(This is a true stories told by a real forester. Mr. J J Dutta was the Principal Chief Conservator of Forest of Madhya Pradesh who has contributed in creation of many Indian Tiger sanctuaries. It was he who has created the famous Bandhavgarh.)

My posting to Sarguja in 1956 was a blessing in disguise. I was a young and enthusiastic outdoor person, and Sarguja then dreaded as the most remote and 'punishment' posting by all departments proved quite the contrary for me.

Sarguja was virgin territory for a forester There was no systematic management but protection under the princely states rule was rigid 'and perfect, The only snag was that the hills were ravaged by shifting cultivation, but this produced undoubtedly the tastiest 'Tuar Dal' in the world. 'Bewar Ki dal' unfortunately disappeared from dinner tables with the end of 'Bewar' or shifting cultivation, in which I had a major hand under a special State Government Scheme.

One such area which needed a visit was Kusmi, Range in the North Eastern part of my territory and adjoined the Netarhat Plateau and Palamau District of Bihar (now Jharkhand). One specially good and un worked patch of bamboo forest lay in Chunchuna forest block, down from the slopes of Samri Pat Plateau. Samri Pat was accessible by a kuccha road and had two mud huts for use of forest officers. I camped in the one at Sabag at the north end of the plateau.

This plateau at an elevation of 1100 to 1250 meters was the most pleasant location in. Sarguja and 1 got to like it, come summer or winter In summers it was cool to the extent that you needed quilts to keep warm at night and until sunrise in the morning. The plateau was grassland and slopes all around bore magnificent Sal forests, where not ravaged by shifting cultivation.

The bamboo forest below needed to be worked, for supplying needs of people, to earn revenues, to make forest staff and officers visit the difficult area and establish that it was our territory and with that intent I made my program of visit to the area Chunchuna was 20 kms on foot downhill from Sabag. There was no other way to reach from this side. The bamboos would however go out through Palamau District to Bihar My work was to last about 3 days.

On the very first evening after a gruelling day in the forest. I was untying my boots in camp when I was startled by a strange sound from the dusky forest beyond I had heard of the phrase Hyena Laugh', but this was the first time I had heard it and it was confirmed. by local folk. They said Hyena's call this way when they see a Tiger

This was a welcome development I enquired from. the locals about the conditions on the Bihar side of the border and was told about the Saranda forests which were one of the best Sal forests Of Bihar this area is now a part of Palamau National Park. Naturally tigers were expected but the locals had very little information or at least they said so.

The second day brought no news of tiger but in the evening, the Patel or village headman, come to report that one of his bullocks a white young animal has not returned home after grazing It was too late to go and search and may, be it will back in the morning.

Next day I spent on, my work and late in the evening when I returned I was told that the Patel's bullock had been killed by a tiger and the kill had been located about 4 kms away in a valley and a machan had been created for me to sit on. The Patel entreated me to kill the tiger which otherwise would not leave until he had killed a good few cattle. The villagers could hardly afford to lose cattle and this was the agricultural season.

Tired and footsore though I was I had to heed the Patel's entreaties and l thought the tiger should not have come to this tract, leaving the rich wildlife areas of Palamau, to prey upon village cattle.

I picked tip my rifle and a big 5 call torch light was good for a 100 mtrs at night, but discovered that I had _forgotten to bring the attachment that holds the torch along the rifle barrel for night use. So I had to have an assistant to light up and the village Kotwar readily agreed He did not smoke, had no cough, could suppress a sneeze and his stomach would not make growling noises, all precautions against scaring away a tiger whose hearing powers are about 400 times that of humans. The only thing both, the Kotwar and I could not control was the thumping of our hear beats if and when the tiger came.

It was late in the evening when we climbed into the machan which was at a height of about 5 mtrs from ground and about 30 mtrs from the kill. When all others had left we settled to our vigil.

The moon came up soon after and flooded the valley but it was dark under the forest canopy. The kill was out on a nala bed and well illuminated Ali. hour on, and the silent forest again echoed with the laughter of hyenas They had surely scented the dead bullock and were oil their way, but had they seen the tiger!

Straining our ears for footfalls of the tiger they do not come stealthily on kills jf not suspicious and our eyes to see, we were anxiously waiting, for further news oil the tiger through jungle signs, bill nothing moved and then suddenly in one area, I saw a white patch that had not been there earlier Presently the patch moved and I made out the shadowy form of the tiger approaching the kill, without looking this way or that. The hyenas had apparently decided to be patient and wait in the shadows.

The bait had not been secured in the place as we had already been late in arriving and there was a chance that the tiger may drag in into shadows and bushes where a shot would be impossible. So I decided to take the first opportunity and signalled the Kotwar to light the torch.

Lighting of a well focused torch is child's play but I discovered that it was quite another to make its beam focus on the target, at least for the quaking hands of a villager accustomed to see the tiger as incarnation of "Yama". So with the twilight of the ponumbra' I aimed at the tiger and pressed the trigger The recoil shook the machan and even more my companion, who had never heard a gunfire that close, that he dropped the torch and left us in complete darkness. Of the tiger there was no trace or, sound.

After some agonizing minutes it seemed useless to hang on in the machan, and we got down, picked up the torch which had a fused bulb because of the fall, and walked 4 kms back to our camp in pitch dark of the forest. along the cattle track. We heard nothing of the tiger or the hyenas from the other creatures of the forest.

I had to delay my return to Sabag camp which was scheduled for today in order to see what had happened to the tiger after my shot at it. After a good breakfast, we set out with a group of villagers who knew every inch of the forest, to see what happened. The kill had been devoured, apparently by the hyenas, and the tracks of the tiger also had been obliterated in the surrounds, but by casting around we found the route the tiger had taken. His wound was not serious, as rare drops of blood, mostly on foliage along his trail indicated only a shoulder or hip bruise by a grazing bullet and although we trailed him for over 8 kms we left when it seemed he had gone uphill and into the mountainous terrain, and here we lost his trail. This was a disappointment but things do not always happenas we plan, them. Leaving instructions with the forest guard the Patel and the Kotwar to be oil their guard and inform me in case of any unnatural event regarding tigers, I walked up 20 kills to Sabag camp.

Days passed and no news came of the tiger in Chunchuna, but on the plateau there was news of a sambhur kill. Nobody could say, which tiger it was, cis tigers were no rarity ill Surguja, having provided a world record number to its Maharana Regretfully, Surguja now is not even a shadow of its former self but it has recently hosted an elephant herd from Jharkhand side which has recently forayed into areas west of Samri Pat after an absence of around a hundred years.