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Cumballa Hill and Gowalia Tank in 1880 Bombay{{On February 9, 1822, a wild tiger wandered down from Malabar Hill to Gowalia Tank before safely retreating}}

 

A tiger on Malabar Hill

A tiger on Malabar Hill

Mumbai Multiplex | Living Jewels of Indian Jungle
Updated4 Sep 2009, 09:53 PM IST

AI Overview

On February 9, 1822, a wild tiger wandered down from Malabar Hill into the crowded streets of Mumbai to quench its thirst at the Gowalia Tank before safely retreating. This piece of local history highlights how dramatically the bustling, urbanized neighborhood has transformed over the centuries. [1, 2, 3, 4]
The Transformation of the Area
Today, Gowalia Tank (now officially known as the August Kranti Maidan) and the elevated Cumballa Hill are premium, heavily developed residential neighborhoods. [1, 2]
  • Gowalia Tank: Historically a watering hole for both local wildlife and the cattle of cowherds, the tank itself was eventually covered up. The site is famously known as the launchpad of the 1942 Quit India Movement. [1, 2, 3]
  • Cumballa Hill: Once a wooded, isolated hillock, it is now a dense, affluent part of South Mumbai that boasts upscale residences and foreign consulates. [1]
It's fascinating how much the wildlife landscape of Mumbai has changed! If you're interested in the history or current nature of the city, let me know



Malabar Hill, the remote settlement away from Mumbai city, and its tigers


A tiger on Malabar Hill

A tiger on Malabar Hill

Mumbai Multiplex | Living Jewels of Indian Jungle
Updated4 Sep 2009, 09:53 PM IST
<br /> Flora and fauna: (left to right) A painting shows a tiger entering a village; a painting of a Pink-headed Duck, a bird that was common in Mumbai in the 1920s; and a painting by J.P. Irani. Photograph<br />
Flora and fauna: (left to right) A painting shows a tiger entering a village; a painting of a Pink-headed Duck, a bird that was common in Mumbai in the 1920s; and a painting by J.P. Irani. Photograph

A large tiger was shot in the vicinity of the Vehar Lake, Salsette on Tuesday, January 22, 1929. The animal was killed by Mr. J.J. Sutari, to whom I am indebted for the following particulars. Mr. Sutari and a party of friends were out after the usual type of game the Salsette jungles provide, which is mainly wild boar. They took up their positions in the vicinity of the south end of the lake shortly after sunset and waited for something to turn up. Towards 10 p.m. Mr. Sutari’s attention was aroused by the sounds of some animal approaching. One can well imagine his astonishment when a tiger walked out of the shadows into the moonlight. The tiger came steadily on, when at a distance of 12 yards, Sutari fired his 12-bore loaded with ball and dropped the animal in his tracks. The tiger in question, a straggler from the main land, probably crossed over by swimming the Thana Creek. An animal doing so would find immediate shelter in the jungles which cover the hilly portions of Salsette.

Flora and fauna: (left to right) A painting shows a tiger entering a village; a painting of a Pink-headed Duck, a bird that was common in Mumbai in the 1920s; and a painting by J.P. Irani. Photographs courtesy Bombay Natural History Society

Tigers appear to have been fairly plentiful in Salsette at the end of the eighteenth century. Hector MacNeil (Archaelogia, vol. vii, 1873) tells us that in 1761 “the Governor and most of the gentlemen of Bombay used to go annually on a pleasure party to Salsette to hunt Wild Boar and Royal Tiger both of which were found there in great plenty.” Records of the occurrence of tiger in these islands during the nineteenth century are few and far between. In 1806, two tigers were seen near General Macpherson’s bungalow at Kurla, while a few days previously two persons were carried off from a village a little further north, it is presumed by the same animals. On February 9, 1822, a tiger on Malabar Hill came down and quenched its thirst at Gowalia Tank and ran off up the hill between the Hermitage and Prospect Lodge. The imprint of its feet were clearly visible the next morning (Bombay Courrier, February 10, 1822). The Bombay Courrier of December 1829 records the sudden appearance of a tiger at Mazagon, the animal apparently swam across the harbour and landed near the ruined Mazagon fort. It was driven into the compound of Mr. Henshaw’s bungalow where it was eventually shot by the guard of the Dockyard and several Arabs. It measured 8’ 8”. On March 2, 1858, the crew of the steamer Aden killed a large tiger which was swimming across to Mazagon from the opposite shore. The animal attempted to board a small boat and was kept off with hand pikes by the lascars. It was eventually dispatched with “six balls through its head”. (Bombay Times, March 6, 1858). In May of the same year a tiger was killed in Mahim woods by a young Portuguese, while on January 26, 1863, another tiger was killed at Mahim after mauling a Parsi cart-owner and committing other damage. (Bombay Times, January 27, 1863). James Douglas (Bombay and Western India) writing about tigers in Salsette gives an amusing narrative of a “traveller (was it Silk Buckingham?) in Salsette who was suddenly surprised by his palkee being dropped and the coolies bolting. The palkee was closed, and he soon felt outside the Jhilmils something of a fee-faw-fum character. Stripes was wide awake and the coolies, up a tree, were wide awake also. He didn’t sleep much that night I tell you.” In 1907, a tiger was shot at Pir Pau, Trombay, near Sandow Castle by Mr. Mullan of the Bombay Port Trust. This with the one cited above are the most recent records.

