We have over a number of years had the opportunity to visit many foreign parts, including China, Sri Lanka, Equador and the Galapagos Islands, South Africa and Kenya to name drop a few. Maybe I'll tell a few of our stories in future blogs, I certainly have plenty of photographs on disks and sticks.
Anyway none of our exotic trips stick in my mind more than a visit to India in March 2010 for my 61st birthday, in fact the actual day of my birthday. Primarily because at crack of dawn we set out to spot tigers after a few days of fleeting glimpses. Pauline in fact demanded that our guide gave me a birthday present. And so he did, no doubt in fear of his well being.
Shortly after we turned into the reserve there he was in all his glory spread across the track! He ambled along the track for some distance allowing to take many photographs before heading off into the forest.
A sight that will be with me for the rest of my natural.
It would now appear that the Indian government, not able to listen to people, much like our own government, are wanting to stop tourists tiger spotting.
Whilst on our trip we had many discussions on this very subject with people from The Corbett Foundation and our guide Harendra Singh. They told us that despite many tourist paid for game wardens there were still poachers working the reserves from time to time, and shipping of the parts of tigers for big money. Mostly in China for "medicines"
The view was that without tourists there would be no money for wardens to protect the tiger, and as a result poachers would very quickly wipe out the dwindling population.
So from today's Guardian some disappointing and sad news. I hope that good common sense prevails.
From today's Guardian
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March 24th 2010  |
The whole thing smacks of a cover up mate. The Indian authorities have for a long time cooked the books, where tiger number are concerned. It seems to me that this is a sad attempt to hide the tragic and inevitable decline of this wonderful creature. I have been lucky enough to travel India extensively and have visited many of the reserves, seeing wild tigers and leopards in their natural domain. Unfortunately, they are just no longer sustainable in the fragments of forest left to them. It truly is a global tragedy. I believe that without the tourists they would probably be gone already. Sad times.
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