Land of the Tiger Page #2
- Year:
- 1985
- 60 min
- 19 Views
She retreats to a spring
deep in a ravine.
Another tigress did fight over a kill.
She came off second best.
Spring is the rutting season
for the sambar in Ranthambhor.
with their male scent.
In this way they become more
attractive to the does
and more intimidating to other males.
In April, as spring changes to summer,
For the sambar the squeeze
between the need to drink
and eat in the lakes
and running the gauntlet of tigers
in ambush becomes ever tighter.
The sambar,
alert and cautious at all times,
cannot see the tiger.
To them the tall grass
is like a blank wall.
May is the height of summer
in Ranthambhor.
Tigers stay close to the water holes.
Another six weeks of
relentless heat must pass
before the monsoon brings relief.
Kanha, in the meantime,
has also dried out in the summer heat.
But because it is a less arid region,
many trees and shrubs remain green.
The streams have ceased to flow.
Only sporadic water holes remain.
Moisture is at a premium.
Even a patch on wet sand is prized
by a blizzard of thirsty butterflies.
The cubs of the cave-dwelling
tigress have grown.
The two, a male and a female,
are now five months old.
The cave has a commanding view,
and the tigress keeps watch for
possible prey
and for anything that may be
a threat to her cubs.
In late afternoon the tigress sets
off to hunt.
The cubs follow her.
Before she has gone very far
the tigress meets a real danger
to her young,
the resident male tiger.
She calls on all her ferocity to
challenge the much larger animal.
Territorial males, which are
known to kill cubs,
are the main threat
to the young tigers.
After the frightening confrontation,
the female cub seeks reassurance.
The summer heat continues.
Every day it is 105 degrees
or more in the shade.
The few water holes are shrinking.
Animals must travel long distances
to drink.
As in Ranthambhor, there is a constant
threat from the well camouflaged tigers
A white-breasted kingfisher
has taken up residence
and bathes frequently to cool himself.
Langur monkeys spend hours licking salt
and other minerals from the rocks
that surround the pool.
The water hole attracts a multitude
of birds.
Even the shy red junglefowl, the gaudy
ancestor of the domestic chicken,
must leave the protection of
the forest to drink.
A lesser adjutant stork probes
the water hole for fish and frogs.
The checkered keelback snake is
an unwelcome visitor
treated with circumspection
by the other animals.
But the reptile is no threat
to most of them.
It is non-venomous and
a confirmed fish-eater.
The deserted water hole no longer
has any interest for the tiger.
When the oppressive heat
of the day abates,
the barasingha emerge from
the forest to drink.
It is a time too when the tigress
and her cubs leave their cave.
Before she sets out to feed
on the remains of a sambar
during an interlude of
extraordinary peace and tenderness.
This morning the tigress did not bring
the cubs to her kill
even though they are old enough
to eat meat for themselves.
Danger in the form of the male tiger
is still near.
When the male approaches,
she hides the remains of her prey,
covering it with leaves.
She will stay with in
until the threat has passed.
Early June is the hottest,
driest time of the year.
The shade temperature rises
to 110 degrees.
Tigers suffer more than most animals
in this heat.
Then one day in mid-June,
as the koel and the brainfever
bird scream for rain,
a cool wind whips up;
the air becomes humid.
The monsoon has finally arrived.
For four days it rains
sometimes lightly, sometimes in torrents.
The temperature drops about 20 degrees
The heat, the dry streams,
the aridity of eight virtually
rainless months
have disappeared at one stroke.
After the monsoon's first days of rain
the sun briefly reappears.
Kanha has been transformed,
has taken on a cloak of fresh new green.
Termites celebrate the onset on
the monsoon with mating flights.
Velvet-textured mites erupt out of
the ground and feast on the termites.
Male bullfrogs vie for the females
in duels of sound.
Life has been liberated by the rain.
Plants explode into untrammeled growth
The new lushness attracts hordes
of leaf-eating insects,
and when the caterpillars unleash
their appetites on the monsoon's bounty,
they are an effective restraint
on the new leaves.
In July, when the monsoon
is firmly established,
the chital gather on the grassland,
which soon reverberate with the sounds
A peacock unfurls his train a symbol
for the renewal and exuberance of life
A predator other than the tiger,
and one feared by all the animals,
moves down from the hills
at this time of year,
spreading disquiet in forest
and grassland alike.
It is the Indian wild dog.
No animal is safe from these marauders
and even the mighty tiger will usually
avoid a direct confrontation.
The dogs move in packs that
may number up to 30.
though an individual wild dog
could never challenge the supremacy
of the tiger,
large packs have been known
to attack him.
During such a fight the big cat can
inflict heavy casualties.
Once a besieged tiger destroyed 12 dogs
before he himself was killed and eaten
As the younger dogs play,
they are watched by a mob
of near-hysterical chital.
The herd rushes into the forest
where the pack will soon follow.
The incapacitated are left behind.
The lush grasses lure the reclusive gaur,
or Indian bison,
out of their forest strongholds.
These are the largest wild
cattle in the world.
A large bull stands over six feet
at the shoulder
and may weight up to 2,000 pounds.
The adults have little to fear
from the tiger.
It is the calves and yearlings
that are vulnerable.
Whenever a tiger is detected,
when the cows and bulls snort
and toss their heads in threat
the big cat has no chance
of making a kill.
To the contrary, an alerted herd
can be a danger to the tiger.
At the turn of the century some 40,000
tigers stalked India's jungles.
By 1972 they numbered fewer than 2000.
This grim fact was the signal
for courageous
and far-reaching conservation efforts.
These have been so effective that
if the tiger is to survive in the wild
its best chance is now probably
in India,
in reserves like Kanha and Ranthambhor
where the tiger has already made
an impressive comeback.
With Kanha's riches restored
by the monsoon,
the tiger is no longer tied to
It wanders widely and leaves the plains
for the denser vegetation of the hills
its presence,
elusive than ever,
even greater dread
among all the animals
that live under its tyranny.
Translation
Translate and read this script in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Land of the Tiger" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/land_of_the_tiger_12205>.
Discuss this script with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In