Some of my photographs of wild tigers were used to illustrate this book and while there are a few other fantastic pictures of wild tigers most of them(including the cover shot)are images of captive tigers photographed in natural enclosures in the USA. This form of wildlife photography undermines the work of people who spend days and even weeks searching for tigers in their natural habitat and also presents to the reader a rather distorted view of tigers as a species. This, I think, is a tremendous shame as the book is exceptionally well written by the great tiger biologist Ullas Karanth and includes everything you will ever need to know about wild tigers, presented in a readable, informative way.
Aside from the "false" pictures, I would still encourage anyone with even the slightest interest in panthera tigris to buy this book. It will enhance your appreciation of this splendid cat, the most magnificent of all life on earth.
Review of "The Way of the Tiger" by Ullas KaranthThis is a highly informative book that makes the science of tiger biology accessible to a wider audience. The book communicates complex ideas with exceptional clarity and simplicity. An added bonus is the profusion of wonderful photographs. The author addresses the biological, economic and political problems that haunt tigers. The methods and results of decades of scientific work are distilled and summarized in a manner that makes complex scientific issues seem remarkably obvious and simple.
For instance, scientific research tells us that tigers can survive only if there is sufficient prey available in the habitat. So what happens if there is a shortage of prey? Will tigers consume all the available prey? Karanth's work suggests not. Tigers have evolved in a way that ensures that they only consume the surplus prey. Hence they will never deplete their prey base through overconsumption. Karanth compares this is to a person living off the interest on their investment, rather than the capital. The observant reader might note the irony - humans often do live off their capital in unsustainable and ultimately destructive ways (e.g. depletion of soils, forests, fish stocks).
Having summarized the biological issues Karanth then turns to the key socio-economic threats to the tiger. Tiger populations are in decline, but because insufficient resources are allocated to accommodate their biological needs in the wild. The two main threats to the tiger are: habitat destruction and poaching of tigers and their prey. Tigers when killed provide income to poachers and their habitats when converted to agriculture, timber or mines generate money and jobs for some. As Asia's human population expands, the conflict between the insatiable desire to generate wealth and the ecological needs of the tiger intensifies.
To some commentators the answer lies in the notion of sustainable development - a concept which has been elevated to the status of a self-evident doctrine. The book convincingly argues that in practice, sustainable development in India has failed to deliver on its conservation promises.
To others the key to the tiger's survival lies in "..making live tigers worth more than dead ones.." Karanth supports this notion as far as it goes, but notes its limitations.
Karanth provides the most compelling and commonsense case for conservation, that I have encountered. Less than 5 per cent of the land mass in the tiger range countries is reserved for conservation. Sacrificing these areas to the alter of economic development will not deliver solutions that have eluded mankind on the remaining 95% of the land.
The author of this book is measured in his criticisms of the prevailing situation. As a final observation, this reviewer would like to note yet another reason why the tiger remains high on the list of endangered species. Conservation is an expensive business - both in terms of funds to pay for protection and in terms of foregone opportunities (e.g. timber and minerals left unexploited in the tiger habitats). These costs fall disproportionately on the poor in often the poorest of countries. On the other hand, tigers are a global public good. People in the developed world want tigers to exist (economists call this the "preservation value"). Yet, the developed world contributes only a fraction of the costs of sustaining and protecting tigers. The developed world thus "free-rides" on the conservation efforts in the tiger range countries. Since tigers and their habitats confer global benefits, economic reasoning calls for a more substantial contribution from the global community. In short concerned people from all over the world have a moral and economic responsibility to contribute to efforts to protect tigers.
