Tigre's Jungle Bootcamp

4/24/2014

How was I ever afraid of her

My job for the month at Comunidad Inti Wara Yassi (CIWY) was to walk with Tigre (with her because she leads) in the jungle every day. Before starting my first day I was told that Tigre doesn't take trails, is very energetic, hunts and typically gets her handlers lost in the jungle overnight at least once during their stay. I was also warned how violent she can be. On the day that we arrived, the girl who was currently training to walk with Tigre was attacked pretty badly (stitches on her arms and possibly other places, I didn't really want to know more). Alarm bells started ringing in my head but something inside me told me this is something I had to do. Walking alone in the jungle with a wild cat has been a fantasy of mine for about for as long as I can remember, and only now have I realized that it is something I will really be able to do!

I wish someone had told me how gentle and patient Tigre can be, because this is the Tigre I soon got to know and love. From the moment we arrived at CIWY all I heard were horror stories about how violent she is and how other volunteers had gotten lost in the jungle overnight because of her. Still, it wasn't until I began to work with her that my subconscious fears began to surface to the point that I nearly gave up. I had imagined a much more relaxed experience. Naive, I now know.

Showing off her catch of the day

On my first day alone with Tigre she jumped me four times. While it did scare the shit out of me, I managed the rope well and she didn't get any claws or teeth into my flesh, just my rain pants which I sewed up later. I also reflected back to my experiences with Vladmir (for those of you who don't know, Vlad is my mostly-toothless cat, now living in the Yukon with my mom, thanks mom!!). I recalled how he used to bite me to tell me he had a tooth ache - he had chronic gingivitis and eventually had to have all of his teeth removed. While it is an unfortunate way to communicate, it is the way cats work. I realized that Tigre didn't like the way I was holding her rope - too tight - so I loosened my grip and after that she never jumped me again (until my last day when she was upset because she knew that I was leaving).

always sticking her tongue out at me, weirdo

After a challenging week and a half of jungle-climbing boot camp with Tigre (and fighting a nasty stomach parasite) things became indescribably amazing. Tigre and I became comfortable with each other, my fear of her and the jungle all but dissipated and we started to genuinely have fun together! We both had a sense of humour about weird things and it felt like we were communicating perhaps even more than I normally feel I do with people. She taught me how to step quietly while she was hunting and rewarded me with many many boot cuddles. When I was feeling sick at the beginning of our time she listened to me and when I needed a break from "jungle climbing" she let me have it. Later in the month Tigre became sick and I was there to help her through as well. She even let me scratch her head a little while we were walking, something that I was told is impossible to do with her.

Chill time

I am beyond thankful for this experience and only wish that I could have done more to help Tigre. I even mentioned to Andrew that land is cheap in Bolivia..... But he reminds me that we have friends and family at home that would miss us too much, and of course, we -them. I just felt so bad to spend all this time getting to know each other and developing this bond only to leave after a month. It must be so stressful for Tigre. But that is her reality, ever since poachers captured her and her mother when she was just a kitten. This life is certainly better than no life, but it really gets me thinking about her situation. She has to take medication for her whole life because of the stress and anxiety that comes with being in captivity.

On the flip side of things, what CIWY does is also allow people to have these bonds with wild animals, something that (as far as I know) is impossible to do anywhere else in the world unless you have dedicated your life to animal handling and have years of training first. I think it opens peoples' eyes to the reality that we live in, where the issues of deforestation and animals being treated as a commodity are very real, and I hope that when people leave CIWY they have a new perspective to take into account for the rest of their lives.

Thank you Tigre, I love you to bits and cannot wait until we meet again! No, I'm not buying land there but I can still visit, damnit!

Love,
Chelsea

PS - I have posted up a fully detailed daily journal about my time with Tigre, in case you are interested in reading further. We shared many crazy experiences together including almost getting struck by lightning, almost getting quilled by a porcupine, falling down landslides, getting lost in the jungle late into the night, stepping on a bee hive, and also lots of amazing times cuddling, chatting, hunting, exploring and lazing around in our hammocks.