Animal Stories
Hootoksi Tyabji
If someone were to ask me why I have a passion for animals I would have to answer that I don’t know. I did not grow up on a farm and I wasn’t surrounded by books or people who shared my love for nature but as a child I lived in a fantasy world in which the focus was always animals.
It probably began in my first years at school. There was this HUGE brass bell hung from a very tall wooden frame under which we sat each morning. 6-8 five year olds, squeezed in and clutching their brightly coloured, plastic sandwich boxes and water bottles. We felt superior for having secured the coveted space before anyone else! This is where we ate our morning “break” and I held court, telling tall tales about lions, cheetas, monkeys, tigers and snakes. My little friends sat around me, wide-eyed and open-mouthed till the bell rang for us to go to class again and the cycle repeated itself every day of the week!
I spent my first years of school at the J.B.Petit High School for Girls in Bombay. I had to be up at 6 AM to catch the bus at 7. As soon as it rolled into the school gates we had to line up and march into the assembly hall to the accompaniment of a tune belted out on the piano by one of the senior students; We stood in perfectly aligned rows and sang at the tops of our voices “God wants me for a sunbeam” “little drops of water, little grains of sand” and my absolute favourite “All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all. Each little flower that opens, each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colours, he made their tiny wings.”
My childhood fantasies of encountering wild animals were fulfilled especially during the time we lived in Tanzania between 1994 – 2001. We visited most of the game parks there and in Kenya, and the thrill of seeing wild animals in their own habitat and environment never ceased to enthrall me.
We saw so many Lions, in trees, a whole pride lazing in the sun so close to our jeep we could have touched them, a handsome male lying across a path so that we could not cross it; we saw Giraffe in their hundreds, Gazelles, Deer, Monkeys, Hippo, Rhino, Wildebeest from a hot air balloon while they were migrating, Leopard, Cheetah, Elephants and their adorable babies, innumerable Zebras and countless species of Birds; though every sighting was unique and wonderful of itself, there are some recollections and moments in time that are vivid in my mind today as they were when we first experienced them.
Corbett National Park -1971
Soon after Robert and I were married we went on our first visit to Corbett National Park. It is India’s first and oldest wildlife sanctuary at one time renowned for its tigers. By the time we visited, the tiger population in India had drastically declined and in 1973 Project Tiger was launched to save the splendid beast from total extinction. Corbett National Park was chosen for the launch of the project.
We began our adventure early in the morning riding through very tall grass on the back of an elephant called Bachookali. She ambled along and we were amazed at the way she was able to navigate and follow a well worn path which we could not see for the foliage that covered it. Our mahout warned us that it was quite rare to sight a tiger, and at the end of our 4 hour ride when we hadn’t seen one, we were not surprised.
We were more than satisfied as it had been an beautiful morning and we had seen lots of Deer, Neelguy, Wild Boar, Birds, Monkeys (Langur and Rheses) and by the river lots of Gharial and Crocodiles.
The sun was out in full force and it was beginning to get very hot. We were lulled by Bachukali’s gentle swaying and the soft warm breeze was soothing. Suddenly the elephant stopped dead in her tracks and let out a loud trumpting sound that woke up the entire forest! The monkeys began their screeching and our gentle giant had almost stepped on a full grown tiger. He leaped out of the grass, sat on his haunches about 8ft away from us and scrutinized our every move. None of us could breathe for the excitement of seeing this mighty beast with shining eyes, a glistening coat and rippling muscles, every one of them rippling and alert. We were rigid and riveted to the sight before us but our Mahout was having a hard time controlling Bachukali who was definitely skittish and wanting to bolt!
The tiger on the other hand, having satisfied himself that we posed no danger began to lick his paws preening and cleaning himself. We were all so nervous, startled and excited that nobody got a good photo except for Rob who did manage a rather shaky one while trying to muffle the sound of his camera.
