The Moral Vision
A Lesson from a Tiger
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A LESSON FROM A TIGER
Jim Corbett, after whom a famous national park in
India has been named, was an expert on the nature
of tigers. He once wrote: “No tiger attacks a human
being unless provoked.” People who live in jungle
areas where tigers roam will confirm the truth of
Jim Corbett’s words. There is usually no cause for
concern when one comes face to face with a tiger.
Unless it is provoked or harbours deep-rooted
suspicion of human beings the beast will ignore one
and continue on its way.
And how does this suspicion form in some tigers?
Tigers are by nature not ill-disposed towards
human beings. Only very few of them can be called
man-eaters, and even they were not born as such.
They became man-eaters, not through any fault of
their own, but through the folly of human beings.
Usually it is inexperienced hunters who do the
damage. They shoot at a beast, wounding but not
killing it. A tiger injured in this manner becomes
man’s enemy. Wherever it sees a human being, it
attacks and kills. The same is true of most beasts of
