Tiger Moon 0226780015, 9780226780016

Citation preview

ISBN D-22b-7flDDl-S

gicjerjtfoon Fiona Sunquist and Mel Sunquist

The tall grasslands and sal forests of Royal Chitwan National Park are home to Nepal’s elusive and highly endangered tigers. Here, against the backdrop of the Himalayas, Fiona and Mel Sunquist tracked tigers on elephantback and sometimes on foot. Using immobiliz¬ ing drugs, they fitted the tigers with radio transmitters so they could monitor these solitary, nocturnal animals as they hunted, mated, and raised cubs. Tiger Moon is the Sunquists’ account of their two years among the tigers, gathering detailed information on the tigers’ personalities, food habits, living arrange¬ ments, and interactions with each other and with the other animals of Chitwan—rhinos, leopards, sloth bears, and deer. The Sunquists also introduce many of the Nepal is with whom they worked and lived, and some¬ times nearly died, in this exotic and remarkably beau¬ tiful setting. No national park exists in a vacuum, and efforts to save the tiger from extinction necessarily involve the many villagers who make their homes at Chitwan's boundaries. A vivid and readable account of wildlife research in action, Tiger Moon tells of shivering in a Jeep at midnight while trying to stay awake to monitor radio signals and of rambling rhinos complicating nocturnal visits to the outhouse. One of the research team is mauled by a tigress, and three sturdy tiger cubs die in a fire set illegally in the park. .Amid the dangers, difficulties, and routine, there are moments when the natural beauty of Chitwan be¬ comes overwhelming. Silvered moonlit nights transform the forests and grasslands, and a million spiders' eyes become spangles tracing the dusty road. And, for a

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BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

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