by

Sharad Soni

Year after year the Wildlife Week and the World Day for Animals are marked by symposia and seminars but no action follows the sound and the fury. The cheetah has disappeared from Indian forests and  the Asiatic lion is teetering on extinction.

Surprisingly it was in 1972---a quarter of a century after independence---that the government enacted a legislation known as the Wildlife [Protection] Act which imposed a ban on hunting. But by then poachers had spread their nets far and wide.

Indeed, the damage has been so severe that the Indian cheetah or hunting leopard once so common has disappeared from the jungle. Past records indicate that in the 19th century, the distribution of the Indian cheetahs ranged from Bengal to Punjab and to the Deccan in Peninsular India.

The British are believed to have hunted and killed most of the cheetahs in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The last living cheetah was killed in 1952 in the Chittoor district under the then state of Madras.

Since then the cheetah has gone extinct and no official record has ever indicated the cheetah’s existence in the jungles of the Indian subcontinent. Ironically the ones now seen in some of the Indian zoos have been imported from various countries. In a singular misfortune three cheetahs died in the Delhi zoo some years ago which put a question mark on their survival even in captivity.

Also, take the example of another cat---the majestic Asiatic lion that is supposed to be one of the rarest wild animals found in Asia. In the entire Asian continent, the Gir sanctuary is said to be the last stronghold of the Asiatic lion. But the population of the Asiatic lion, which was once found all over the country, has now dwindled to a startling 300 lions in the Gir.

But even this number of 300 has been achieved with a great amount of effort. By 1972 the population of lions had shrunk to 180. That was when the save-the-lion project was initiated in the Gir sanctuary. The project succeeded marginally as the number of lions rose to 205 in 1979 and up to 300 or so at present.

But wildlife experts say that the efforts of the project have not at all been satisfactory and had more imaginative steps been taken the number of lions could have risen. Although Gir is the symbol of the survival of lions, the search for other suitable sites for the translocation of lions is urgently required. They have voiced serious concern on the prevailing practice among grazers around the Gir forest who, fearing attack on their cattle by lions, are known to often poison the king of the jungle.

Like the lion, the elephant too is facing an uncertain future. Though nearly 20,000 to 24,000 elephants are still in the wild and 3,000 in captivity, their habitat is shrinking at an alarming rate. Habitat fragmentation due to socio-economic developmental activities has resulted in the dramatic reduction of elephants.

Tiger, once the terror of the jungles is now a fugitive in its own home. It was in 1973, that the authorities realized that the tiger population had dwindled to 1,827 from an estimated 55,000 at the turn of the century.

Consequently, one of the most well publicized wildlife campaigns in the world, "Project Tiger" was launched. Initially, it showed success as the tiger population went up to 4,002 in 1985 and 4,334 in 1989. But in 1993 when the last census was taken, the population of the tiger had dropped to 3,600.

A Tiger crisis cell has been set up under the aegis of the ministry of environment for giving boost to the movement of Project Tiger. More recently, in 1995, "Tiger Link" was begun as a network of people to act in the interest of the tiger. But despite all these efforts, the tiger crisis is getting worse and is likely to show disastrous figures when the next census is taken place in 1998.

The two horned rhinoceros of Sunderbans has not been as lucky as the tiger. It has already disappeared and many other species are on the verge of extinction. The one-horned rhinoceros protected in the Assam sanctuaries of Manas and Kaziranga is also facing similar threats. Despite the fact there were 658 in 1972 their numbers are now decreasing largely due to the poachers.

Not just the rhinoceros. Even the swamp deer and the nilgai can be seen only in the periphery of forests, while the snow leopard and clouded leopard of north-east, the wild ass of the Rann of Kutch, Kashmir stag, musk deer, spotted deer, barking deer, and Himalayan hog deer are all facing extinction unless conservation measures are taken promptly.

Today India's rich bio-diversity is made up of nearly 75,000 animal species and 45,000 plant species, which need serious attention both from the government and the people.

It is the unwritten law of nature that animals, birds, insects and man together create a living harmony and keep our natural environment balanced. But man's interference with nature is the single largest factor for the endangered species going extinct.

Poaching and killing of animals for illegal commercial purposes has proved disastrous. The increasing demand for wildlife products in the International market has further encouraged poachers to rake in huge profits at the cost of Indian wildlife.

Animals like tigers, leopards, crocodiles and snakes are paying a heavy price for their skins, while elephants and rhinoceros are killed for tusks.

The tiger is singularly unlucky. Its bones, teeth and even blood are used for medicinal purpose and fetch a handsome amount in the lucrative international, especially the Far Eastern including the Chinese market.

International trade in ivory has put considerable pressure on the elephants. The musk deer is hunted and killed for its walnut- sized gland beneath the abdomen which contains natural musk. The horn of rhinoceros thought to have aphrodisiac qualities is also in demand in the markets of China, South East Asia and Africa.

Even activities like mining, road construction, hydel and irrigation projects as well as agriculture and commercial activities have further deteriorated the situation as wildlife is fast losing its natural habitat.

There is a dire need to implement strict regulations along with wildlife management programmes based on modern scientific skills. Local communities must also be involved in conservation efforts.

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