ABSTRACT
South Asia has been a major arena for conflicts between people and predators but, unlike the examples of England and North America, their history has hardly been told (Worster 1977; Thomas 1983). The focus has mainly been on the changing attitudes and practices of the imperial rulers (MacKenzie 1988; Rangarajan 1996: 138–198). This is inevitable given the extent of literature available on shikar, or hunting. Useful as this may be in understanding the culture of empire, it refers to only a small part of the picture. But the issue of the decline of wildlife raises broader questions about the nature and impact of colonial rule.
