Ranthambore's Ustaad Tamed

As the country is still engaged in for-and-against debates on the "life imprisonment" of Ranthambore's Tiger24 (T24), also famously known as Ustaad, the big cat has completed one year in captivity, with his own share of ups and downs.

The ferocious tiger, who would charge at anyone who came closer to its enclosure, now hides itself in a corner upon seeing a soul.

The wild tiger – who showed extreme aggression since May 16 last year, the day it was brought to the sprawling Sajjangarh Biological Park in Udaipur and released in the enclosure – seems to have become relaxed and comfortable in its demarcated house, some 500km away from its actual home where the big cat was born free.

T24's one-hectare enclosure, which is off tourist limits, has eight high-definition cameras staring at the big cat round the clock, keeping track and recording every single move of the animal. "In last one year, we have observed one big change in its behaviour. T24 was extremely aggressive when it was brought here. It used to charge at any human who came close to its enclosure. But now, T24 simply wants to avoid humans.

Even if its caretaker comes close, it simply goes away and sits in one of the natural depressions in the enclosure from where it cannot be seen," said Udaipur's chief conservator of forest (Wildlife) Rahul Bhatnagar, who still remembers the phone call, instructing him to keep an enclosure ready as Ustaad was on its way to this biological park, that almost had him jumping in his chair.

From initially refusing to eat buffalo meat that was served to him (being a wild tiger Ustaad was used to hunting) to the controversy over giving it live bait, the tiger always made headlines. However, Ustaad kept forest officials on tenterhooks in December when it was operated upon for "Mega Colon".

It took seven expert veterinarians several hours to be through with the surgery, but the biggest worry was post-operative care. "That was easily one of the most stressful times for each of us as it had to be ensured that Ustaad recovered fully well. T24 always suffered from constipation in the wild, but had something happened to the big cat in captivity, it would have been a huge blow to the forest department. All those people fighting for Ustaad's freedom would have ripped us apart and there would have been several enquiries and additional court cases," shared a senior forest official.

Dedicated staffers were deputed to ensure that Ustaad did not lick the stitches. "With the help of the cameras, one staff member used to continuously monitor Ustaad while its caretaker would sit near the enclosure. Once the one monitoring the camera feeds felt that Ustaad might lick the incisions, the other near the enclosure would make some noise to divert its attention.

This went on for over a month," said Dr T Mohan Raj, deputy conservator of forest (wildlife), Udaipur. His team at the biological park deserved all the praise for the way they cared for Ustaad in spite of all the criticism, Mohan Raj added.

They were faced with two big challenges when Ustaad came last year. First, how to feed Ustaad as it was not used to eating dead meat, and second, how to ensure that it didn't get stressed.

The entire enclosure was covered with green cloth and no one, except for the caretaker, was allowed to come closer in order to ensure that Ustaad didn't charge and injure itself. Apart from that, during its surgery, when the enclosure was empty, a huge water tank was created where Ustaad can now be seen enjoying a cool bath and relaxing, Mohan Raj also said that the big cat was now eating boneless buffalo meat.

Dr Himanshu Vyas, veterinary officer for the biological park, said that Ustaad had lost some weight post-surgery but now it was gradually gaining it back. "We have an entire checklist for Ustaad and all its daily routines are monitored closely. Ustaad was a special guest when it came, but now it is part of the family at this biological park. Having said that, Ustaad still remains special in the sense that it gets more attention from all of us," Vyas said.

While there has been a steady demand for allowing tourists to see Ustaad, the forest department seems receptive. "From tourism point of view, there is no doubt that it will bring in a lot of visitors once the Central Zoo Authourity (CZA) allows viewing of Ustaad. But we don't think the big cat is yet ready to face a stream of visitors. Also, we don't want to take any chances and hence no decision is being taken in this regard as of now," informed another forest official.

As discussion among wildlife activists on Ustaad gets hotter with the soaring mercury in Udaipur, one question pertaining to the popularity of this big cat remains in the back of everyone's mind: Will Ustaad, the most clicked tiger in the wild, be the most photographed big cat in captivity as well?

Ustaad attacked and killed a forest guard, Rampal Saini, on May 8 last year. As per forest officials, Saini was not its first human kill. However, following Saini's death, Ustaad was declared maneater. Only eight days after Ustaad killed Saini, it was tranquilised, trapped and sent to Udaipur on May 16. Since then, there have been several protests as well as court cases, demanding release of Ustaad into the wild. Recently, the Supreme Court rejected a plea seeking freedom for Ustaad.