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Bera, a quaint town in India\u2019s desert state of Rajasthan, lies between the tourist hot spots of Udaipur and Jodhpur. Its stark landscape, set against the backdrop of the craggy Aravalli\u00a0Hills, is peppered with maize and mustard fields\u00a0as well as thatched-roof hutments. The surrounding forests teem with unique\u00a0plants and animals \u2013 a variety of cacti, towering kikar and palash trees\u00a0and other desert species. Hyenas, hares, foxes and wildcats pad around in the bush.<\/p>\n
Bera is also an ornithologist\u2019s dream. It\u2019s home to more than 200 species of bird, including pelicans, greylag geese, robin accentors, demoiselle cranes and Indian partridges. Langur monkeys and peacocks also pop up unexpectedly.\u00a0Crocodiles, some as large as 15 feet, float in the Jawai Dam, built by the former maharaja of Jodhpur, Umaid Singh.<\/p>\n
But what makes Bera truly unique is that it is perhaps the only natural environment on Earth where leopards \u2013 one of India\u2019s most feared predators \u2013 and humans have lived harmoniously for more than a century.<\/p>\n
Frequently referred to as \u201cleopard country\u201d, Bera contains the highest concentration of the animal on the planet. About 90 of the big cats live here amid the thorny desert scrub, coexisting peacefully with the native Rabaris, a shepherding community who migrated to Rajasthan from Iran\u00a0through Afghanistan a thousand years ago. The tall, lithe tribesmen can be seen herding cows and sheep, wearing white dhotis, red turbans and silver amulets, their long sticks resting on their shoulders. Most of them sport long, thick moustaches, often twirled into creative shapes.<\/p>\n
The word Rabari, which means outsider, also defines the tribe\u2019s nomadic existence as herders and migrants. Worshippers of the fiery Hindu\u00a0god Shiva (always depicted wearing leopard skin),\u00a0the community traces\u00a0its origins to the Himalayas, where, they believe, Shiva and Parvati created them. The Rabari\u00a0say Shiva and his consort Parvati, who were inhabiting Mount Kailash near Lake Manasarovar, craved human company in their solitary abode. So Parvati asked Shiva to create people, which is how the Rabaris came into existence.<\/p>\n
About 11,000 Rabaris inhabit Bera\u2019s plains, according to the last census in 2011. \u201cTraditionally, our community kept camels, but nowadays we also rear flocks of sheep and goats,\u201d says Mangta Ram, 65. \u201cWe\u2019re a close-knit community; everybody knows everybody. Our customs, mythology, history and ancestral heritage mean everything to us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The community\u2019s remarkable coexistence with leopards is down to a deep spiritual connection, the locals believe. \u201cThe Rabaris treat the beasts as their guardian angels and worship them,\u201d says Dilip Singh Deora, who runs Jawai Wild Camp, a safari company in Bera. \u201cWhen leopards kill the Rabaris\u2019 livestock, the community doesn\u2019t hold it against the predator. They believe Shiva will increase their cattle manifold and treat the killed livestock as an offering to the lord himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The predators can be spotted perched on rocky outcrops or prowling around the numerous Devi temples that have mushroomed in and around Bera\u2019s 10 or so villages. \u201cMany tourists get a shock when they see leopards moving around the village temple freely, even as the priest conducts his daily rituals unfazed,\u201d Deora says, smiling. \u201cBut this is how life has always been in Bera.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because of the thriving leopard population, local safari packages come with a guarantee: \u201cSpot a leopard or your money back.\u201d Despite the increasing number of tourists, researchers and ornithologists appearing here over the years, there have been no attacks on humans in Bera for more than a century, except for a lone snatching of a child. Even then, the leopard quickly abandoned the child and scampered back into the bush.<\/p>\n
This man-animal dynamic is unique to the town. In other regions across India, big cats\u00a0\u2013 especially leopards\u00a0\u2013 are known to attack human beings as they come under increasing\u00a0threat from a loss of habitat, poaching, rampant construction and unregulated tourism\u00a0in unprotected areas.<\/p>\n
India is home to about 14,000 leopards, and like all wildlife in the country, they are protected by law. But reports of leopards being attacked or killed while foraying into urban settlements are becoming increasingly common around cities such as Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, says Raman Tyagi, a wildlife expert. \u201cThis situation has created several man-animal conflicts. The hilly state of Uttarakhand, for instance, has a well-documented history of leopard conflicts, as noted by wildlife explorer Jim Corbett in his books.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bera, though, has been free of such strife. Its undulating granite hills, expansive fields and cool caves offer the leopards a comfortable habitat to move around in and rear their young. It helps that the government declared Jawai\u00a0Dam a leopard conservation area in 2003, to protect the landscape and the leopards\u2019 habitat,\u00a0says Dheeraj Mali, a Bera\u00a0wildlife photojournalist who has been documenting the predators\u00a0for more than six years.<\/p>\n
Mali thinks Bera\u2019s leopards have adapted themselves to the presence of humans, and changed their innate behaviour over several years to become less predatory. \u201cEven during safaris there have been no reports of conflict between the animals and tourists, despite a proliferation of tours and a surging number of visitors,\u201d Mali says.<\/p>\n
Even though the Rabaris remain anchored in their customs, many of them \u2013 especially the younger generation \u2013 are gradually eschewing its nomadic lifestyle. Some have migrated to cities for better job opportunities, while others are\u00a0employed in the local tourism and hospitality sectors.<\/p>\n
\u201cTourism is welcomed by the Rabaris because it provides an additional revenue stream apart from farming and shepherding,\u201d\u00a0says Deora. \u201cMen are employed as trackers and alert hotels to leopard sightings. Some also work as naturalists as they are well-acquainted with the region\u2019s biodiversity. They also work as guides and showcase their lifestyle to tourists. The women share their knowledge of Rabari food and culinary secrets with ladies. Some also work in hotels as housekeepers, maids and cooks, earning salaries for the first time.\u201d<\/p>\n
And in these fraught times, when climate change, deforestation and anthropogenic factors are increasingly spurring man-animal conflicts, Bera\u2019s story sends out a powerful message about tolerance and respect between fellow living beings.<\/p>\n
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