|
|
the-south-asian.com MARCH 2002 |
||||
|
MARCH 2002 Contents Neemrana
- literary storm in a Society & Culture Basant-
the Kite festival without Visual Arts Tagore's 'Geetanjali' on canvas Leadership Know your leaders - Part II Business & Economy Heritage Lutyen's
'dream city' turns into a Environment & Wildlife Forests - Encroached & Poached Viewpoint Lifestyle Sports Shiva Keshavan - India's lone Luger Books 'Knock
at Every Alien Door' Fashion
Books
|
|
|
|||
| print gallery | |||||
|
THE SLAUGHTER OF JUNGLES WILDLIFE - ENCROACHED & POACHED by Isidore Domnick Mendis
"During the British Raj, " 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were slaughtered." Sadul Singh, the Maharajkumar of Bikaner prided himself on killing 50,000 heads of animals and 46,000 game birds. In his first few years of reign alone, Jahangir, the Mughal Emperor, is said to have killed over 17,000 animals. These included as many as 889 nilgai, 86 tigers and lions and 1,670 gazelle and antelopes." As the country steps into the second year of the new millennium, poaching and killing in Indian jungles is still rampant - not by the Indian royalty or the British - but by committed poachers. A British hunter fires at a pair of bears in Bandipur, a favourite hunting ground for princes and sahibs alike in the early twentieth century.
For centuries the smoking gun has changed the course of wildlife in India. Whether in the hands of Indian kings and princes or the British, while they were in India, the shots that rang in the forests silenced some of the most magnificent species of animals and set them on the path to extinction. As the country steps into the second year of the new millennium, poaching and killing in Indian jungles is still rampant - not by the Indian royalty or the British - but by committed poachers. Even a wildlife resort like the Jim Corbett Park---perhaps the most policed park in India---has not been able to wipe out the scourge. Last year when the carcasses of five elephants were found in the park it elicited the cursory tongue clicking from authorities without much follow up action. Whether for meat or bones, for centuries, animal killings have scorned at the face of law even as conservation policies keep being dictated from the air-conditioned confines of the environment ministries at the Centre and in states without involving the local people. " Poaching of tigers, elephants and other endangered animals can only stop if the local people are made the caretakers of Indian forests. Only they can help break the poacher-politician nexus. Media talks about one Veerapan. The fact is there are hundreds of faceless Veerapans who operate in the jungles," says Dr Mahesh Rangarajan, author of India's Wildlife History published by Permanent Black in association with Ranthambore Foundation. Dr. Rangarajan, a wildlife historian, has done his doctorate in environment history. His thesis "Fencing the Forest" was published as a book in 1996. His other works include the twin-volumed Oxford Anthology of Indian Wildlife (1999) and a co-authored book, Towards Coexistence: People, Parks and Wildlife. Rampant Killings Dr. Rangarajan's new book vehemently criticizes the British rulers of India for the brazen exploitation of the country's fauna. During the Raj, he writes, " 80,000 tigers, 150,000 leopards and 200,000 wolves were slaughtered." Indian princes were not far behind. " After 1857, when the direct rule of the Crown replaced that of the East India Company, princes were seen as pillars of the Imperial power. The hunt symbolised their loyalty even as it enabled them to mingle with officials of the Raj. The Raja could get his guests forty heads of swamp deer stags on a single day." According to the book, Sadul Singh, the Maharajkumar of Bikaner prided himself on killing 50,000 heads of animals and 46,000 game birds. Among these were 33 tigers, 30 Great Indian Bustards, 21,000 sand grouse and one Asiatic lion! Like the British, the Mughal rulers too vandalized India's wildlife, says the book. " In his first 12 years of reign alone, Jehangir is said to have killed over 17,000 animals. These included as many as 889 nilgai, 86 tigers and lions and 1,670 gazelle and antelopes." But the Mughals killed animals mainly for meat. " There were 35 to 40 meat dishes on the dining table, including venison, quail and partridge," says Dr. Rangarajan. But to their credit it must be said they were also conservationists. They would observe local customs related to conservation. " For example, under Mughal rule, no killing was permitted at sacred sites of the Jains." But the Britishers and the Indian poachers wreaked havoc. Successive governments have virtually been mute spectators to the plunder of wildlife. For example, the book informs, over a thousand tiger skins were sold in the markets of Delhi in 1967-68. The result of such vandalism has been a shocking decline in the tiger population from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century to 1825 in 1973. The book also highlights the shift of power to states as one of the big reason for the vanishing wildlife. Elaborating on the weak-centre-powerful-states syndrome, the author says, " During the tenure of Indira Gandhi the government was all-powerful. For example, Kedar Nath Pandey the then chief minister of Bihar was not allowed by the Centre to transfer a portion of the forest land to non-forest land as it would have adversely affected the wildlife." Tiger Bones Such sensitivity does not exist any more. According to the book, in 1993 the authorities seized 400 kilos of tiger bones that were being smuggled. " Such seizures of tiger products were even reported from provinces where few had suspected the tentacles of commerce could reach. It soon became clear that as many as 600 tigers had been slain in a period of only four years." Economic reforms too have weakened wildlife protection, says Dr. Rangarajan. " Fiscal crisis in the states has left the forest departments and the wildlife wings in an emaciated condition. In many states, one in three posts in wildlife reserves lies vacant; in more than one case, even salaries are paid months behind schedule," says the author. " The government must make wildlife park management a lucrative enough service so that young people consider it a career option." Wildlife conservation must become a major component in schools, says Dr. Rangarajan. " Most school-going children and their teachers don’t know which animals typically belong to India. Many of them say it is the tiger and the elephant. Not knowing that tiger is found in 11 Asian countries and that Africa is abode of the elephant. The real Indian animals are the sloth bear, neelgai and black buck that most of our school teachers are not aware of," says Dr. Rangarajan. For a country that has so many animal Gods and has produced world-renowned naturalists like Dr. Salim Ali, E.P. Gee and M. Krishnan, this is a sad commentary.
_______________
|
|||||
| Copyright © 2000 [the-south-asian.com]. Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. | |||||
| Home | |||||
