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Paper short abstract

This paper proposes that alongside conserving species, conservation should go beyond species by foregrounding people’s co-constituted relationships to an environment. In the Sundarbans, both the tiger and the tiger demon animate everyday life and the forest ethos. What might conserving both entail?

Paper long abstract

The Sundarbans mangrove forests that range across the borders of India and Bangladesh are home to 5 million human inhabitants, a diversity of wildlife, including large numbers of tigers and tiger- demons. In this landscape of fear, several animated, nonhuman agents of the forest—such as the forest deity Bonbibi and the tiger-demon Dokkhin Rai, guide both resource use and social relationships through their punitive and protective powers, espoused by what are a set of ‘rules’ (niyams) to be followed by those who enter the forests. These ‘rules of the jungle’ emerge from the mythological memory of the forest and in turn engender a particular ethos in it. For instance, it is believed that the tiger-demon attacks fishing boats that take from the jungle more than they need. Dokkhin Rai’s presence encourages a form of self-limitation and Bonbibi eschews greed in the forest. Mythology, literature and storytelling are perhaps one of the most creative means through which communities living in a dangerous landscape attempt to understand, dwell with and alongside several other entities and beings. While national and international conservationists spend huge resources to conserve the tiger species, the Sundarbans tiger-demon, who plays an equally active role in everyday ethical life, might slowly become a ‘cultural gimmick’ showcased in museums. This paper proposes that alongside species conservation, conservation should go beyond species by foregrounding people’s relationships to an environment and how residents co-constitute themselves vis-à-vis animated landscapes and its nonhuman beings.