Nagpur is well-known as India's 'Tiger Capital'. It is surrounded by six major tiger reserves in India: Tadoba, Pench, Kanha, Nagzira, Melghat, and Bor, which have a total of 352 tigers. However, I did not see a single tiger throughout my visit to Pench National Park. This is because of something I did; something I am really proud of. I had to pick between the adrenaline rush of spotting a tiger and saving a baby animal, and I chose the latter. I am confident that I made the correct decision because I am certain that if I had not rescued the animal that day, even the spectacular sight of a tiger would not have made me happy.
Here is what happened-
“Look at those paw marks on the ground, they seem quite fresh,” said the safari guide. We were all ecstatic because we had finally seen paw prints, indicating that tigers were around. Our guide warned us not to make any loud noises since it may startle the animals.
We followed the paw prints and looked for any indicators that might lead us to the tiger’s location. Then, all of a sudden, we heard some animal making loud sobbing noises. We proceeded a bit further and observed that a fawn had been severely injured, and its leg was bleeding. The fawn was trapped between the roots of a huge tree. It was pleading for rescue. We were all eager to locate the tiger, but the need to save the baby deer seized us. When I asked our guide how the deer would be rescued, he stated that he would notify the Forest Rangers, who would then rescue the fawn. My mother stated that the fawn must be saved quickly since it was extremely young and had lost a lot of blood.
The guide attempted to call the forest guards using his walkie-talkie, but owing to poor signal strength, no one responded. He suggested that we leave the animal and continue the safari, saying that he would notify the guards later and they would rescue the fawn. However, none of us agreed with him, so we picked the fawn carefully and went back to save it first.
We made a detour at the animal rescue facility. We took the injured deer to the veterinarian, and as she saw the fawn she recognized it and exclaimed, “Raja has been found!” in the local dialect. The tour guide spoke to the doctor and then informed us that Raja was born just the previous week and his mother died shortly after giving birth. Raja was also extremely weak when he was born, none of them believed that Raja would survive, but he did, and so he was given the name “Raja” because of his bravery. Raja had escaped the care facility the previous day. The doctor said that Raja would be alright. All the members of the facility thanked us for being Raja’s survivor.
Raja is now a healthy 4-year-old deer. He is still not allowed to go into the woods since he does not have a family to protect him. I would definitely like to visit Nagpur and meet Raja. Even though we did not get to enjoy the thrill of seeing a tiger, we did save a life. This was an adventure that I will never forget.
It is all about making the correct choices in life, ones that we won't regret later, and this was one of them.
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