A Bridge Crossed
By: Ashok Kumar

Traditional practices and mores of a society are best changed from within. External pressure could well be counter productive, observes Ashok Kumar, as he narrates of a first ever visit of a Chinese delegation to a tiger reserve in India.

Chinese and Indians at Gathia Rao bridge on Ramganga River , Corbett Tiger Reserve, 22 May 2005

The story goes back to mid April 2005 when on a brief visit to attend a meeting of Asian Conservation Alliance , I called on Chinese Wildlife officials  at their office in Beijing . A visit by a Chinese delegation to India to attend CITES Tiger Enforcement Task Force meeting was due a month later. I was asked, if the delegation stayed on in India a couple of days more, would there be an opportunity to visit a Tiger Reserve and perhaps see a wild tiger? They had never seen one, though China has four sub species of tigers in small numbers.

I agreed to make this possible and make arrangements. I chose Corbett because this was the only reserve that would fit into a two-and-a-half-day trip, equally because sighting wild elephants in the hot month of May was a certainty. China has a population of wild elephants estimated between 100 and 250 in Yunan province but actually sighting them is difficult.

The six-person Chinese team headed by Mr. Chen Jianwei, Director General, CITES Management Authority and comprising of officials from customs and enforcement as well as Zhang Li Aster, Country Director, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW-China) entered Corbett in the afternoon of a fiercely hot 20 th May 2005 . An hour into the road to Dhikala through the vista of Sal trees brought us face to face with a tusker who refused to give way, demonstrated and began moving toward us forcing us to retreat around a bend. A forest department vehicle appeared and gingerly went around the bend, soon to come back in reverse gear. Fifteen minutes later the coast was clear up to a point but further on the road we encountered a family unit of elephants; females and calves but no tusker. The Chinese had not experienced anything like this before. In the time they were in Corbett, they were to see more than 100 elephants. Later that afternoon, we were peering into deep foliage on the Sambar road where a partially hidden head of a tiger (tigress actually) could be seen if you really concentrated. In the afternoon heat, she had no intention of moving. This tigress has four sub-adult cubs, now three quarter grown, all living in close vicinity of Dhikala campus. This season, Dhikala and Sambar Road have seen a tiger watching fest. Corbett will close soon and when it re-opens in November, the cubs would be tigers. They will probably disperse and find territories of their own some distance away because all nearby territories are occupied. Prey here is super-abundant but even so, we do not know where they will go. Tigers of Corbett are still `A’ grade wild tigers, no longer totally nocturnal but not show-biz tigers of Ranthambore.

Going on an elephant ride was a new experience for the Chinese next day, but no tiger was sighted. Plenty of deer and wild boar. The grass-lands of Dhikala Chaur with its large herds of deer was in itself a wonderland to them. As for me, I never tire of it. In May this year it was a lush, lush pale green. Elephants were tucking away to their hearts’ content, their bellies inflated like footballs and a joy to behold. For a day, it was possible to forgive the avarice of the human race.

The denouement came on our last morning. Just outside Dhikala campus, a tiger was spotted in grass, invisible for the most part. Riding elephants, which were not far arrived and entered the grass. Soon a very young tiger arose, visible fully to us from our Gypsy vehicle. The tiger entered the forest and was followed by the elephants. The Chinese who were on the elephant saw that tiger from close quarters and photographed it. When they came down from the elephant, I was hugged again and again. The language barrier was broken down. Seeing a wild tiger for the first time is a moving experience; an experience which I believe changes a person. This happened to me in 1971 in what was then North Kheri forest division, later Dudwa Tiger Reserve.

The drive back to the real world outside gave us some reprieve: a python slithering just off the road, muggers and gharials on crocodile point, many interesting birds, Great hornbill, Crested serpent eagle, Pallas’s fishing eagle and so on. Birds become interesting when you have done the tiger.

Only two of the Chinese could express themselves in English. I have received messages from them since they reached Beijing . The enforcement person promises to crack down on the tiger parts trade. I perceive a change in hearts and minds, and I am sure I am right. A Bridge has been crossed.