“This lush story tells the tale of a single woman on the road, looking for redemption and healing. . . expect the unexpected in her rich philosophies, inner discoveries, and self-realizations on the road.”
—O, the Oprah Magazine
“Rich and unsparing, Morris' slim memoir is a keeper.”
—Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air
“Mary Morris has long been a master memoirist, and All the Way to the Tigers is among her finest works. Brave, layered, complex, and deeply human.”
—Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestselling author of Inheritance and Hourglass
From the author of Nothing to Declare, a new travel narrative examining healing, redemption, and what it means to be a solo woman on the road. After a trip to Morocco is derailed by a serious injury and months of recuperation, the author travels to India, in search of the world’s most elusive apex predator. Her first lesson: don’t look for a tiger because you won’t find it–you look for signs of a tiger. And all unseen tigers, hiding in the bush, are referred to as “she.” Morris connects deeply with these magnificent and highly endangered animals, and her weeks on tiger safari also afford a new understanding of herself.
TIGER CONSERVATION
In the years since I began my research for ALL THE WAY TO THE TIGERS a lot has happened in terms of tiger conservation. And there is reason to be optimistic. The tiger, especially in India, has seen a strong resurgence in the wild thanks to strenuous conservation efforts that include anti-poaching campaigns, creating new buffer zones and tiger reserves, moving villages when need be (this remains a controversial practice). Through education and a focus on responsible tourism India has made tremendous progress. A recent counting has estimated that there are close to 3,000 Bengal tigers in the wild, a 33% increase since 2014 when the last tiger counting was completed. And approximately 4,000 tigers exist in the wild globally.
At the same time in India where most wild tigers roam a billion and a half people must cohabitate with an apex predator that needs huge territory and this hasn’t been that easy. The struggle continues between beast and man. While human are technically not tiger prey, incidents, often fatal, occur. And the locals retaliate. Recently angry villagers savagely killed a tiger that had attacked people and a video of this killing went viral. And a tigress who had killed many people had to be hunted and killed when relocating her failed.
Yet there is progress. Zoos and circuses such as Sea World are cutting back and/or eliminating their animal acts (and in some cases, such as that of Ringling Brothers, gone out of business) and poaching through good wildlife management is down. Also the recent focus on tigers as entertainment in the incredibly successful documentary “The Tiger King” has made people more and more aware of the need to protect these beautiful creatures.
To be clear tigers are not in danger of extinction. They are endangered in the wild. But in the United States alone there are over 12,000 tigers in private collections. And the Chinese still believe that tiger bones and tiger blood will make them potent. They breed tigers for this purpose as well as trapping them in the wild. (One positive result that might come from COVID-19 is the awareness that eating wild animal meat might not be a safe practice). But hunters continue to want trophies. There are places in the United States where for a sizeable sum you can go on “safari” and shoot tigers.
Yet I am hopeful. The numbers are encouraging, and progress is being made. I am less optimistic about tigers in other parts of Asia especially Sumatra and Malaysia where there are only approximately another thousand tigers left in the wild. For a greater understanding of tigers in general and the Amur, or Siberian tiger, in particular, I highly recommend John Valliant’s outstanding book, THE TIGER.
If you would like to do something to help tigers, here are some places where you could lend your support:
To help tigers in the wild: savethetigersnow.org
Also an excellent organization is panthera.org which has partnered with the Save the Tiger Fund.
Also if you wish to help tigers that have been rescued from zoos, circuses, and private collections, you can send donations to the Exotic Feline Rescue Center efrc.org (Not to be confused with Joe Exotic!).
