Let the Wild be

Me and Deepak were witness to this unfortunate incident at Pang, on our bicycle trip from Manali-Leh this July.

The settlement at Pang. Foreigners are required to produce their passports and truck drivers their permits at the Police Check Post.

Our camping site at Pang. Our small blue tent lies left of the cluster, with the bicycles lying to its side.

After setting out from Sarchu early in the morning of 6th, we reached Pang by afternoon. Pang (4630m) is a small settlement in Kashmir, consisting entirely of huge white tents, which serve the dual purpose of food and accommodation - mainly to the travelers en-route to Leh. The Army transit camp at Pang is the highest in the world. There is nothing much at Pang besides this. After a light lunch, we pitched our tent. Deepak and me took turns to explore the area. We had a dinner of Maggi and boiled eggs, and took to bed before the chill got to us.

We woke up early the next day (07/07/2007), for we had lots of cycling ahead. There would be ZERO habitation for the next 95km, hence that was the minimum distance we had to cover in a single day to ensure that we don't freeze to death midway. While having our morning tea inside the Lhari Karpo Restaurant (one of the 20-odd restaurants at Pang), the lady operating the tent called us out. We rushed outside to find a small crowd, their gazes fixed to the hill overlooking the valley (left to where we had pitched our tents for the previous day). We craned our necks in the same direction, and were the sight of deer/goat - a couple - grazing up that hill got us enthused as well. I can only guess that it was a Bharal, only that it seemed taller. It's fur alternated between brown, black and white. Neither of them had any imposing set of horns, so maybe they were both females, or fawns. They moved slowly, keeping themselves close to the peak. It was obvious that they wished to avoid getting close to the road below. Oblivious to us audience at some distance, they continued grazing and soaking up the morning sun.

This picture dissects the scene of crime

And then a loud shot rang out to shatter the moment. Some dust kicked up near one of the Bharal. A gunshot fired, the hunter missing by a close margin. We could only look around in disbelief. "Please don't put a cruel end to this", was what was going on inside our heads. Recovering from the shock, the Bharal started to pick up some pace on the dry, loose earth. And then a second shot. It hit one of the Bharal. It fell awkwardly, and crashed down the steep hill face. It went out of our sight in little time - a small hillock shielding the last moments of its fall from our eyes. The other one dashed across recklessly, one hill to the other. It stopped for a brief moment to look back for its partner, then bounded off to the other side of the hill - far away from us humans. A small temple stood atop that hill. Even God was a witness to this tragedy of sorts.

The fall of the hunted. One can make out the patches of blood that mark the fall.

This was the closest I could get. The colouring and patterns on its coat matches to the description of a Bharal.

A shiver ran through me. The incident was hard to comprehend. There were many gasps among the little crowd at Pang. All of us were equally shocked. Finishing my tea, I headed for our tent to bring out the camera. There was a need to document this incident, for it would be a sin if it was never brought to light. Deepak and me paced up the small hillock adjoining our settlement. It would provide a vantage point, owing to its flat top. Deepak had suspicion that the policemen at Pang had a hand in this, and that the shot had been fired from the very same hillock that we were climbing on. I was adamant that the shot had come from the river valley located on the opposite side of the hillock.

Standing on the edge of the hillock, I could see the blood trail left behind as the poor creature had crashed down. I could now make out where its body had ended up - about 20m above the road, barely a metre away from a straight drop to the road below. Looking around, I saw a man walking out from the valley on the opposite side. He didn't seem of much interest. I kept clicking around with my camera.

The valley on the opposite side. Can you make out a small dark figure walking along the narrow, white path?

A closer look reveals a lot more.

After finishing with taking photographs, I walked back towards our tent, Deepak joining me midway. In the meantime, he had a little chat with the policemen. Turns out that they openly admitted to killing the poor creature. I was in no mood to let this fall cold. But Deepak pointed out that the person whom he had spoken with - seemingly the headman - was no longer around. It would've been pointless arguing with the others. Dejected, we came back to our tent. We had a long day ahead, and we soon got busy with that.

Reaching back Delhi, I transferred the images to my PC and had a look at them on a screen much larger than the measely 2.5" that my camera has. The images of the incident brought back the tragic memories. In one of the images, one could clearly see the body of the dead Bharal - drenched in blood, its eyes gazing straight into the camera, the mouth half open as if begging for mercy. But there was something even more surprising in that set of images - evidence. On the computer screen, one could clearly make out something under the arms of the man who was walking out all alone from the valley on the opposite side. A closer inspection tells that it is something wrapped in cloth. Look closer, and you can make out the muzzle of a rifle sticking out of the wrap. The clothes of the man are same as that of the police force. Its easy for you to piece together all the facts now. The ones who were meant to protect doing the opposite.

I might not be able to finish this off with something inspiring or philosophical, but all that I can wish for is that this incident - and anything of the sort - does not go unnoticed. The wild should rightfully thrive. I'm sure these animals feature among the protected species, and that there are strict laws against their killing - something that the policemen at Pang would have been well aware of, and maybe even instructed to keep a check on such things.
I was lazy, which is why this is surfacing a bit late.

Further Links
The Manali-Leh Trip
http://saos.org/egotrips/trips.php?trip=6

My Photo Gallery
http://saos.org/egotrips/trips.php?trip=6&gallery=1

Mention of this over at the Photo Gallery
http://saos.org/egotrips/trips.php?trip=6&gallery=1&img=58

Wild goat and sheep found in the Himalayan region
http://www.wildlifeofpakistan.com/ungulates_gs.html

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