Ustad T24 – The Fallen King (Ranthambore National Park)

Ranthambore National Park, established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1957 and became a part of “Project Tiger” in 1974. The current “National Park” status was attributed to it in 1981.

Ranthambore National Park, Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan… A flamboyant heritage park with rich history and glorified majestic Tigers. Lurking amidst the forest are the legends of great battles of the bygone kingdoms and tales of extra-ordinary Tigers that rule the territories now. The story that I am about to tell you is of one such Tiger, Ustad.

Biography:

Born in 2005 in Lahpur area of the park to T20 (Jhumroo) and T 22 (Gayatri), Ustad was of a different breed. He was raised up alongside his brothers of the same litter T23 and T25. At very tender age this tiger had already defined his class. His heavily build body, dominating physique and tufts of mane like stubble makes his appearance a sight to behold. Unlike other tigers he was not shy of humans. Adventurous and fearless, he often ventured out of the park and was frequently sighted on the outskirts of Sawai Madhaopur Town.  During his reign, Ustad had dominated Zone 1, and had quite a few territorial battles. He always remained invincible. He had taken over this territory after Noor’s father T12 was relocated to Sariska in 2010.

Beyond a Tiger’s norm, he had just one mate “Noor” or “Mala”- T39. He had two litters with Noor, first litter with the only male heir “Sultan” –T72, with whom he shared his territory and the second litter with two cubs that are three years old now.

Noor with two Cubs

Once he was injured, with a thorn that had pricked his left foreleg and turned septic. He became weak and vulnerable. Forest official had to tranquilize him for treatment. But this majestic beast with a display of exuberance woke up in the midst of treatment scaring the life out of the official and had them running head over heels. He ran off into the forest and maintained his distance from man for quite a while. Soon he recovered from his gruesome injury. Many such events that had him face men in close quarters changed his natural behavior. In the upcoming years, it was exhibited by his immense aggression and uncomfort from humans. This led to a series of unfortunate events that sealed his fate.  

Turn of Events:-

2010-2012:- Attacked and killed two villagers on the periphery of Zone 1.

October 2012:- Attacked Assistant Forest Officer “Gheesu Singh” while he was assisting road workers in the area. Grabbed him by the neck and killed him.

8^th May, 2015:- Attacked Forest guard “Rampal Saini” in Atal Sagar area(100 mts from Park entrance gate) and mauled him to death.

After the incident with Saini, people’s patience gave up and under mighty pressure of local inhabitants the forest official had to take sudden measures. In a swift operation under the command of higher authorities the relocation of Ustad was carried out.  

May 16^th, 2015:- Ustad was captured while strolling in his territory and relocated to Sajjangarh Biological Park, Udaipur (400 kms away).

The war between the authorities’ decision and Wildlife conservationists has raged on ever since. The demand for Ustad’s release is spreading like wild fire. And Ustad’s freedom hangs on the knife’s edge now.

Dubey’s Petition:-

In December 2015, a petition was filed by tiger conservationist Ajay Dubey in Supreme court to move Ustad back to the wild on accounts of branding Ustad “arbitrarily” a man-eater, and that the deaths had been a result of humans straying into his territory (rather than the tiger hunting them down)”.  The Supreme Court ruled out the petition stating, “The experts have said it is a man eater. We are not interfering with the shifting of a man-eating tiger to a zoo. It involves safety of humans,” 

As  Navin M. Raheja (Ex-member, Project Tiger steering Committee) emphasized that Ustad was not a “man-eater”, he was a “man-killer”,  who was intolerant to humans venturing into his territory. This still brings to debate that, was his capture truly a result of his dubious distinction of being a Man-eater or was it just an act to keep him from being the victim of yet another Man-Animal conflict? Whatever may be the reason, the fact still stand solid that we humans have not yet learned to share our ground with our wild ones. And unfortunately the weight of balance is shifting away from the wild animals.

Current Status:- 

Ustad is presently captive in an one hectare enclosure at Sajjangarh Biological Park.

Recently, Rajasthan’s minister of Environment and Wildlife, Gajendra Singh Khimsar has denied his release into the wild. But he has hinted about the relocation of Ustad to a larger home at Sariska or similar tiger reserve with an area of 50 hectare.

With Ustad’s absence, his domain is open to territorial battles now. Fate of Noor, Sultan and his young cubs seem very bleak as none have the might to defend their ground. Future of Zone 1 of Ranthambore, Ustad’s kingdom will be a white canvas for the blood hungry majestic ones to paint their legacy. The golden question remains… who will claim the kingdom now???

April, 2017:- Noor is seen with a new cub. T57 was found marking Ustad’s territory (seems like T24’s Kingdom is taken now)

As for people like me, we still await the return of the “Fallen King…Ustad”