God’s ways are mysterious. A statement many will not refute. We have often read various stories depicting the Tiger as the king of the jungle with all its powers and robustness. A lot of stories also portray the Tiger as a tormenting animal who is hated by the jungle. An animal that is the symbol of bloodshed and death. All the animals in the jungle view the Tiger as a tormentor who needs to be taken to task. Even as adults, though we understand the food chain and know well that a Tiger’s only food is meat, we somehow wish the deer or the antelope flees before the Tiger pounces on it. Often, I watch my cousins and uncles watching National Geographic or Animal planet in bated breath hoping that the Deer outruns the Tiger.
A Tiger has a life span for about 10-15 years in the wilderness and 20 in captivity. In the initial few years it is common knowledge that a cub receives its food from its mom. So, its safe to assume that a tiger starts its hunting expedition once its 3 or 4 years old. It reaches its prime once the tiger is 9-11 and slowly begins to lose its speed. For a carnivorous animal, speed and its piercing claws are of substantial importance. Once it loses these two, it is a mere vegetable in the animal kingdom. A tiger loses its claws and speed once it reaches its dying years; 12-15.
During these dying years, tigers are lone animals wandering in the forests for that easy meal, in the hope that food may not be that hard to come by. As age sinks into this ferocious beast, its appetite decreases and soon a cruel process of starvation starts igniting with rapid pace. In this period I would like the reader to know that a tiger; king of the jungle; most powerful of all animals; the graceful beast, is reduced to mere pulp. You can call it a lesson in humility from God, but, a tiger dies of starvation. Slowly and steadily the vultures peck a tiger and a tiger’s once close allies; the hyenas surround the gigantic animal and mock it. A bite here and a poke there.
The beast of all beasts is down on its knees and falls with the same pride it once stood for. Pain, is not just for the prey but the predator too… God’s ways are??? MYSTERIOUS J
2 comments:
I always thought the king of the jungle was the lion.... aka lion king?
Yup, my bad, The starvation applies to a Lion as well. The Tiger is the one that hunts for the Lion while the Lion is just a mere protector of the clan.
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