wild. 

Munna now far away from Kanha still lives in the park through his genes as he must have made a record of siring many young in his phenomenally extended rule. 

The last I saw him was in the summer of 2016 or was it 2017? I do not remember. He had emerged from the forests after spending time at a waterhole in the canopy. He came to sit beside us, in fact too near for comfort and we had to reverse. He kept on roaring at the top of his voice incessantly probably to attract a tigress that frequented the area. He could share meals with her...a practice which he often did in old age. This he repeated the next day as well continuously roaring on both occasions he was a figure of extreme sadness.

                                                         Aging Munna Video

T2 or Kariaghati Tiger the big beast proved to be his nemesis. He had given way to a larger, younger, and fitter T2 but kept dodging him throughout to escape injuries. After one or two confrontations between the two...the story continued with Munna cleverly avoiding him all the time. The fate of aggressive T2 is not known for more than a year. Both the big cats had moved into the buffer in the vicinity of Courtyard House Resort.   

Munna is in incarceration...if looked after well may live longer than he would have in the wild. Let us hope for the best in conservation history and see a record being made.
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Uday works as a Naturalist at Kanha National Park. He loves to blog on wildlife conservation and tiger safaris. Uday writes content for websites and for search engine optimization.
He can be contacted at: pateluday90@hotmail.com
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Who Are the Perpetrators of Worst Injustice on Earth!

This article certainly does not extol the virtue of vegetarianism but at the same time does not criticize personal food choices. I eat meat strictly whence slaughtered without pain. This article does not extol the preaching in Vedas which have since five thousand years back advocated the preservation of life forms precious - through veneration. We consider cows holy. But at the same time do we treat our cows well??? Leave them on streets hungry, and derelict and become a cause of deadly accidents and yes of International Shame.    

This article speaks about other life forms! Have mercy on all life forms, including (vermin sic) that may not agonize you whence tortured or killed. I mean all. 

How some of us treat them!

NO question mark if you notice above. Some of us are merciless inhuman or life forms of the worst kind. When threat perception arises, greed overcomes, sports instincts or just plain hate gives some of us extreme pleasure and revengeful feelings arise...some of us do the following:  

Kill, snare, maim, and electrocute a tiger. Hang a leopard by the pole after thrashing it to death. Kill a deer and distribute meat. Tie a sloth bear and display. The state of the rhesus macaque as the above image speaks. Kill a snake on sight. Thrash a dog. Kill a bird with a slingshot! Shoot animals for pleasure and sport. Torture animals for sport in the name of culture. Crush elephants under the rails, and kill them as raiders in their own land. Cage animals for pets, and hang them dead on the wall as decor. Wear fur, make shoes, and trophies of wild animals. Incarcerate a fish for life in a glass container.   

Snatch scant habitats of other lifeforms. Who are the usurpers? The land grabbers? After doing this some still affirm their belief in the almighty. Did the almighty create life to be treated this way! 

What exactly is sacrosanct? Only that which affects our sensitivities or goes against the dogmas? 

Some of us even consume endangered wild animals and birds with scant regard to their status. Wood loggers, polluters of our precious water sources, and those who dig deep into mother earth for greed. Those who ravage forests - our lungs and grassland....the precious ecosystems.  

These are the vermin! Their acts will one day force us to explain to our gen next on respirator....that is why we failed you.  

That some of us do not care about other life forms, especially those who fail to agonize over their sensitivity. It is obvious!      

All those who indulge in these callous merciless activities are creatures of the worst kind. No need to hide behind the veil of culture, ideology, or other sensitivities for the perpetrators of inhuman deeds.  

The message is clear preserve all Earthly elements and life forms or perish!

What we can do? Prevent animal cruelty if possible! Speak or write against this cruelty!  

Indian River Systems & Marine Life

India is rich in biodiversity both terrestrial as well as marine. We have amazing giant creatures swimming in our rivers. The notable ones are the Golden Mahseer, Dolphins, Crocodiles including the Gharial, Ganges Shark, Goonch Cat Fish, Otters, and Huge Turtles.  Among the turtles, the notable ones are Olive Ridley, Flapshell, and Black Turtle.     

Most of these creatures can be seen in the Indus, Gangetic, and Bhramhaputra River Sytems though the mugger is widespread. The large saltwater crocodiles are found in estuaries in Sunderbans and some parts of Orissa.  

The marine life is as diverse and can be seen at Pirtoan Marine Park as well as in the seas for Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Goa, Port Blair, and numerous islands.  The vast coastal belts of the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean are home to millions of sea creatures. 

The marine creatures are the Whales, Elapid snakes, coral reef snakes, Dugong, Mottled eel,  scarlet soldier Fish, giant moray rel, red sponge, sea squirt, sweeper fish, angel fish, spotfin, lionfish, starfish, thorny oyster and numerous species of sharks. 

Reef Life of Andaman Video

Aquatic Life of the Indian Ocean
Our oceans are facing numerous threats because of climate change, pollution, overfishing, and industries on the shores. Nevertheless, marine life is little researched and offers a vast scope of discoveries during explorations.   

Development: Is this not an issue?

I happened to pick up a book by Samar Singh a conservationist of repute titled "Conserving India's Natural Heritage". In his book he sketches the depredation of our natural lands and the conservation action that is taking place after realization. He rightly eulogizes our erstwhile PM Smt. Indira Gandhi for her committed approach to nature conservation. Because of her courage to plan, implement, intervene, prevent and impose such that many life forms and natural lands received a breather perhaps for eternity.          

In order to up the development scale we are reckless in our approach - the destruction of natural lands goes on. Be it greedy development, one sided human rights activities, sheer disregard for habitats...whatever. The Earth belongs to all life forms...how much space is being accorded to them...are we the judge?  

Indian Rhino

Langur

Tigress with cubs

Common Kingfisher

Vine Snake

Photo Credits: Dharmagiri - Jungle Home Pench.

The foreward by Shri M.S. Swaminathan acts as an eye opener. He writes that "Conservation is development and the basic support systems have to be seen as integrated whole". 

How many do?

Reckless development or exploitation of crucial natural resources resulting in depredation is nothing but  harakiri a genocide virtually. The brunt of dilapidated ecosystems and the cost incurred there in will be paid by the coming generations.  We have to learn to preserve our natural lands and also recover or return them back to a preserved state by action and policies and not by speech.  

Sustainable development means harnessing our resource for renewed availability and not one time go. The economic upliftment and empowerment of masses should not be at the cost of crucial life support systems. Already overburdened Earth with one species growing unchecked is devastating ecosystems all over. 

But all this rationality seems irrational to those committed to unchecked development resulting in depletion of crucial resources and gene pools which will be lost for eternity. 

.Give space to other life forms please