Alankar(Decor)-242 Poem by Indira Renganathan

Uthra The Wild Tigress(Found Poem)

A Found Poem is the gathering and assembling of grouped words "found" in the environment
and incorporating the "found" phrases and words into a larger poetic piece.
It is a "snatch of poetry". Printed images or phrases assembled in a literary collage.
The lineal arrangement rearranges the phrases to create an entirely different piece.
It presents things found in the poet's surroundings such as a news article, a poem, letters,
dialogue or anything. The poetry is much larger than the "found lines"
that intersperse the poet's words.It was recognized in the 20th century

Uthra The Wild Tigress

She whom Durga rides
She whom Sastha rides
She who birthed children..

Four of them all gone
Found dead next morning
Ere even first fed

"Injuries on the
Thoracic area..,
A spokesperson said
While their mother
Tried to move them
By holding them
In her mouth"

"More like an accident..
Said an official,
Uthra was a new mother"
And so wild

"Veterinarians said,
Could happen
When in captivity
A wild tiger gives birth"

Vijay the father
wrote an epitaph
"Uthra whom Durga rides not
Uthra whom Sastha rides not
Uthra, fit not be a mom?
Uthra, Uthra, why..? , why...? "

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Note: -The following is a news article from the daily english news paper The Hindu
used for the found poem above



4 tiger cubs die in Vandalur zoo

Injuries found in thoracic area; mother may have inadvertently caused deaths



When Uthra, a tigress, gave birth to four cubs, a sense of joy and happiness pervaded the
Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Vandalur on Sunday. It was to be short-lived as the next morning,
all the four tiger cubs were found dead inside the separate enclosure
in which they were with their mother.

The cubs had injuries on the thoracic area.


A zoo spokesperson said the tiger cubs might have suffered injuries
while their mother tried to move them to a secluded place in the enclosure by holding them in her mouth.
The cubs might have died after suffering excessive bleeding.

"In this case, it looks more like an accident, " said an official.
"Uthra was a new mother and the wild behaviour could have led to the deaths, " the official adds.

The post-mortem reports stated that the cubs had not taken feed and that the deaths could have been
due to the puncture in the thoracic area, sources said.

Forest veterinarians said this could happen when a wild tiger gives birth in captivity.

While those born in captivity are used to the enclosures, for the wild tigers it is difficult.

Also, in the forests, there would be lots of space to move around whereas in the enclosure
space is limited and the tigress could have lifted one cub after another after they showed no movement.
Even in the wild, there is mortality, they say.

"Separation is also very difficult on the day of birth. After one or two days of feeding,
then it's possible to separate the cubs from the mother. Normally, we leave them with their mother, "
says a senior wildlife official. "Officials were watching it on CCTV but could not go anywhere near
as the tigress would have been ferocious. Next time, the mother will learn to raise the cubs, " he added.

Found abandoned

Uthra was brought to the zoo from the Sathyamangalam forests when she was a cub, abandoned by her mother.
Vijay, another rescued tiger from the wild, was the father of the four cubs.

After the tigress was rescued from the Satyhyamangalam forests, it took several months to adapt
to the captivity hideout, the zoo spokesperson said.

"It is the first ever incident of all the cubs born to a tigress in this zoo dying.
As tigresses won't let anyone go near them, we couldn't do anything to save the cubs.
Adequate measures would be taken in future to save the cubs when a tigress gives birth next time, "
he added.

The tiger cubs were kept separately in an enclosure away from the other tiger population in the zoo.

After the incident, the tiger population in the zoo is 26, officials said.