[Leica] A Meeting With Machali

[richard at richardmanphoto.com (Richard Man)]

What a magnificent animal. As for ethic, we human have intruded far too
deep to talk about that now. If not for human, these animals would still be
roaming far and wide.

On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 1:48 AM, Jayanand Govindaraj <jayanand at 
gmail.com>wrote:

> Machali is India's best known tigress, and at around 15 years she is very
> old. She has raised 5 litters of cubs, and a large proportion of the tigers
> at Ranthambhore and Sariska are her descendants, one way or the other. A
> few years ago it was estimated that she has directly or indirectly been
> responsible in  bringing in around USD10-15mm per year into the local
> economy for the last 15 years, which is probably an underestimate. Anyway,
> every year I see her I presume it is the last time, and I bid her adieu,
> but she is not dead yet, and there we have a story with ethical and
> cautionary overtones. Machali has lost most of her canines and cannot hunt
> normal prey. When I saw her last year she looked to be on her last legs,
> she could hardly lift her head, and I really thought I would never see her
> again, as you can read:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2011/Ranthambhore_20110305_1450-Edit.jpg.html
>
> At this time (last year), because of her general fame, the Wildlife
> Department decided to start feeding her, which they have continued to do to
> this day. Her territory, though shrinking is good, with plenty of prey,
> water and cover. If she had been allowed "to pass gentle into the good
> night", another tigress capable of bearing young would have moved in, for
> the ultimate good of a highly endangered species. This episode also raises
> another couple of ethical questions - having started to feed her, do they
> stop? If they do stop, do they also euthanize her?
>
> Anyway, we did see her this year, hale and hearty, looking well fed (of
> course!), in the heart of her territory at a water hole called Lakarda. She
> came out of the grass behind our jeep:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2012/Ranthambhore_20120402_0152.jpg.html
>
> She warily kept an eye on us as she started moving towards the water:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2012/Ranthambhore_20120402_0154.jpg.html
>
> At one point, she stopped - but without taking her eyes off us:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2012/Ranthambhore_20120402_0166.jpg.html
>
> She came close and stopped again - this is uncropped:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2012/Ranthambhore_20120402_0181.jpg.html
>
> She then stopped on the rock next to the water and looked around with a
> regal bearing, fit for the queen she is:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2012/Ranthambhore_20120402_0195.jpg.html
>
> Finally, she turned around for a last look, and then disappeared into the
> vegetation:
>
>
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/Ranthambhore_001/2012/Ranthambhore_20120402_0204.jpg.html
>
> Please see LARGE.
>
> Comments and Criticism, as ever, welcome.
>
> Cheers
> Jayanand
>
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>



-- 
// richard <http://www.richardmanphoto.com>