Eyes piercing through the trees – yellow as the sun

Catch a glimpse of black and orange – colors of a pelt

See the footprints jungle-bound – follow them, my boy

Man-eaters, hunters say

Can be quite a prize

We’ve got families to feed

Don’t care for their demise

Beneath the ethereal moon – ghosts of ageless times

Soaking up the radiant sun – regal kings of lore

Watch them play a vanishing act – cloaked in misty storms

They’re sacred, pujaris say

Survival is essential

For our health as well as theirs

Since we are all connected

Roaming through the darkened bush – triggering a flash

Cubs toddle close behind – frozen now in time

Start by being counted – become figures for the mind

Back from the brink, scientists say

Numbers have been growing

Used to be so few

But now 3,900

For the past 100 years

There’ve never been so many

Desires to keep them multiplying

Will keep their spirits living