Compensation Helps Keep Peace

One of the interesting persons I’ve spent time with in southern India is Sunita Dhairyam, wildlife artist and conservationist of Mangala Village outside Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Her non-profit, The Mariamma Charitable Trust, compensates villagers for loss of livestock due to tiger and leopard predation — a measure that, along with the government’s compensation program, helps raise awareness around human-animal cohabitation issues and prevent acts of revenge such as use of poison, snares and electrocution. She and fellow trustee Indra Kumar do great work, and with their help I have interviewed forest park personnel and villagers about their tiger experiences. Here are scenes from their world: