ON THE PROWL

                     

M180 was his identification number. The forest department had demarcated him and was on a lookout to capture him, this time, dead or alive. For long, M180 had been well-protected in the Manthan Reserve which had the country’s largest number of felines. Just a week ago, the Prime Minister extolled the successful efforts of the forest department in increasing the number of tigers but after a week why did they take this sudden decision to hunt down M180, the majestic royal Bengal tiger, one among the few 180 tigers that are being safeguarded against extinction. 

M180 is just a number but this tiger was once fondly called “Lala” by the wildlife photographers and conservationists. That was eight years ago, Lala was a blazing male Tiger, familiar to several villagers who lived around the Manthan Reserve. He was the healthiest, most agile and astute hunter of small prey that lived in the reserve jungles. His large round face with sparkling eyes and a thundering roar made him unique and he outshined all the other tigers by his swift moves and giant leaps. 

Lala was once the most beautiful object in the forest for the wildlife photographer and enthusiasts who frequented Manthan reserve. The National Geographic once made a widely watched wildlife documentary on Lala, “The striped lord of the forest”. He was a hero after that but what made him a fugitive now. Praful Kumar, the zesty IFS officer nearly loved Lala and respected him as the best among the royal felines. So what changed the course of Lala’s life?

Five years ago, Manthan Reserve which was known for its excellent security measures unprecedentedly came under media glare. An international trafficking agency which had political backup broke into the impenetrable security of Manthan reserve. That was when all hell broke loose and the fate of Lala changed forever. 

There was a plan for a massive tiger hunt but when the culprits spotted Lala, a strange fascination overwhelmed them. They gave Lala a chase but he was too fleet-footed and escaped the volley of bullets that came his way. One of the hunters was so overconfident that he jumped off the jeep to shoot Lala on foot at close quarters. 

That was when everything changed. His companions started screaming at his stupidity. They repeatedly called to him to return but he never listened. Lala wasn’t just another typical tiger. He turned out to be far more intelligent than others. Until then, he never attacked humans but things changed dramatically when he saw the man chasing him on foot with his hunting rifle. The sight of a single hunter trying to attack him provoked and instigated Lala who was a better hunter himself. 

Lala was outraged, perceiving the stupidity of the solitary hunter. There was no more cowardly running away in his mind. He gave a menacingly loud roar that froze the man in his run. His hands trembled, he shot the gun aimlessly and the cartridge was soon empty. An infuriated lala, pounced on the man and the rest is history.

A man-eater evolved from an intelligent and agile tiger which fed on no more than some warthogs and Sambar deer in the forest. Seven years passed and Lala’s man-eating misadventures continued. Every year, it attacked atleast one person. Ten people became its victims and now it had hunted its eleventh victim. Praful Kumar was bombarded with a volley of questions by press persons just like Lala was by a volley of bullets. Lala was the pride and prestige of Praful’s IFS career. Tourists and wildlife enthusiasts flocked to Manthan from all over the world but today, the scene was entirely different. The order to kill Lala was stabbing Praful’s conscience to the core. He became quite sleepless over this imbroglio. The conservationists on one side and the villagers’ demand on the other, kept Praful in a constant dilemma. 

Naina, Praful’s photographer wife,  too couldn’t take the government order to kill Lala lightly. She was dumbstruck and felt too morose over the issue, after all Lala was her favourite too. But the killings were not just alarming but fatal too. After a long spell of pondering over the matter, she prepared herself to convince Praful to take the painful decision. He had long arguments about nabbing the trafficking agency but Naina dissuaded him elaborating the unstoppable killings of Lala.

 Some days passed and Praful finally gave in to the decision of terminating Lala. Traps were set in different parts of the forest and cameras were also placed to observe Lala’s movements. He was captured only on camera and seemed to be an astute evader of the traps. As Jim Corbett says, tigers are often underrated but they are remarkably intelligent in understanding human behaviour. 

During these sting operations, the head of the trafficking agency returned and knowing full well about Praful, came to threaten him. That’s when Praful decided , it would be nabbing the traffickers first and then killing Lala as the former proved to be more lethal. Praful ordered his men to slow down their trapping network in order to give Lala free reign to attack the traffickers who had camped in the forest without prior permission. They had political support and the PM himself was involved in sheltering them for campaigning funds. They sniggered at Praful’s inability to nab them or take any legal action against them. But the law of karma is inevitable and they had to reap what they had sown. 

Lala who was left free to prowl around noted each one of the traffickers who were bravely camping in the forest. It started off its killing spree by killing one of them. The villagers became anxious, shouting and clamouring for safety and for the speedy killing of Lala. Praful listened to their pleas and urged them to be patient but they were getting irate and indignant too. 

Of the four, two were killed by Lala and the villagers now began to understand the undercover plan of Praful. They supported Praful’s idea of first finishing off the miscreants. Alas Lala killed all the four traffickers who had come to capture it dead. Praful saw Lala hunt down the traffickers one by one on the cctv cameras and felt so satisfied that Lala was doing what he couldn’t. But soon the killings became hot news on all media and there was serious pressure from the Prime Minister to hunt down Lala immediately. The senior officer, the chief forest officer, came down to Manthan to warn Praful for the quick killing of M180 failing which a government order to dismiss him would be passed. 

Praful feigned obedience and pretended to take action immediately. But now that the trafficking menace had ended, the order to kill Lala was finally executed. After about a month’s time, Lala was no more and so were the traffickers. The men who made Lala a man-eater were eliminated by Lala himself who also lost his life, not as a victim but as a proud hunter.