Desi Australia Monthly eMagazine – Issue April 2020

Page 36

Mag Corner

Illustrious life of the Royal Bengal Tiger As cyclone Amphan destroyed Asia’s largest book market in College Street, Kolkata, I read the Animalia Indica.

Indranil Halder

I

n it, I came across a story entitled , “The Last Tiger” by Ruskin Bond. A statement caught my eye. It says , ‘ A tiger has his dignity to preserve! ‘

Recognised as king of the jungle with a fearsome reputation, the tiger avoid humans. The tiger used to roam across the Asian continent and is part of the culture of many south and south east asian countries such as Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and South Kore. In these countries, influence of the tiger is also represent in cosmologies, mythology and religion. The tiger has always been a part of the Indian civilisation, heritage and culture. According to National Geographic, “ Over many centuries they have become an important part of Indian tradition and lore.” Historically, the tiger had a significant presence in the Indus Valley Civilization, Hindu mythology and Vedic era. During the Hindu festival such as Durga pujo , Goddess Durga is always associated with a tiger, as the animal vehicle of Goddess Durga. Indian state of West Bengal is fortunate to have the Bengal tiger, also known as the Royal Bengal Tiger or the Indian tiger , is to call their own. It is time to look at what makes the life of the Download Our App

Bengal tiger illustrious. There are four main areas to take into consideration. Habitat : Sundarbans The Sundarbans is an unique Bengal tiger habitat. It has world’s largest mangrove forest of 10,000 km² shared between India and Bangladesh. The Sundarbans is formed at the delta of 3 rivers where the Bengal tiger lives. JUNE I 2020

The Bengal tiger co -exists with the Gangetic dolphins, estuarine crocodiles, Olive Ridley turtles ,spotted deer, wild boar, gaur, water buffalo and mud crabs in between the Sundari trees. The beauty of Sundarbans was described by writer Amitav Ghosh, in his novel, The Hungry Tide as : “A mangrove forest is utterly unlike other woodlands or jungles. There are no towering, vine-looped trees, no ferns, no wildflowers, no www.DesiAustralia.com

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