My First Tiger--News

　　The tiger is the largest of the big cats but this does not totally account for its almost mystical aura. Partly it’s the legacy of literature: Blake’s “tiger burning brightly in the night” and Kipling’s jungle stories. But it is this most charismatic cat which inspired such literature in the first place. And on my first visit to India in 1984, I was not counting on an encounter with a wild Bengal Tiger. After all, there were only 5000 in all India (now its only 3000). However, I did choose a reserve which I knew would maximise my chances. Kanha National Park is located in true Kipling country, in the heart of Madhya Pradesh. It then had a population of 80 tigers-a population only surpassed by that of the largely inaccessible Sunderbuns. I was also attracted to the mode of transport available within the park, namely by elephant back.

So at the first opportunity I set out with my driver on the back of a large elephant. The park is picturesque and deer- the tiger’s favourite prey- abound in the lightly wooded Sal forest.

It was not long before my driver spotted fresh pug marks of a tiger’s paw imprints on a sandy river bank. Soon the elephant had picked-up on the beast’s scent and was loping through the forest at a fast clip-I was regretting wearing short sleeves as they provided no protection against the onslaught of foliage that we were plunging through.

Then, behold, was sitting a large tiger. One of the most exciting moments in my life. And it got better, as it soon found a jungle pool which it proceeded to languidly loll about in. Feverishly, I shot a full roll of film on my new camera. But later that day I learnt that my shots were all hopelessly underexposed. I had followed its manual instructions to set the shutter speed at 1/2000th of a second when changing film. But, not being familiar with the equipment, I overlooked adjusting it after reloading. Also at that stage I was using print film, which is more susceptible to colour shifts over time than transparency slide film.