Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu): In contrast to the disappointing decline in India’s overall tiger population revealed in the latest census, tiger numbers in Tamil Nadu’s protected areas have shown a promising increase since 2002. An increase in tiger population was also seen in the non-protected areas of the state, including the upper Nilgiri plateau, home to the indigenous Toda community. The Todas’ survival is closely interlinked with their natural surroundings.  

Todas live in small hamlets in the Nilgiri highlands and buffaloes are a key part of their economy and culture. In fact, the breed of Asiatic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) reared by the community, is commonly identified as ‘Toda buffaloes’. While the rise in tiger numbers here was celebrated in most circles, for the Todas it did not necessarily mean good news; even though they revere the tiger as supreme divinity in their nature lore. The increase in tiger population here had, in turn, increased the frequency of tiger attacks on their buffaloes.

“The Toda culture and to a large extent, their economic sustenance revolves around the Toda buffaloes,” says Dr Tarun Chhabra, a practising dentist, closely associated with the Toda community. “Their buffaloes are classified as ‘secular’ and ‘sacred’. The secular buffaloes are used by the laymen for their livelihood, while the sacred ones belong in the dairy-temples of the Todas. The predation by tigers hence affects both their income and their traditions,” he explains.

Despite the fact that their buffaloes are quite frequently preyed upon by tigers, the Todas did not retaliate against the animals, unlike other communities in the region. The Todas worship the tiger as a supernatural protector of their traditions. However their tolerance was bound to wear thin, given the repeated losses to their simple means.

“A lot has been done for tiger conservation in the protected areas of the Nilgiris. Unfortunately, no proper study on big cats has been done in the upper plateau, where non-Toda people have retaliated by poisoning the carcass of their cattle killed by the predators. The Todas have not retaliated thus, but the status quo may not remain if nothing is done to curb the frustration of the young generation,” elaborated, Dr Chhabra.

To avoid the possibility of this, a Rapid Action Project (RAP) was initiated by Dr Chhabra with assistance from Wildife Trust of India (WTI). This RAP is designed not only to compensate for the loss to the Todas, but also to preserve their reverence for the tiger, aiding its long term conservation. It also aims to reaffirm to the Todas, the importance of their traditional, nature linked values in modern-day conservation.

The project will implement the formation of a self-sustained pool of Toda buffaloes which can be drawn upon to suitably and quickly replace a predation loss. “This will help establish a genetic pool of Toda buffaloes which is a breed, endemic to the Nilgiris. It will also prevent the degeneration of the tiger’s status in the Toda traditions,” believes Dr Chhabra.

The RAP involves scientific breeding to maintain the stock of the Toda buffalo and preserve its unique genetic identity. Stall-feeding of the buffaloes is being experimented with, to increase milk yield and crucially, to reduce their vulnerability to tigers while grazing. The gene pool’s sustainability will be guaranteed by the compulsory contribution of the first female calf born to buffaloes given out from the pool under the compensation package. Money generated from the milk yield from this pool will also be used for the benefit of the community.

“This practice (maintaining the pool and compensation) will assuage the anger of the Todas and will benefit the population of the large cats; if the Todas chose to retaliate, these animals could disappear from the region without their viability even being studied. Additionally, the project will also benefit the Toda buffalo” said Dr Chhabra.

Apart from this buffalo pool, the project also envisions increased awareness on conservation issues among the Todas. A camp was organised to inform the tribe of the intention of the project. The speakers, included Dr Chhabra, forest officials and NGO personnel. They explained the significance of Toda beliefs and traditions in the larger context of conserving wildlife. About 50 elders from the community participated in this gathering. The camp also stressed on the need for sustainable use of resources and proper habitat management to reduce conflict through the maintenance of the critical prey base for the large cats.

The Todas are very particular about the purity of their traditions. They conduct extensive rituals with uncompromising austerity and permit no alternatives to the requirements for these rituals.  Historically, they have followed traditional conservation practices to ensure the availability of the materials required for their sustenance, from nature. However, the inflexibility of their traditions, in addition to the erosion of their environment by the pressures of modern development and change, has made the Todas extremely vulnerable. Their survival is increasingly jeopardized with the shifts in their world and these ancient people and their way of life may soon be wiped out.

“The main threats to the Toda tribe are the loss of habitat and the ubiquitous change in land cover. They are very specific about the plants they use in their rituals and other traditions. As they don’t use substitutes, their culture faces threats of extinction as modified habitats cause disappearance of these species. Accordingly, the sacred buffaloes are graded according to their temples. Permitting no alternatives, the Todas are known to have shut down temples when the particular grade of buffaloes was unavailable,” says Dr Chhabra.

“This RAP will ensure that the community has at least one less threat to counter, as the Toda buffalo is conserved,” affirms Dr Chhabra. “Also, the tigers in this highland area will be protected from possible retaliatory attacks that would have been disaster for them, had there been no intervention,” he concludes.