Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/04/25

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Subject: [Leica] A Meeting With Machali
From: jayanand at gmail.com (Jayanand Govindaraj)
Date: Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:18:25 +0530

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


Replies: Reply from kanner at acm.org (Herbert Kanner) ([Leica] A Meeting With Machali)
Reply from jhnichols at lighttube.net (Jim Nichols) ([Leica] A Meeting With Machali)
Reply from photo at frozenlight.eu (Nathan Wajsman) ([Leica] A Meeting With Machali)
Reply from richard at richardmanphoto.com (Richard Man) ([Leica] A Meeting With Machali)
Reply from rgacpa at gmail.com (Robert Adler) ([Leica] A Meeting With Machali)