Sighting of wild animals and birds is not that difficult if one knows the season and their migratory routes. There are seasons when hornbills and large size wild doves are easy to sight and one is sure to see them if one can time their journey to those trees where they come to feed. During the month of April and May, Ziro is also visited by beautiful flocks of swan which is locally called as Pakang.And then there times when wild boars are abundant and cat family bcomes abundant. But this seasons and places are used for hunting and lots of them are hunted down. If we prevent the reckless hunting, the animals are wont to become abundant and easier to be sighted.

@ Buru. U’re right in stressing that such rituals as well are the underlying mythologies are shared by most if not all members of the Tani family. But it is apparently not restricted to them. See for eg. this extract from a recent report of a wildlife conservation project (2006) refering to the hunting practices of the Miju Mishmi of Lohit and Anjaw districts :
“A skin of the golden cat (Catopuma temmincki) was found in a hunter’s house… The cat was trapped in a wire trap…. Hunting of any member of the cat family is taboo and is strictly followed. Cats are not hunted due to religious reasons. If anyone accidentally kills a member of the cat family, an elaborate “religious ceremony” is carried out by sacrificing cattle which is expensive and time-consuming.” ( http://www.rufford.org/files/ambika project update.doc). For the full report on hunting practices in AP : http://www.rufford.org/files/Rufford%20full%20report.pdf

@ Yasiyalow : Thanks for ur corrections and additional information. There is a handful of wordlists and other materials related to the languages of Arunachal Pradesh available in libraries. However this information is largely dormant … Should it be accessible to all through internet it would surely be more useful… I got the word ‘some’ from I. V. Simon, 1972, ‘An Introduction to Apatani’.
I agree with u that wildlife tourism should be encouraged. As we’re discussing here about wild cats, Indian forests habitat the highest diversity of wildcat species in the world (IUCN, CSG), and Arunachal is probably their largest natural sanctuary inside India. The ecological resource is certainly one of the State’s best assets, but the question is how to transform this potential into a substantial source of income. For AP is not Kenya, and most forest animals are hard to see, hence as such most wildlife sanctuaries are unlikely to attract a large number of National or Foreign tourists. Hunting can be banned or controlled successfully only with an active participation of the local populations, when people realize is is more profitable to protect animals instead of hunting them.

Yasiyalow,
Yes Rohpi is not performed for siiying, sisso, ami etc. I’m giving the names of felines for which the Apatani’s perform Rohpi based on the descendency from eldest to youngest(remember we are related to feline family and they are elder than us-as suggested in mythology).

Solang (the animal in the post) and Ami (Cat) are contemporary and oldest — Nyokhe (probably Black Panther) comes next– Hogya Taker (Spotted Leopard)–Patii(Tiger) –Hogya (Clouded Leopard) then Suppu and Golo Goi. These are the felines for which Rohpi ritual is performed, as I have been told.

Sometime back I read a news item about Nagaland government banning all kinds of animal hunting. May be arunachal govt can emulate it. Instead we can encourage wild life tourism and angling. This will help in creating more sustainable income for the local people.

Regarding the Apatani nomenclature of this wild cat, I can’t remember exactly now. I’d post about it later after confirming about the name.

@Buru,
Guess the same ritual is performed by every group of Tanii, including the Nyishi’s as I’ve been told and almost for the same reason.

And like the incident you narrated, I was in a dilemma while posting the photo’s of the ritual lest it may implicate those performing the rituals in a wild life protection Act; but the urge to preserve and showcase the ritual prevailed upon me to finally put up the photos in the web. Hope they are not implicated.

Solomons valid(but misplaced)concerns reminds me of a real incident that was related to me by a colleague: A decade back some White tourists came to Along just as the same ritual as portrayed here was being performed by a villager after a Tiger kill.The Whites gently asked for photos and the proud hunter posed with his kill in varying angles. Now the Whites made a beeline to the Deputy Commissioner and showed him the photo/video and the hunter was promptly imprisoned!Nowadays people of Along apparently forbids white tourists from any occasions/festivals where animals(incl mithun)are killed.
Moral: Dont pose for tourists during Roh-pi;)