Date:08/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/08/stories/2008010858500200.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

For ‘Maharaja of a Fading Forest’

Staff Reporter

Bangalore: “Human beings and animals cannot co-exist in the same habitat. I realise I am being politically incorrect, but this is something I strongly believe in.”

These were powerful words from an outspoken environmental journalist-turned-filmmaker, Malini Shankar.

Ms. Shankar held a special screening of her documentary “Tiger: Maharaja of a Fading Forest” at the Century Club here on Monday.

It is a minimalist movie made in a short span of time that aims at throwing light on the tiger crisis in India for the audience. The documentary is meant to be the pilot episode, for what she intends to turn into a 13 episode series for Doordarshan.

Ms. Shankar decided to take up the cause of the tiger after witnessing the tragic events of 2004-2005 in Sariska Tiger reserve, where 22 tigers were killed by poachers. She believes that the problem with tiger conservation stems from the fascination with the tiger - its coat, its parts, and the glamour often attached to the hunt. “Its romance leaves it more valuable dead than alive,” she said. According to the Wildlife Institute of India there are less than 1400 tigers left in all of India.