Save A Tiger 

Tiger, Our national animal. An endangered animal. There are as few as about 1706 (tiger census 2011) tigers left in India. According to some news 2 species of Tigers are already extinct. Project Tiger started in India in 1972, after a shocking revelation that the tiger population not more than 1827. Since then there were many campaigns launched to save our national animal and its natural habitat. But the rise in tiger population has not gone up as expected. Is save the tiger just a slogan? What is being done to Save A tiger?

The recent news about the Tiger attack in Delhi zoo is what triggered me to write my first blog post. Though enough has been written and spoken about the said incident, why are people still insisting upon killing the Tiger - "Vijay"? He did not eat the man he carried away to a safer place, away from the stones being pelted at him and the intruder who had fallen into his enclosure.

Why blame the Tiger? He did not cross his boundaries to hunt down a man, which clearly means that the tiger has no blood lust for humans. He of course, was just curious to know who the intruder was. The deceased is said to have spent a good 1 minute 25 seconds in the enclosure with the tiger without being harmed. The right next day after this incident took place, everyone's whatsapp was bombarded with the "Delhi zoo tiger incident" video. The video runs for about 2 minutes 25 seconds. So, its clear that people watching the whole "show" had good 1 and a half minute to save Maqsood (the deceased). So why not blame Maqsood and all the others who had the time to record the incident or just stand there and watch everything? Why blame Vijay? Aren't the people who silently watched everything without thinking of helping the guy, in a way murderers?  Yes, the word MURDERER is harsh. But isn't that what happened in a way?

He did not eat the man. All he did was to try and protect the guy inside his boundaries from the stones being pelted at them. He got irritated and most importantly, scared when people started shouting and screaming. Tigers have the habit of carrying their cubs (have thick fur, thicker than human skin) by their neck, Vijay (The Tiger) also did the same.So would we. We try to pick up any animal like we pick human babies when that is not the right way few animals should be picked up in (for eg: rabbits are to be picked up by their ears). The postmortem report of Maqsood does not report any other wound on Maqsood's body that could be caused by a Tiger's bite or scratch. The guy bled out to death, he was not eaten alive, not eaten at all. So why execute him?

When we go around shouting "Save The Tiger" isn't saving this tiger important too? This tiger is reported to be following his normal diet and has shown no affinity towards human meat. Then why kill him and cause a huge loss to the already depreciating tiger population. Saving 1 tiger is also as important as saving all the others living in every part of our country and the world.

Tigers are magnificent! It would be a great loss if all their species are extinct. It is our national animal and should be saved and protected in every way possible by every individual.

Save A Tiger, Save This Tiger, Save Vijay!