#CallForWriting2022
Position : 8th
This story is to remember Arjun and his mistake with a child. Bangladesh National Zoo in Mirpur was a good place for people to have picnics, hangouts and have a great time. It was a beautiful, family friendly place, teeming with variety of species that spectators enjoyed.
When I was little girl, I with my family, being fond of open places and refreshments, made a trip to the zoo. I don’t remember the exact date, the year was 1995. It was a fine day of autumn, with rusty leaves everywhere on the ground. We sat down for the picnic under a tree a few yards from a tiger enclosure. We had just finished having our food when the most horrific and nightmarish thing happened. Before our eyes this huge Bengal tiger dragged a little child by his leg inside the cage. Within seconds the little street kid collecting leaves met his death. Only the child’s head fell outside the tiger’s cage as the animal ripped the child’s head from the body and then dragged the body further inside the cage. There were no nets surrounding, this little child, clueless as he walked too close to the apex predator’s cage to be clawed in. The child’s head fell on the ground. All the people were speechless followed by huge panic. Curators tried to reach the tiger to recover the body.
The tiger, named Arjun, sat in the cage with the corpse. Surprisingly, Arjun never eat the body. Everyone wondered why Arjun never eat the body. Turns out, that tiger was no man eater. From that day onwards both the tiger and its enclosure became famous. Almost every newspaper had the headlines saying “Arjun the tiger, cage 309 killed a child”.
As a child watching another child get devoured by a massive beast was a traumatic experience, both horrifying and wondrous. A year later we went to visit the zoo and found Arjun sitting comfortably in its cage, unbothered by people. What changed was the enclosure was cover with nets. This was not only for the tiger cage, but for every animal enclosures.
Writer :
Anika Ishmam Hossain,
Kinetic Gym,Dhaka.
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