They have been two top Shikaris turned environmentalists. While Corbett operated in the Jungles of Uttrakhand, Anderson’s domain was the jungle sorrounding Bangalore(He stayed and worked in Bangalore), Andhra Pradesh and erstwhile Madras state. Cornett worked in Uttarakhand and Mokama(near Patna) for 20 years as Railway Goods Supervisor.
Both loved India and have written at lenght about India and its people. Both were Indian. Yes, they were more Indian than any of us.
Corbett obviously is more celebrated than his South Indian counterpart because of various reasons. One of them is because of the popularity(read notorierity) of the game he counted and also because of one particular game(The Man Eater of Rudraprayag), his fame reached far fetched corners of India because this particular Leopard was operating in an pilgrimage and hence when the pilgrims returned to their native state, the Leopard’s tale also reached there with them.
However, I am a bigger fan of Corbett. I have found a loopholes too many in Anderson’s approach. Also Corbett was more daring and more sympathetic and calculated in his approcah towards any carnivora.
Corbett liked to operate alone. before venturing into the Jungle after a Carnivora, his first condition was to remove all the soprtsmen from the area. The reason was he thought a stray bullet from one of the over enthusiastic soprtsmen will count for him rather than the Man-eater he was after. No such rules for Anderson.
Corbett was more daring. Anderson never ventured to the Jungle following the victim’s blood-trail. He had a simple approach. Tie the baits, let the Animal take the bait. Sit on a Machan over tha bait and kill the animal if he comes near. He hardly sat over a human kill. Two exceptions of this rule I know is the one in which he Sat over the dead body of a village girl and the other to count for the Man-Eater of Manchi, he sat over the dead body of a 14 year old boy. Corbett always followed the animal.
The reason of this could be Anderson stayed in Bangalore and by the time he got the news, there was nothing left of the victim to sit over. Corbett stayed in the Jungle. He more often than nought was there to sit for the kill in time. But I have seen Corbett following a man eater and shooting him which Anderson never did.
Corbett counted for Carnivora who were far more cunning and dangerous than the ones Anderson counted. Champawat Man-eater counted for 450 lives. The Rudraprayag Leopard 128 and so. But then it wasn’t Anderson’s fault if he bagged them early.
Corbett was a better shot. A far better shot. He carried 2-3 bullets because he knew he would bag the sport in those 2 shots. Anderson fired many and many a times without success. Here Corbett score heavily against Anderson.
There are a couple of instances which have left me aghast against Anderson.
1. While after Man-Eater of Manchi, he fired 3 rounds in the dark sitting inside his tent when the Man-Eater’s paws groped his bed. He could have waited for Tiger’s head to emerge from from inside the tend and could have had a easy shot. Instead, out of fear or what, he tool 3 shots in dark and succeeded in saving his life but then the Tiger counted for another boy. He has written about his stupidity.
2. He tried to follow the same tiger with a 14 year old boy and a middle-aged man. And to top this ghastly mistake of pitching a 14 year unarmed lad against a Man-Eater, he let him separate from him about a 100 yards and when Tiger struck, he was not there to save this little Boy. Anderson was to blame.
3. While sitting over the dead body of a new Mother which the Tiger had taken, he had 3 shouts on the tiger froma distance of 10 yards, but the tiger escaped, though badlu hurt, but he escaped to die of old age.
Corbett could attract a carnivora by imitating the sound of its mate and when it came nearer, he counted for it. Something I haven’t heard Anderson doing it.
Having been a little critical on Anderson, I would say that how many of us have the guts to sit near a tree with a dead body in front and a Man-Eating tiger near by. Anderson had that guts and that guts and his knowledge of the jungle makes him only endearing to me. Corbett has been my ultimate Hero and Anderson is not far behind.
God save Indian Jungles. Parties, Good roads, electricity are important but the Jungles and the fauna are a must. Nothing beats the high of sitting alone in a jungle and listening to it and if you are really lucky, you can hear a tiger calling in the distance – Aaungh..Aaungh…Oorgh. Future generations won’t be that lucky. I bet.
