The Success of Tiger Conservation in India and Its Cost: From Ranthambore to the Sundarbans

The film opens with a safari in Ranthambore National Park. A family from New Delhi has arrived at the park at dawn in the hope of spotting a tiger in the forest. In a mix of jest and devotion, the family members pray to God that they get to see "all five" tigers.

According to the documentary, their wish is granted after about two hours of waiting. When the tiger appears, the family members say they found it amazing and consider themselves lucky, because spotting a tiger on a single visit is very difficult. The scene shows what an emotional and cultural experience seeing a tiger is for ordinary Indians.

The film then introduces Sanjeev Sharma, one of the officials who oversee Ranthambore National Park. The documentary explains that it is one of the nature reserves established in the 1970s, when India decided to create protected areas for tigers. At the time, tiger numbers had fallen sharply because of poaching and urbanization.

According to figures given in the film, the latest count shows the park is now home to about 75 tigers, roughly double the number of ten years ago. While touring the park, Sanjeev Sharma explains that each tiger lives in its own territory and that adult tigers roam within their respective areas.

Sanjeev Sharma credits this increase to the department's efforts. According to him, tigers had reached the brink of extinction. The department drew up a conservation plan, raised the level of protection, curbed poaching and carried out a range of work to improve the habitat. He says it is the result of this work that the tiger population has grown today. He also says that whenever he sees a tiger, it always makes him very happy.

But the documentary immediately presents the other side: tiger conservation comes at a cost. Some residents are having to leave their homes for the sake of the tigers. The film visits a village located inside or near the park, where officials are talking to people about how many families live there.

To move the villagers out, the administration is offering land as compensation. The conversation refers to land in bighas: there is talk of registering four bighas of land, and "two bighas, guaranteed" is also mentioned. The recording does not make entirely clear what the exact terms of compensation are, but it is evident that there is negotiation and some disagreement over the amount of land.

One official says the process is being carried out according to the rules, that people are being asked door to door, and that this is "voluntary relocation." Even so, the documentary suggests that persuading some residents to leave is difficult.

According to the film, the rise in tiger numbers has pushed their range closer to human settlements, and some people pay for it with their lives. Roop Singh Meena lost his brother about a year ago. His brother had been growing mustard at the edge of the park.

Roop Singh Meena points to a wall built along the park's boundary. He explains that it was built to keep tigers and other wild animals from entering the village and damaging crops. But he draws attention to the state of the wall, which is broken and crumbling in many places.

He also takes the crew to the spot where the attack took place. According to him, his brother's head was found in one place, and the tiger dragged him farther on and ate him. The family searched for him, and people who came to graze sheep and goats told them that something lay there half-eaten. His brother was found two days later. Speaking of his grief, he says that of course it hurts, but what can be done now.

According to the documentary, many people like Roop Singh Meena are affected; the film states that tigers attack about 100 people every year.

The film then moves to the Sundarbans in eastern India, on the border with Bangladesh. The documentary describes it as a hostile region where men who venture into the mangrove forests put their lives at risk.

A woman from the area describes, in the local dialect, how an accident happened while catching crabs and fish. According to the film, about 100 women here have lost their husbands to tiger attacks in recent years.

The documentary explains that this tragedy has given these women a separate identity in the villages, a name of their own, and that people associate them with misfortune. As a result, they live in isolation.

One woman's words also reveal that the people there worship the tiger. She says that all of us worship the tiger, and yet all this still happens. Her words also mention the government, as well as the fact that the tiger moves from one forest to another. Because she speaks in the local language, not everything she says is clear in the recording, but the tension between faith and fear is plainly visible.

According to the film, conflict between humans and animals exists across the entire country. In one scene, a forest department team is measuring tiger paw prints, or pugmarks, left in the ground near some fields.

Team members explain that the size of a pugmark gives an idea of whether the tiger is male or female. In this case, they identify it as a female and say it is quite large. According to them, the print is at most two or three days old, and there has been continuous tiger movement in this area for several days.

The documentary explains that these clues should help the team locate the tiger, capture it and then return it to the forest. One official says the best outcome would be for the tiger to head back toward the forest on its own; that way no one would be harmed, and the tiger would return safely to the forest.

In an area where a tiger has come out of the forest and attacked villagers, a street play is staged to keep the conflict from turning violent. Over a loudspeaker, the organizers urge mothers and sisters, young men, elders and children to come quickly, saying the play is very important for their lives. The play's theme is wildlife.

The play features a scene of an animal hiding in a sugarcane field: the characters notice a foul smell, ask each other what animal is in the field, and then, amid jokes and laughter, the tiger character comes on stage, drawing applause from the audience.

At the end, the play's message is stated in plain terms: if people, driven by self-interest, were to wipe out these tigers, then over time the forest would gradually disappear too, and if the forest is gone, human life is gone.

The film ends here. On one hand, the growing number of tigers shows the success of conservation; on the other, the stories of displacement, deadly attacks and social isolation leave open the question of how this difficult coexistence between humans and tigers will be sustained in the future.