Marked for Clinton, Ranthambore tigers run scared

On the periphery of the park, on the outskirts of Sawai Madhopur, eight helipads are under construction to receive Clinton and his entourage of 70 to 90 people. The roads in the forest are being repaired and younger staff being deployed to take up positions at vantage points in the 292 sq km park.

All this activity seems to have sent the tiger into hiding. Sightings in Ranthambore in the past few days have gone down sharply. It is being attributed to the presence of too many labourers, security personnel and their speeding vehicles.

But the nervous officials — Conservator Rajiv Kumar Tyagi and Deputy Field Director G Vishwanath Reddy — are leaving nothing to chance. Hours before Clinton and his party enter the park, the officials will despatch their most experienced trackers — all armed with walkie-talkies — to spot the tiger. Any tiger that ventures out that evening runs the risk of being marked for the VVIP guest. “We shall be in constant touch with the trackers. Chances are one of them will spot a tiger and we will move in there immediately,” says Reddy.

If it sounds like an action sequence from a Hollywood flick, Tyagi tells you the chances of coming face to face with a tiger on an average are never more than 50 per cent. The legendary elusiveness of the Indian tiger makes it all the more nightmarish for the officials.

However, going strictly by record, in the case of Ranthambore, the chances are brighter (in terms of actual sightings, it’s second only to Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh whose Tala range boasts of the highest density of tigers in the world). This is mainly because unlike the other famous national parks like Kanha, Corbett and Dudhwa, the sparse deciduous vegetation of Ranthambore offers an unblocked view for up to 500 metres. The visibility, therefore, is excellent from any corner of the park. With summer setting in rather early in Ranthambore this year and its undergrowth already turning light yellow, there are not many places left for the tiger to effectively exercise his skill for camouflage which is so handy while stalking a prey.

However, as any old shikari or tiger expert will tell you, three factors are essential for a successful sighting: skill, patience and chance. Skill to interpret jungle signs and sounds and patience to make a tiger come out of its hiding spot once it has been discovered. But it’s chance that matters the most.

What if the tiger refuses to oblige? Reddy turns the situation on its head and catches you off-guard by observing excitedly that “for full three hours we will have Clinton as our captive audience”. He explains: “The tiger is essentially the symbol of a forest’s health, of the entire ecosystem. In these three hours we can brainwash Clinton and impress upon him the urgent need to do his bit for the environment. The position he occupies on the world stage, his one gesture can do wonders for the tiger as well our forests. That’s what really counts in the long run”

Meanwhile, Reddy discloses, all peripheral areas of Ranthambore are being sealed. There are 97 villages around the park that constitute a security nightmare. And the park will be out of bounds for tourists that day. Perhaps, through the day the tiger could be lulled into believing that it could be its day out, only to be shocked out of its skin when Clinton comes prowling in the evening.