The Sundarbans National Park is a national park, tiger reserve and biosphere reserve in West Bengal, India.

Occasionally, tigers venture out of the reserve and attack the nearby villages, harming livestock and the villagers, resulting in an uneasy truce.

This post documents one of their exchanges.

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First, a letter from the leader of the group of tigers addressed to the villagers.

I evolved to be the apex of my domain
My territory, large and expansive, I patrol
Denizens living in my territory live at my mercy
Who lives and dies is in my control

Now you are encroaching upon it
Leaving me with little choice
If you trespass someone’s property
He will certainly not rejoice

Nature strikes a balance, an equilibrium
Live and let live is the key to evolution
An apex predator like me has to restrain
from thinning my prey’s population

You have upended the delicate balance
Unchecked population growth is pushing
you further into other species’ realm
Stopping them from flourishing

This leads to our unwanted encounters
I need to eat and if I can get an easy meal
Why would I not? so would you
May not be for you, for me it is a good deal

We both have to respect our boundaries
If you don’t control your population
Keep intruding on my terrain, my species
is unquestionably heading towards extinction

A world without diversity of species
will not be kind to you, hate to say
You will be the ultimate loser
That surely will be a sad day

Let’s find a way to “live and let live”
You give some and, some I give
You must stop being invasive
I promise to get less aggressive.

Ciao.

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Villagers’ response to the letter from the leader of the group of tiger.

Dear Mr. Tiger,

Thank you for your kind letter.
We understand your point of view.
We want to give you your space
We are hoping the same from you.

We don’t want to get into conflicts
Just like you, our goal is to survive!
With the right protocols from
either side, we both can thrive

We sympathize with attrition in your ranks
Humans are responsible for this loss
Rich and powerful hunted your brethren
for mere trophies, and we bear the cross

We are people of limited means
We have to make do with what comes
What we can gather from the forest
We survive not on plenty, but crumbs

You have to hunt to satisfy your hunger.
We have to cook for us to sustain
We don’t really want to bother you
When we enter into your domain

We just want to gather and be out
You should allow us this courtesy
We know one-on-one we cannot win
We respect you, it’s the truth, not heresy

We want city folks to visit the forest
Marvel at your grace and prowess
Such tourist activities support a
good cause and are a good business

Let’s work together, help each other
We help you thrive and prosper
You help us do the same & we announce our
renewed partnership with a bang not a whimper!

May God bless both of us.

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Villagers and Tigers in chorus

We sink or swim together
Live and let live is the new mantra
We are stronger and wiser together
A symphony even w/o an orchestra.