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.