The next day I was woken up by a cockerel at 5:03am, all the villages were already up, and there way of life was simple yet happy. In the fields you could see animals with children playing around them. They did not have the technology that we have in the west, but they still managed to keep them selves occupied with work to keep them going all day. The hunters told me to follow them. As they did not have any type of transport we had to walk; it wasn’t too far away so I didn’t complain, too much.
So there I was, in search of a tiger, I saw one in the early morning as I looked around the forest, but I did not tell them, I watched it walk around as proud as ever, it gave me the impression that it was the king of India; to me it was.
The hunters continued to search for a tiger. By now they were getting pretty frustrated and edgy, I could see that they were easily agitated. We were made to stay in complete silence. In the back of my mind I did not want them to find a tiger because I knew they would kill it, I wondered to myself,
“Why would they want to kill such a beautiful animal? Can’t we all co-exist?”
Hours passed as we walked around. They seemed so desperate to get the tiger, I just wanted to research them; they wanted to kill and sell them. These were money hungry poachers that’s what they were, nothing but greedy poachers; I hated them for what they were.
I heard a rustling sound in the bushes behind me. I did not take any notice, well, I did not want to take any notice, just in case it was the tiger. My plan was for the poachers to lead me into and out of the forest, but whilst I was in the forest I wanted to go off on my own so I could do my research. I did not want to tell them just in case they followed me, I had to get away, I had to get my research! Then it hit me, I shouted and pointed,
“Tiger! Tiger!”
They fell for it. as soon as I shouted that, they ran in the direction that I pointed; I pittied them in my own little way because they rely on poaching so much. The forest was full of different shades of green with beautiful flowers; the trees were at least fifty metres high. I felt like an ant, so small, so insignificant. I carried on through the forest for about thirty minutes. Already I was starting to feel very tired and dehydrated and I had used all my water from before. I suddenly feel very drowsy and my vision seemed to become blurred. I could not see the sunlight that burst through the leaves from the tops of the trees and I fell to the ground like a tree that has been cut down.
I slowly regained consciousness and I could hear a growling sound from in front of me and behind me, I slowly open my eyes. Two Bengal tigers were near me but, they cautiously backed away, I was so excited, this was the closest I had got to tigers. In the excitement I grabbed my video camera and started shooting. I was not aware of what the tigers were getting ready to do. I watched them through the camera; the tiger’s eyes were glazed over. I stared into its eyes while the tiger behind me was backing off. I did not realise as I was watching the one tiger in front of me as it was walking off into the distant. This is just what I needed for my research because now I could get that promotion that I had wanted for so long. The tiger in front disappeared, I heard a load thudding sound behind me.
As I turned round the tiger from behind me had made a run up and pounced on me, I was not aware as I was too pre-occupied on the tiger in front. The tiger jumped on me, and I fell to the ground, the ground was quite soft since there was so much grass, and it was a pale green colour and came up to my knees; it cushioned the landing. I screamed and shouted for help, I dropped the camera and it was recording the attack; the tiger continued to scratch into my skin. I cannot remember any sounds, it was such a shock to me. My arms were waving around in the air and I was desperate for help. I was suddenly freed from the tiger’s tight lock, this was my chance to escape. I got up wounded, in pain and I ran; I ran for my life.
I continued to shout My voice rolled over forest, the tiger pounced again. It was even more viscous than the last time. Then a load gun shot cleared the air and silenced everything. The birds in the trees scattered for their lives. The silence was broken by the tiger, who had taken a shot from one of the poachers, it wailed and dropped to the ground, tears ran down the tigers face, the tears just like a river. The poacher took another shot, This shot was at point blank range, the sound echoed through the forest. The tiger was dead, lifeless; watching it die made me feel sick. The tiger lay on the floor not moving at all the blood pored out of its body, oozing out the poacher smiled, as if he was possessed and grinned at me, I was disgusted and felt like breaking down.
The poachers carried me back along with their prized possession… the tiger, I was taken to the nearest doctor, and he bandaged me up.
I still regret to this day that I went with the poachers, it has changed my life completely… if only I could turn back time…