We watched that magnificent beast for a good ten minutes or so after which he sauntered down the bank to the river and our mahout allowed Bachookali to turn around and head home. He later told us that she had been mauled by a tiger (probably the same one we saw) a year ago which accounted for her skittish behaviour. Elephants never forget and neither will we forget the thrill of being so close to this magnificent beast.
Ngorogoro crater, Africa’s Garden of Eden in Tanzania December 1996
As part of our prolonged 25th Wedding Anniversary celebrations we had been driving around the crater in an old Land Rover with a Park guide. We had feasted our eyes on elephants, deer, lion, zebra, giraffe, hippo and lots of birds. We were on our way back to the lodge when Robert spotted a lone zebra swaying about on wobbly legs and seemingly injured. He pointed it out to our guide who immediately became very excited and asked the driver to stop the car. He told us we were extremely fortunate as we were about to witness a birth. We could barely contain our excitement as we stood outside the car about 10 feet away from the animal watching in awe and wonder as this miracle of life unfolded right before our very eyes and at such close quarters.
It took 22 ½ mins. for the foal to be born. Mama suffered her pain in total silence, first teetering on four legs and then slowly keeling over on her side on the grass. Soon a large blue substance (looked like a plastic bag!) oozed out of her and engulfed within it was this beautiful foal, all wet and slimy and attached to her mama by a long umbilical cord. It lay on the ground for just a few minutes, sucked in some air, not quite knowing what to do with its legs, but then it stood up on them It wobbled about as mama stamped on the umbilical cord to sever it. The little creature looked around the vast landscape of the crater with half opened eyes and shivering, being thrust from the warmth and comfort of the womb into this strange new world. Instinctively, it begins to imprint its mother’s unique pattern of stripes so that it would not lose her in the herd. It stumbled around while its mother was busy regaining her strength by chewing on some grass. She utterly ignored her tiny foal who stumbled and fumbled searching for mama’s teat which it eventually found. Ah! comfort at last and a picture of utter contentment. We were so absorbed in the scene before us that we had not noticed three adult zebras standing guard a little distance away. Our guide explained that one was the proud father, the others probably relatives keeping a watchful eye for the slightest hint of danger.
As we drove off I was reminded of something I read by Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the UN. He wrote
"God does not die on the day we cease to believe in a personal deity; but we die on the day when our lives cease to be illumined by the steady radiance renewed daily of a wonder, the source of which is beyond all reason.”
The wonder of that tiny foal being born in Africa’s garden of Eden, is one of the rich experiences of my life, treasured and imprinted on my mind forever!
Enjoying the Monkeys in Our Yard
Dar es Salaam, 1998
In Dar es Salaam we lived in a marvelous old bungalow that sat on 2 acres of land, with beautiful flame, Ficus, and Laburnum trees. When in bloom we had splashes of orange and yellow, a feast for our eyes! These magnificent specimens were home to a tribe of Vervet monkeys (about a dozen at any given time) and it was a joy to observe them from the house. They came through our garden everyday around 7 in the morning, stayed till around 10 or so, then disappeared and reappeared from 5 to 7 pm or thereabouts. We saw tiny babies grow into adolescents and then into adults. The family always stayed together and initially when the babies were tiny, they clung to their mothers and she to them. As time went on, ma encouraged the little ones to venture out on their own while the older siblings watched and waited chattering and screeching their encouragement or displeasure.
One day, I watched as a tiny little chap discovered he could jump, twist, and turn and leap from branch to branch, much the same as the others in the family. Suddenly he stopped, sat on a branch, and looked down at something long and dangling. He got hold of this and began tugging at it while the other monkeys started chattering their heads off doing cartwheels and loops and screeching with mirth! They waited and watched till the little chap realized he was pulling on his own tail! His mama who had been watching all this silently, scooped him up and the little guy buried his head in her fur not wanting to face his brothers and sisters!
Another time we noticed that a young monkey had a leather thong around his waist. He must have been captured but managed to break free and we knew that we had to get the thong off or it would strangle him as he grew!
