Bhopal, Jul 29 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav on Monday contended that the tiger, and not the lion, is the king of jungle in true sense as it is stronger, more courageous and agile than the latter.
Addressing a function to mark International Tiger Day, he maintained that lions are “lazy to earn and eat” and hence do not deserve the coveted title associated with them.
“Usually, people consider the lion as the king of the jungle but they do injustice. The lion is not the king of the jungle, it is the tiger. If you look at the nature of the lion, it takes care of family but is lazy in earning (killing prey). It is not able to earn on its own,” Yadav said.
Yadav noted the lion eats after someone from its family has killed the prey.
“After someone else from its family hunts, the lion comes to eat prey first. I am against this culture. We should have ‘parakram’ and ‘purusharth’ (courage and endeavour), which is exhibited by the tiger by hunting and eating its own prey,” Yadav argued.
The Chief Minister said general perception is that the lion will go after a deer baby or old ones in a herd, while the tiger will hunt the healthiest one among them due to its muscularity.
“I ask (people) in jest why they (lions) behave in such a way. They reply they are able to catch the baby or old (deer) easily. I say they are not catching (the deer) for sports but for food. People like eating ‘thali’ (platter) with healthy food. Isn’t it? Tigers see who is the healthiest one though it needs hard work,” he said.
Yadav pointed out that Madhya Pradesh, besides being a “tiger state” (it is home to highest number of big cats the country), also enjoys a distinct place in Asia’s wildlife map as it houses cheetahs, too.
He said more than 25 lakh tourists visit Madhya Pradesh’s seven tiger reserves every year.
Yadav said cheetahs and tigers roam freely in Sheopur, which houses the Kuno National Park (KNP), and since it is a border district, these animals also venture into neighbouring Rajasthan.
“Wherever cheetahs live (mostly in Africa), they develop their own territories. Bhupender Yadav ji (Union Environment and Forest Minister) told me they (wildlife authorities in South Africa) keep cheetahs by putting up fences. I asked him why we couldn’t? He said it will take a lot of money. But the good thing is that cheetahs (in the wild) also get space for playing,” said the CM.
As per the report `Status of Tigers: Co-predators & Prey in India-2022’², released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of big cats in the country (785), followed by Karnataka (563) and Uttarakhand (560).
The number of tigers in Madhya Pradesh rose to 785 in 2022 from 526 in 2018.
Under an ambitious cheetah reintroduction project, eight Namibian cheetahs — five females and three males — were released into enclosures at the KNP in Sheopur district on September 17, 2022. In February 2023, another 12 cheetahs were brought to the park from South Africa.
Currently, there are 26 cheetahs at the KNP, including 13 adults. PTI ADU RSY
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