Living Jewels of Indian Jungle, published by BNHS, 204 pages, Rs1,600. The pre-publication price of the book, to be ordered from BNHS directly by 12 September, is Rs1,000. For details, call 022-22821811.

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How Mumbai lost its animal instinct


The Times of India
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com › ... › mumbai News
1 Apr 2010 — In 1822, a tiger trotted down Malabar Hill, headed to Gowalia Tank to quench its thirst, and ran off. February 15, 1859, all hell broke loose


MUMBAI: In the winter of 1913, residents witnessed a jackal being chased by a pack of stray dogs from Charni Road Station to Marine Drive. In 1822, a tiger trotted down Malabar Hill, headed to Gowalia Tank to quench its thirst, and ran off up the hill again, its pug marks clearly visible the next morning. And on February 15, 1859, all hell broke loose when a panther was spotted prowling the lanes of Kalbadevi.
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It was hunted down and shot to death by the then Commissioner of Police as it fled towards the shores of Back Bay.
While old-timers who've grown up on such city lore smile wistfully and doff their hats to a Bombay that no longer is, it's hard to imagine the plush residential areas of Marine Drive and Malabar Hill sharing space with the likes of now endangered animals like tigers, Indian wild boar, jackals and striped hyenas. Mumbai has paid a high price for the tag of financial capital of India, say historians and experts who have documented the demise of wildlife in the city. The last tiger is believed to have been shot in the vicinity of Vihar Lake on January 22, 1929, by a J J Sutari.
Ashok Kothari, naturalist and secretary of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), said: "There was a time when tigers would roam the areas of Malabar Hill, Mahim, Byculla, Kurla, Mazgaon and Trombay, till as late the 1920s. They would seek shelter in the forests of suburban Mumbai and Thane city."
The book 'Living Jewels From The Indian Jungles' (edited by B F Chhapgar and Ashok S Kothari), recounts a time when tigers were plentiful in Salsette Island—now Mumbai Suburban District and Thane—at the end of the 18th Century. During the Raj, governors were known to embark on annual excursions to Salsette to hunt tigers and boar. There is another vignette of a man-eating tiger whose reign of terror in Toongar now Tungareshwar came to an end when it was shot down in 1881. "Today tigers are restricted to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park," said Dr Kothari.
But it's not just the tiger that has been driven to extinction in Mumbai. Jackals and hyenas, too, have been systematically hunted down over the last century.
The call of the jackal was as common as the cawing of the crow. Few students of St Xavier's College in Dhobi Talao are aware that in two separate instances, jackals were found on their campus—one in November 1918, and another in 1932.
Anand Pendharkar, wildlife biologist and director of NGO SPROUTS, said: "There are a few rare jackal sightings mainly in mangrove areas near Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri, Malad, Charkop and Gorai. And the shy civet cat and mongoose occasionally make an appearance in areas like Vikhroli and Goregaon East, but their numbers have dropped drastically."
Striped hyenas managed to survive the urban onslaught till as late as the 1990s. "We believe that the last two hyenas of Mumbai were shot dead near Film City in Goregaon in the '90s," said Sunjoy Monga, author and naturalist.
The leopard has managed to survive Mumbai's economic boom. The much-maligned cat scratches out a living, its habitat restricted to the green patches at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and Aarey Milk Colony.
author
About the Author
Simit Bhagat

Simit Bhagat is a Senior Correspondent at The Times of India, Mumbai. She covers news on environmental issues and her work portfolio includes nature, wildlife and civic problems. She’s passionate about documentary film-making and nature photography.











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