Elton from Malawi, who worked for us, happened to know how to trap a monkey and offered to do the job. He set up a simple trap with bamboo, string, and salt (bait) to lure the monkey in. The little chap was caught in no time at all, but he was wild with fear, barring his teeth and jumping up and down. Elton was afraid to hold him, and I was too, but I grabbed him by the waist, held him over my shoulder and as he struggled to break free, I began singing a lullaby. As I sang his little body relaxed and he put his head on my shoulder, so Elton was able to cut the leather thong off his waist. Relieved and free he bounded off into the trees chattering and screeching with joy!
A friend called me one day and asked if some monks could come over and leave their pet monkey in our yard. Apparently one of the young monks befriended this monkey and kept it in the monastery but it started going into the neighbor’s corn fields and destroying their crop. When this happened repeatedly, the monks decided they had to find a home for their pet and by asking around, our home seemed a safe bet. Neither the monks nor us knew anything about integrating a lone monkey into an existing tribe so the monks and monkey arrived around 6 PM when ours were foraging as they normally did at that time. The monk held his pet close to his chest in the folds of his robe and most reluctantly set it down on the ground. It took a couple of leaps into a tree and immediately there was a huge ruckus as our monkeys began screeching and chattering and making unwelcoming gestures and sounds as soon as they discovered this stranger in their midst. The lone monkey took a minute or two to size things up and then in a flash and a single leaped into the comfort and confines of the monk’s robe! A short discussion later, the monks and the monkey drove back to their monastery and I never did follow up that story, I hope it had a happy ending!
En route from Hille Koshi to Kathmandu – April 2003
We had just left my beloved dog Jigme with friends on a tea plantation in Hille. I was beside myself, crying and carrying on so Robert decided to take a detour and drive through the Koshi Tappu wild life forest reserve to calm me down and cheer me up.
Just as we got out of the car, there was this man holding something white in his hands. It was a baby Albino fawn. Some people had found it abandoned in the forest just minutes before we arrived. I have no words to describe my feelings as I held its trembling body in my arms and loved it for just a few moments in time and it was just the balm I needed for my pain.
South Africa - August 2006
We were driving from Dutywa in the Eastern Cape to Cape Town along the famous garden route, when we decided to go off the track and explore. On most days we would start calling B & B’s for a room for the night around 4 PM. On this particular day, we found ourselves in an industrial area around that time and the B & B’s on offer were not attractive at all! We stopped at a gas station and while we were there I saw a brochure advertising a private game park called Kragga Kamma, an hour’s drive away. We called, found they had a little self catering chalet available and we were on our way!
It was a beautiful spot and in the morning as we drove around we saw zebra, giraffe, deer, cheetah, ostrich, wild boar and wart hog. At breakfast I read a sign that said “Come and play with DUMA our tame cheetah” I could not believe what I was reading! A chance to touch a cheetah?????
Duma was famous and had acted in several Hollywood movies! He was in a large enclosure with another cheetah who was also tame, but she did not like being touched. We went in with a handler and as soon as I touched and began stroking him, he rolled over on the ground and started up this loud growl which was frightening! I immediately pulled my hand away and the handler laughed and said, “oh! that’s only him purring. He’s happy don’t stop” so at first tentatively and then with much gusto, I continued stroking, scratching and loving him just as I do our kitty at home! He had the most beautiful markings on his face and his eyes were bright as stars and of a colour I can’t describe. I was lost in them! His coat was rough and he was all muscle under it and powerful! I could have spent the day there but Duma was getting bored and ready for a bit more fun! He got hold of my arm and gave me little love bite (as little as a 4 year old cheetah could!) which indicated that it was time for us to move on. Just as we got up to leave he flew through the air to the edge of the enclosure and showed us that he was indeed the fastest of all land animals on earth. He runs at 114 Kms an hour but can only maintain that speed for about 274 meters. What a splendid animal, and what a treat to be able to touch him!
Later that day we chanced upon a private “lion park” where three cubs had been born just 30 days ago. I was permitted to cuddle and love them.
