Bengal tigers set their seal on a new exhibition in New York

Veteran wildlife filmmaker and author Carol Amore zeroed in on a Royal Bengal tigress and her playful cubs Badi and Choti at India’s Bandhavgarh National Park to create the award-winning film Tigers — Tracking a Legend, which is the centrepiece of a stunning exhibition on tigers opening on Saturday at the South Street Seaport in New York.

The exhibition transforms the atrium of the South Street Seaport’s Pier 17, overlooking the East River, into a simulated Indian jungle. Amore is working with mayor Michael Bloomberg to encourage schools in New York to attend the exhibition as part of biology, ecology and life science studies.

“I want everyone to feel what I felt when I was in India on the back of an elephant tracking Bacchi and her cubs. The experience we’ve created at South Street Seaport takes you into that world of sights, smells, sounds and images of one of the most beautiful and threatened animals on the planet,” said Amore, who had travelled by Tundra Buggy in 30 degrees below freezing temperatures to film elusive polar bears.

This time round, instead of the Arctic cold, Amore had to contend with the dusty heat of Bandhavgarh during the dry season while filming from the back of an elephant.

She also toggled tripods 10 feet above the ground. It takes more than poisonous snakes at camp or trying weather to wear down the spirited filmmaker, who has created outstanding wildlife stories from America’s wilderness, the Arctic Circle, African plains and the Indian jungles.

“You leave India with lasting memories and the knowledge that each of us can do something to save these magnificent cats,” said Amore.

Tickets for the tiger exhibition are priced $12 to $17 and proceeds from ticket sales will go towards supporting conservation of wild tigers. The timely exhibition in New York comes when there are barely 3,500 tigers remaining in the wild. The Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Manas and Corbett national parks are the top Indian sanctuaries for tigers.

The official Indian tiger count is 1,400, but many wildlife experts say it is “highly optimistic” and estimate there are 800. India still holds the best chance for saving the tiger in the wild.

“Tigers are extremely endangered and we would be tragically diminished should they disappear. Their legend lives on in this landmark exhibition,” said Hollywood actress and producer Glenn Close.

The exhibition sheds light on tigers which are quite secretive. It has interactive displays which include a high-definition simulation of a tiger’s hunt; ‘Talk Like a Tiger’, an exercise in imitating tiger sounds with spectrogram graphs shows you whether you are good at imitating a tiger’s growl; scans of tiger anatomy; and a digital climbing wall for young jungle explorers.

“Educators will find this is a wonderful place to learn and care by encouraging students to use their five senses. They can experience what it was like for Carol Amore to be in an Indian jungle. This is an experience more than an exhibition,” media relations in-charge Barbara Pflughaupt told DNA.