Born to Be Wild: Tiger Persecution and Advocacy
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Born to Be Wild: Tiger Persecution and Advocacy From 1800 to the Present Katheryn Malcolm Norris Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY STUDIES Eileen Crist, Chair Matthew Goodrum Mark Barrow Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA 9 May 2005 Keywords: advocacy, conservation, environmental enrichment, ethics, man-eater, Panthera tigris, persecution, reintroduction, rewilding, tigerwallah Copyright 2005, Katheryn Malcolm Norris ABSTRACT Born to Be Wild: Tiger Persecution and Advocacy from 1800 to the Present Katheryn Malcolm Norris The tiger (Panthera tigris) was once abundant in many of Asia’s forests. The entire species now hovers dangerously close to extinction. Population declines within the last two centuries are blamed largely on loss of habitat, reductions in prey species, poaching, and human-tiger conflict. Modern tiger conservation efforts focus on reintroducing formerly captive tigers to designated protected wild areas. Re-wilding and reintroduction programs teach survival skills to tiger cubs raised in zoo collections. Merging in situ and ex situ research collaborations is the twenty-first century’s interdisciplinary answer to the tiger’s plight in the wild. The zoo is viewed in terms of its role as an institution that represents societal values that shift in concurrence with shifting paradigms. This thesis studies the human-tiger relationship and analyzes three defining periods that occurred between 1800 and the present. The first period occurred during the nineteenth century, the second took place from the early through the late twentieth century and the third picked up where the second left off and is the one we are presently engaged in. The tiger is investigated in two different ways throughout – for its importance in human history and culture conceptually, and in the biological sense in terms of its importance as umbrella species within its own ecosystem. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Each of the following individuals has provided me with support, advice, and encouragement throughout the process of developing this thesis. It is with sincere gratitude and appreciation that I thank you all for everything you have done to assist me in the most ambitious endeavor of my career thus far. Thanks to my advisor Eileen Crist. You understood my interests and passions exactly, in part because you share them. From our very first meeting at Bollo’s prior to my entering the program, you encouraged me to seek what I needed from STS. I appreciate the positive way that you helped me to polish the draft over the course of the semester. Thanks to Matthew Goodrum and Mark Barrow for agreeing to be on my committee. You offered me nothing but tactful encouragement – even when I tried to fit every topic of recent interest into one proposal! Thank you for your helpful feedback during both defenses. Mark –your environmental history class was particularly useful for my thesis goals. Class readings and discussions provided me with a crucial framework to help conceptualize my ideas while working to express them cogently. I want to thank Laurie Spangler of Mill Mountain Zoo in Roanoke, Virginia for allowing me to conduct my research at the Zoo. You provided me with assistance, information, and access to literature pertinent to this study, and it made a huge difference. I know that I could not have completed this project without the support of my Mom and Ray. Not only did you both offer me loads of moral support, but you watched Quinlan on so many occasions while I worked late, or did Pilates to de-stress. iii I want to express gratitude to my sister Sarah Mitchell. You encouraged me and expressed confidence in my abilities when I could only do the opposite. I have learned a lot from your example, and you have given me great advice about the thesis – and everything else. Thanks for including me in the thesis/dissertation group! I wish to thank my very unique friend Gayle Partain-Hartigan. You have offered me unlimited encouragement and have been an enthusiastic sounding board regardless of the topic. Thank you for sharing this crazy grad school journey with me. What haven’t we encountered along this rocky route? I know – but please rest assured – YOU are next! Last, but never least, I must thank my unbelievably supportive husband Eric and our daughter Quinlan Althea Mitchell Norris. Both have demonstrated rare and amazing patience throughout my lengthy working sessions over the last four years. You’ve been told “not right now, mommy’s working” often – too often. I am honored to know you and humbled to raise you. I look forward to accompanying you along your own quest to comprehend and find your place in the world. Thank you, pretty girl, for motivating me to keep reaching for excellence. Thank you for everything that you are, and everything you will become. This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my beloved father, Dr. James G. Mitchell. It is your shining example that I try to emulate in all that I do. Thank you for everything. