bibek
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It’s a pity that we have more tigers in captivity than in the wild.
It’s amazing that we have almost 7,000 tigers living in the US either as pets, in shelters or in zoos. Unfortunately that’s more than double their entire wild population in the world which stands close to 3,500.
At some time or the other we have seen the image of a medicine man with a tiger (or other large feline) mask on their head. Also for whatever reason the tiger became an Universal Apothecary. Nearly every part of the tiger was used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). The hu gu (Bones in Mandarin) has been the most sought after and the upper front leg bone is the most coveted section of the skeleton.
The tiger skeleton soaked in rice wine - “bone wine” is considered the “elixir” and supposed to impart strength, status and considered a status symbol.
Though the British Raj, and the insatiable status that a tiger hunt and “shikar” got to the Indian Rajahs and their imperial “lords” was instrumental in a rapid decline of the tiger population in India, the pleasure or trophy hunting has stopped, but the poverty stricken denizens of the forests balk at the lucre of oriental medicine.
Live and let live, please. Modern biochemistry has found a lot of solutions for the human, we do not need to decimate an animal for the “elixir”. Let’s head to the apothecary instead of the “Universal apothecary” in the tigers body.
How can this excitement be replicated in the world of humans? Should we rather not experience this in the wild than behind bars or in large private compounds?
Bandhavgarh and Kanha Tiger Reserve, India
The one that started it all for me - Mahaman in Bandhavgrh, Nov, 2017
Spotty - her's is a story for another day. March, 2019
Almost a year old cub - March, 2019
Sangam among the lantana vines, Kanha
My last sight of the spectacular male - Sangam. Will see you again in 2020. Kanha, March, 2019
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