IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Karanth, K.U. | |
| When caring less may actually help | |
| 2014 Newspaper | |
The shooting of a man-eating tiger, as it happened recently in the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu - barely two weeks after two other tigers preyed on four people in neighbouring Karnataka - invariably polarises public opinion. Locals, whose lives are at risk, want maneaters shot. Animal lovers, on the other hand, demand their "safe capture." Caught in the middle, officials have to confront increasingly angry mobs, while authorities in Delhi insist on elaborate "operating procedures." In Bandipur, Karnataka, after dozens of attempts at darting a tiger with a tranquillizing gun had failed, and after the big cat killed its third victim, angry locals burnt the forest office, forcing forest staff to abandon the scene. A posse of armed police had to control the situation, until the 12-year-old infirm male tiger was finally darted. Science and practical experience clearly show that we cannot care for every individual wild tiger. Animal lovers and conservationists should therefore focus on saving the species as a whole, rather than worry about saving every individual. Conservation interventions must therefore be guided by scientific evidence and social practicality, rather than emotion. |
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