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………....iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….v CHAPTERS INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………. 1 I. THE PROBLEM: HUMAN-TIGER TENSION AND CONFLICT – BRAVING THE TIGER IN THE FLESH AND IN OUR MINDS……………………………………………………………...……13 The ancient tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and early Homo Where have all the tigers gone? Studying the tiger: assessing the damage Murderous amorousness leading to two hundred years of decimation Three rapidly escalating threats: habitat loss and fragmentation; poaching; decreasing prey populations Changing wilderness ideals, perceptions, and boundaries Why we care: Biophilia II. FIRST PERIOD: PERSECUTION AND CONSERVATION IN BRITISH INDIA 1800-EARLY-1900s………………………………….55 Governing the man-eating tiger Jim Corbett and the tiger-wallahs, a.k.a. “the wild bunch” Shooting tigers – with a camera Emergence of the reserve III. SECOND PERIOD: CAPTIVE WILD early-1900s- 1970s/1980s...……73 Growing to understand the biological tiger and its ecological significance The zoo: phases of exhibiting, knowing, and enriching the captive environment Habitat protection versus captive breeding v Diversity matters Life at the behavior-conservation interface -- hybrid conservation – linking in situ and ex situ IV. THIRD PERIOD: REHABILITATING WILD – SAVING SOUTH CHINA’S TIGER late 1970s/1980ss-early 2000s……………………...103 Nature versus nurture and the human-tiger bond: “Tara’s” legacy Reintroduction -- plans to rewild and replenish Rewilding the tiger – process and progress South China tiger in culture and myth Chinese Tiger Campaign Rebirth through rewilding, rehabilitating, and repopulating CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………………….128 Science and advocacy debates Ruby’s legacy Works cited………………………………………………………..……136 vi Do not cut down the forests with its tigers and do not banish the tigers from the forest. The tiger perishes without the forest, and the forest perishes without its tigers. Therefore the tigers should stand guard over the forest and the forest should protect all its tigers. From the Mahabharata, Udyogaparvan, 29, 47-48 (circa 400 B.C.E.) INTRODUCTION A mechanical model of a tiger eating an Englishman stood on display at the British East India Company in the early-nineteenth century. Each visitor to crank the handle was rewarded with the sounds of a roaring tiger mingled with agonized human distress cries. This artifact, dubbed “Tipoo’s Tiger,” drew crowds for generations. It was later on display in museums throughout London. The scene was the depiction of an actual tiger attack that occurred in 1793, when the young son of General Sir Hector Munro was attacked in the mangrove forests of Bengal.1 Public fascination with this object, according to one source, indicates an equal mixture of repulsion and fascination for the tiger’s equally paradoxical savage beauty. The tiger’s form in its absentia elicited admiration. However, tigers in the flesh sometimes attack people, and with each instance, fear built within the human mind and exacerbated the problem. Many believed that once tigers tasted human flesh, they kept coming back for more.2 People carried these beliefs with them through several centuries. Paradox is one significant aspect of how humans have perceived tigers throughout history. Examining this relationship forces us to examine facets of our own wild nature, and reconcile the paradoxical nature of our perceptions of the wild tiger. It can also help us to devise strategies for triangulating conservation approaches as we work on saving, or recreating, the wild tiger. 1 Anand S. Pandian, “Predatory Care: The Imperial Hunt in Mughal and British India, “ Journal of Historical Sociology 14:1 (79-107), 2001. 2 Harriet Ritvo, The Animal Estate: The English and Other Creatures in the Victorian Age. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1987; Pandian, “Predatory Care,” 2001. 1 While this thesis discusses particular aspects of both human and tiger traits, it does not study either one in isolation. As the human-tiger relationship is analyzed, significant historical tensions over the past two-hundred years are also highlighted. Throughout their shared history, confrontations between humans and tigers have been predominantly violent. Communication between the two species is largely ineffectual and most encounters occur with both parties acting offensively. This is understandable, given the nature of both species. Since the tale can only be told from the perspective of the human, a large concentration of the evidence must be understood through social, cultural, and economic dimensions of the period. Three periods within the past two-hundred years are presented in this thesis, and through them, three tigers: past, present, and future surface. The tiger of the first period (tiger of the past) is classified as wild and untamed. The tiger of the second period (tiger of the present) is best described as controlled; it is not wild; nor is it tame.