THE NEW CONFLICT ZONES

LOSS OF HABITAT HAS LED TO AN ALARMING RISE IN INCIDENTS OF HUMAN-ANIMAL ENCOUNTERS-AND CASUALTIES-WITH EVEN URBAN AREAS NOT IMMUNE TO THE THREAT

- By Jumana Shah

The stories pounce at you suddenly, from the edges of our dense forests of news. But with such regularity that we have ceased to care, and accept it as a fact of life, like pollution. Still, most of these are rather odd happenings, come to think of it. Tiger sightings-not on safaris but by the roadside. Like the 'urban tigers of Bhopal', who have claimed their piece of real estate around the open forests near Kaliasot Dam, creating panic on the highways just 10 km out of town. With big cats in such proximity to humankind, the inevitable happens. And the rare ones drawn to human flesh get pride of place. 'Man-eater' is a misnomer-the latest victim, consigned to the headlines on January 24 in Kerala's Wayanad, was a 47-year-old tribal woman on her way to a coffee estate. Since Wayanad is a hotspot in both ecological and political senses, the event raised a bit of dust. After local protests, orders went out to get the errant tiger, but it died on its own—its dietary choice would imply it was already ailing. Not to miss the woods for the trees, we must go for the big picture. Patterns that recur with disturbingly increasing frequency, each built out of individual tragedy, for both human and animal. But also entirely novel patterns.