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Herdsmen from dusty, famished villages in eastern Rajasthan, India,
have a harsh battle just finding enough browse for their livestock.
When grass is grazed to the nub, they are forced to move their
domestic animals to the Ranthambhore National Park tiger refuge.
Ranthambhore is small, only 150 square miles, but its grass and
blue lakes mean survival to starving villagers. Guard posts were
built to keep them out, but in years past, they took possession
of the posts and moved their buffalo into the park to graze. This
past year when they attempted the desperation move, the forest
staff, in a "Starve The People, Save The Tiger" action, attacked
the grazers with bamboo staves and physically hammered them from
the park.
Funds for the entrenched foresters were in part made available
through the local Ranthambhore Foundation. In turn, that foundation
received its funding from the U.S.-based National Fish and Wildlife
Foundation and Exxon Corporation’s $5 million "Save the Tiger
Fund." Wanna put a "Tiger in your Tank?"
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