Tiger Tales

The tiger’s enduring appeal has generated a vast body of literature. This anthology compiled from non-fiction sources by tiger scientist and conservationist K. Ullas Karanth opens up a captivating world of rich descriptions deeply felt personal experiences and serious reflections by hunters. The first section of the book explores tiger hunting and old-style natural history and revives some of the earliest essays on the tiger. Historian Mahesh Rangarajan’s overview of the pre-colonial and colonial periods when ruthless hunting of tigers was the dominant social ethos sets the stage for English forester C.E.M. Russell’s narration of tiger hunting in Mysore published in 1900. Then follow tales by hunter-naturalists Dunbar Brander Fred Champion Kenneth Anderson William Bazé and Arthur Locke. The descriptions by more recent and less justifiably bloodthirsty hunters such as Kesri Singh a game manager in princely India and Jack Denton Scott an American safari hunter. The second section covers the post-colonial period. This was the era when a ‘new natural history’ driven by the sheer joy of watching tigers emerged—leading to the first steps to save this magnificent cat from the brink of extinction. Essays by forest managers such as A. Hoogerwerf Kailash Sankhala and Vladimir Troinin who were fascinated by the tiger are complemented by the writings of perceptive amateur naturalists. An account of the first-ever scientific study of tigers by George Schaller is followed by the observations of other biologists such as John Seidensticker Melvin Sunquist Dale Miquelle and John Goodrich who followed in Schaller’s footsteps and generated new insights into tiger ecology and behavior. The concluding essay by naturalist-historian Geoffrey Ward offers a lucid overview of current tiger conservation issues. With its judicious blend of adventure natural history and tiger science this anthology will appeal to wildlife enthusiasts.