In The Terai Region, They Are The Preservers Of A Natural Order

He's a bureaucrat who moved from musty files to the thrill of wildlife. For Yogesh Kumar, an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer, the impetus for treading that unique course is his fascination for tigers. The journey began 20 years ago when Yogesh, a photography enthusiast, bored with stilted, usual frames decided to venture into the arena of wildlife photography. Thus started his rendezvous with the wild. And with his intense love for everything that lives in wilderness, Yogesh has not only come up with his own theories about the tigers that haunt the jungles of Uttar Pradesh but has also helped people cope with the wild.

Helping Yogesh in his endeavour is his friend Rahul Shukla, teacher in a local college. The two met 15 years ago and within minutes of that first meeting discovered their mutual passion for the wilderness and desire to preserve it. Soon, the two decided on a 'Save the wild' mission. The duo has so far been concentrating on the Terai belt of the lower Himalayas, where increasing human population has meant an invasion into the forest. The result: villages here have seen repeated tiger incursions into the surrounding sugarcane fields. After studying the tigers that stalk the villages, the duo concluded that a new breed, cane-tigers, might be emerging. They also studied the effect of these tiger incursions on the forest's peripheral communities.

This in-depth study has also highlighted the reasons due to which tigers leave the protected areas of the forests. But while UP's wildlife warden, R.L. Singh, agrees that the tigers are leaving their protected areas - especially when there is water-logging in the jungles - he doesn't concur with the 'new breed' theory. "Tigers coming out of the jungles does not mean that an altogether new breed is emerging," he says. But Yogesh and Rahul emphasise that their efforts are mostly geared towards a better understanding of the wilderness. "We are aiming to save the wild by educating the people who live around the forests," explains Yogesh.

It's the fact that these tigers haunt the sugarcane fields in villages for fairly long periods that most concerns them. For, in such a situation, a man-wild beast conflict is inevitable. Says Yogesh, "This happens because there is no buffer zone between the forest areas and the villages skirting them." When in June 1984, it was discovered that seven man-eating tigers, operating within a 100 sq km area around the Dudhwa National Park, had created havoc by killing more than two hundred people, Yogesh and Rahul only became more determined to minimise this conflict.

They began their campaign by travelling to the remote Terai belts surrounding Dudhwa, Bahraich and Shahjahanpur in search of tigers that had sought shelter in cane farms. By June 1985 they'd spotted around 30 such tigers. Once they established the existence of such wild cats they decided the best course lay in educating the villagers. "This seemed imperative to help the wild animals and local people co-exist," says Yogesh.

What they did was try and instruct the villagers about how to cope with the threat rather than kill the tigers. They distributed handouts, stickers and pamphlets explaining safety methods: "Move in groups, keep fire-crackers handy, wear face-masks looking backwards, take a dog along when alone etc." The last instruction, explains Yogesh, is the most effective since dogs can give early warnings and even draw the tiger's attack.

The villagers were initially hostile. Recalls Yogesh, "That didn't bother us; their hatred towards the tigers was a greater concern." This resentment towards the wildcats had led to rising cases of 'tiger-poisoning'. It'd reached a peak in 1984 when 14 tigers were killed. But now, the counselling seems to have worked and the villagers have learnt the importance of preserving the tigers. From eight times a year the duo's trips to these regions have gone down to four. "Thankfully, we now just need to occasionally revise the instructions with them," says Yogesh.

Both Yogesh and Rahul are determined to continue the cause to save human lives and the national animal of the country. They can be contacted at (0522)-344577, 395864. Yogesh's address is: 4\16, Vishalkhand, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.