Land of the Tiger
| Land of the Tiger | |
|---|---|
Series title card
|
|
| Genre | Nature documentary |
| Written by | Adrienne Nordby |
| Presented by | Valmik Thapar |
| Composer(s) | Nicholas Hooper |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mike Birkhead |
| Producer(s) | Colton Scott Hardy |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
BBC Natural History Unit WNET/13 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC Two |
| Picture format | 576i (4:3) |
| Audio format | Stereophonic |
| Original release | 17 November – 26 December 1997 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Spirits of the Jaguar |
| Followed by | Andes to Amazon |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Land of the Tiger is a BBC nature documentary series exploring the natural history of the Indian subcontinent, first transmitted in the UK on BBC Two in 1997. The production team covered the breadth and depth of India, from the Himalayan mountains in the north to the reef-fringed islands of the Indian Ocean, to capture footage of the country's wild places and charismatic wildlife.
Land of the Tiger was co-produced by the BBC Natural History Unit and the WNET/13 network. It was produced by Mike Birkhead and presented by leading Indian naturalist Valmik Thapar. The series is characterised by scenes of Thapar riding on an elephant in locations across the country.
The series forms part of the Natural History Unit's Continents strand. It was preceded by Spirits of the Jaguar in 1996 and followed three years later by Andes to Amazon.
The series begins in the Gir Forest in the western state of Gujarat. This is the last refuge of the Asiatic lion, which unlike its African cousin can be approached on foot, as demonstrated by presenter Valmik Thapar. After a preview of scenes from the forthcoming programmes, the rest of this episode concentrates on the wildlife of India's central forests and grasslands, the stronghold of the Bengal tiger. Much of the footage is from the Kanha National Park, a protected reserve. Here, the characters of Kipling's Jungle Book can still be observed, among them the sloth bear, wolf, dhole, and tiger. Many of the animals are sacred or revered by Hindus, including elephants, monkeys, peacocks and snakes. A female tiger with young cubs is filmed. To provide for her cubs, she must hunt. Spotted deer (or chital) are her favourite prey, but although distracted by the rut, her first hunt is unsuccessful. In the afternoon, chitals and langur monkeys move into open meadows, and here the female tiger succeeds in killing a langur. Other unusual behaviour filmed includes a golden jackal family defending their pups from a sloth bear and a peacock attacking a snake. Cobras are shown being farmed by local villagers. The young are dug out of their underground nest and are handled by children despite the risk of a venomous bite (Thapar reveals that there are 20,000 deaths from cobra bites in India each year). The programme closes with a warning message. Wildlife of the central forests face an uncertain future due to disappearing habitat and poaching. Traditional beliefs instilled a feeling of respect for wild animals, but this is now being eroded
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