One-Sided Story
In spite of periodic failures, the tiger population in recent times has begun to rise. This seems to be a continuing phenomenon despite many wild souls dying because of human apathy or natural causes. If the reports are to be believed, the leopard population in MP and a few other states seem to be on the rise. This rise is difficult to understand since the predator is constantly being killed at the hands of poachers and as a victim of man-animal conflict. Anyway, let's keep our fingers crossed.
Poaching is purely a crime, and cannot be dragged under the banner of man-animal conflict. The killing of tigers and leopards by man and vice versa is perplexing since both subscribe to a food chain that is not directly in conflict if the ban on hunting wild animals is taken into consideration.
While the death of a predator rarely causes much alarm, the death of a human being is reactive and often creates extreme upheaval within society. The browbeating that takes place often bends the system responsible for the protection and conservation, it is unfavorable towards the perpetrator and thus it is victimized to no end. It is either incarcerated or translocated to unfamiliar domains or at worst some trigger-happy elites are invited to shoot it down. This is an ongoing phenomenon, and the besieged animal is hardly able to comprehend the punishment accorded to it. Animals do not kill humans since for many we are not part of the food chain. They fear man and shun proximity.
Threat Perception the Biggest Threat
Threat perception is a natural phenomenon among the living akin to the response to external stimuli. Both are victims of the fear of the other and when this happens in extreme both kill. This is making wildlife conservation a difficult proposition, especially in a country like India. Heavily populated, extremely poor, and thrust closer to the wilderness by livelihood pursuits the man-animal conflict is much aggravated by biotic factors. Agriculture in the land that previously was part of the prevailing ecosystems and livestock incursions increase proximity between humans and predators. In spite of policies that make translocation possibly the ground reality has not changed much. This is due to the slow execution of translocation of the human population from vital core due to political infringements, court cases, and on many occasions overzealous NGOs?
Translocation promises to eliminate human interference in the core while there is no policy to translocate population from immediate surroundings or the outer ring which we call the buffer.
Creatures having lost their erstwhile homelands and food unwittingly transgress into what has become human domains. They are killed, maimed or incarcerated brutely.
This has become a regular tamasha in India with newsmakers worsening the situation with their greed and prejudice towards other life forms. Videos and images of predators being hounded out by lunatic hordes are propagating a wrong message among the people and making us subject to ridicule overseas. We nowhere can boast of the conservation ethos promoted by the ancient Vedas anymore.
Clearing, wildlife corridors, thinning out the population in the buffer zones, and stopping linear infrastructure build-up which intersects our reserves is a near impossibility since the threat perception ails political dispensations too making them chicken out. Anyway, politicians in India have all to lose from unhappy voters but not from the predators as they have no right to vote. We are enamored by unbridled development as well and thus critics should not leave us out, especially the urban lot.
Animals kill humans because of threat perception and most often proximity aggravates. Humans have all the comprehending power not to fall victim to a threat posed by a predator in proximity since that has been the case for ages.
While we should not kill wild animals and do so only under extreme danger we have the ability to mitigate such instances. Wild animals on the other hand rarely cross over their domain but it does happen and at times humans are killed or maimed. Those who are in favor of extreme action against such killers are doing a disservice to mankind since all life forms are vital for an environmental balance upon which our well-being is maintained.
Hence like automobiles kill people by accident so do animals in unavoidable circumstances. We cannot eliminate both. Hence answers have to be found beyond the ongoing rhetorics and the clash between the two should be mitigated. Translocation of populations that have ingressed is only one such answer another solution is to develop a code of conduct that will aid in minimizing conflicts. These are the imperatives that our planners have to incorporate and execute with sincerity if an environmental balance has to be maintained and our heritage wealth to be conserved. Legal laxity as regards wildlife crimes should be taken care of as well.
The Youths Take Over
Rhetoric never works and there has to be an action on the ground. Thankfully in our country, the youth is taking interest in ecological matters, and a number of committees or societies have been formed pan India to discourage practices that go against nature conservation. The impact is visible in the interest shown in the conservation, the rising number of PILs, and write-ups against haste. This collective effort is certainly going to keep the establishment on its toes. This will force the policymakers to rethink as well.
The next-gen is going to be much more nature aware but what do we leave for them?
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Uday freelances as a naturalist and loves to write about tiger conservation and the environment.
He also provides SEO and Content and teaches Digital Marketing in his hometown Jabalpur.
Contact:
pateluday90@hotmail.com
9755089323
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