Tiger’s pug or pawprint indicates the age and health of the animal

We glimpse a lone sambar deer, more timid than the chital; the canine bark of the barking deer reaches us from a bend ahead. Porcupines and wild boar have dug up the ground in many places. Tiger scat, examined by expert eyes, reveals fur and crushed bones from its last kill: that is as close as I’ll come to a face-to-face encounter with the king of the forests. Tiger hunting has long since ceased, but the ‘king of Indian sport fish’ still draws anglers from around the world. Esteemed by pukka sahib sportsmen since the nineteenth century, the yellowfin or golden mahseer remains abundant here; catches are released.

At a once-abandoned hamlet on the river flat, ecologist Sumantha Ghosh, in partnership with local communities has established Vanghat River Lodge, a wilderness and fishing lodge just outside the reserve.

Vanghat trains and employs young villagers as housekeeping staff and gillies. Poaching and dynamite fishing have virtually ceased, and catch sizes are rising noticeably. The hamlets and their garden beds are shielded by solar-powered electric fencing, for protection from predatory leopards, browsing elephants – and the occasional tiger.

Vanghat’s stone and mud-brick cottages have been fitted with comfortable beds and ensuite bathrooms: far more welcoming than India’s scruffy government resthouses. Drinks are offered around the campfire before dinner materialises.

Barry Abbott, a retired Briton who has fished all over the world, declares himself well pleased with his first day’s tally: a 15lb mahseer, with a 25-pounder slipping off the hook. My own catch is considerably less impressive, but the intangible rewards include a glimpse of two very large otters slithering across the river-worn pebbles.

He is passionate about nature photography and conservation of wildlife. He is extensively working in the field of community based tourism since last 03 years. He has been working in Jim Corbett’s own village- Chhoti Haldwani with a motive of creation of livelihood opportunities for the local community through eco-tourism initiatives and through this weans them away from forest based livelihood. He is heading a Non Government Organization, Corbett Gram Vikas Samiti (CGVS) based in Jim Corbett’s Village- Chhoti Haldwani.

Some of the initiatives of his organization are Income Generation Activities by the local villagers and marketing of their produce through a souvenir shop, Home Stays, Awareness Generation on Wildlife Conservation and Management of Jim Corbett Heritage Trail etc. He has developed a network of local villagers against poaching and other illegal activities in local forest area.

He has compiled a number of publications like a set of booklets and posters on White Grub Management, a set of five booklets on Self Help Groups, a set of 32 booklets and posters on various income generation activities and a documentary on Life Cycle of White Grub.

Rajesh is also the coordinator in Chhoti Haldwani regarding the Lantana furniture project and understand the whole process perfectly since he has already worked with women communities through his association.

To know more about Rajesh and his work, kindly visit his website on: www.corbettvillage.in

Also known as The Tiger Man of Corbett Jolly has witnessed when India’s finest national park Hailey National Park was renamed as the Ramganga National Park and then in 1956 as the Corbett National Park and finally he saw Project Tiger being launched from the  Corbett Tiger Reserve in 1973.

Jolly has never known fear and never will. While serving with the forest department he has caught several poachers and has caught hunting army soldiers, a member of legislative assembly. In the Mohan forest he caught the son of a serving judge and cleared his misconception that he was above the law, he even booked a Wildlife Warden.

After his retirement as a Deputy Ranger 1993 he continued serving the jungles with more vigour by joining the Corbett Foundation. As the head tracker his job is to find cattle that have been hunted down by Tiger or Leopard and offer compensation to villagers under the instant relief scheme. This programme is the single most reason for very few cases of carcass poisoning by local inhabitants around Corbett and healthy Tiger and Leopard numbers not just in the Corbett Tiger Reserve but in the adjoining and vast reserve forests.

Respected and loved by villagers and forest staff he is a key link and has assisted numerous researchers. Those who accompany him believe that he speaks to Tigers and Leopards, his understanding of Tiger psychology is legendry. While inspecting kills on foot he has been charged by Tigers and has saved the lives of those accompanying him by calming them down and holding ground.

This grand old man will be difficult to replace from the web of life. To know more about the organisation that Jolly the Tiger man works for please log on to www.corbettfoundation.org.