Vanishing Wetlands a Historical Perspective
The swamp deer at Kanha had to adapt for its survival on the hard rugged ground and it did. It is the only sub-species (c.d.branderi) found in India at Kanha. Also known as the hard ground barasingha due to the development of a hoof little less splayed, unlike its Northern and Eastern Cousins. The deer is an exemplary evolution miracle that saved the animal from an assured extinction. Barasingha is a grassland dweller and avoids dense forests, a graminivore that sometimes adds aquatic plants to its diet. It is an ecologically sensitive herd animal and cannot survive near human habitation with extensive instrusion. The majestic deer is the pride of Kanha National Park and denotes conservation success not the tiger mind you.
The swamps and marshy grasslands have turned into hard ground due to geological changes over the centuries. But this is not the end of the story most of the wetlands and marshy grasslands have become extinct due to our lack of understanding of natural lands. While we have usurped most of the natural lands during human expansion, wetlands and marshy grasslands were overtaken without guilt as we failed to understand their ecological value and labeled them as wastelands.
The story of abject destruction continues even if we have come to understand the ecological values of these "wastelands". Greed has overtaken ignorance and most coastal cities in India are devouring estuaries, mangroves, lakes, and ponds to name a few. But the takeover of wetlands has not been restricted to coastal areas the destruction has been equal in the case of hinterlands as well where the ravage has been in form of silent encroachment by local industries and agriculture. Brick kilns for example are universally spread across the country thanks to a boom in construction in nearby towns and cities. Such enterprises though seem to be inconsequential are detrimental not only to swamplands but the tropical forests as well. Along with small-scale mining they are overlooked by the authorities as means of subsistence?
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| Swamp Deer |
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| Barasingha |
India is expanding and urbanizing at a rapid pace and dispensations are unable to control intrusion on remaining natural lands comprising great ecological value. In haste, there is no stopping.
The focal point of this rare and endangered swamp deer is Kanha Tiger Reserve and National Park. The gene pool once spread far and wide, the constriction came due to the geological changes at places, but extensive intrusions, hunting, and poaching have taken a heavy toll on this species. In spite of effective conservation measures, the numbers have risen within the core but the herbivore has not stepped out into the buffer or neighboring forests. This speaks a lot about the absence of wetland ecosystems outside the core.
In order to spread the pocketed species, the authorities had to translocate a herd to Satpura Tiger Reserve and Van Vihar Safari at Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh. This is an effective conservation measure against the extinction of species and the gene pool that could likely occur due to disease or a natural calamity. This is the logic behind the conservation of the Asiatic Lion in Gujarat, but parochial loyalties are thwarting the distribution. The predator is susceptible to feline panleukopenia (FPL), a deadly disease capable of wiping out the whole population in an area. The swamp deer too is susceptible to foot and mouth disease and rinderpest like the gaur. These pathogens can easily be spread by massive livestock populations in the periphery and the buffer.
Conservation Initiatives
There were some conservation initiatives taken during British rule. Subsequently, the Halon and Banjar River Valleys were accorded protection post-independence. The valleys now comprise Kanha Tiger Reserve, and the swamp deer thus survived. It was reduced to sixty-plus heads in the sixties whence they were put in an enclosure to ward off predators. The well-planned tactic by George Schaller et.al worked and the population now stands over 600 heads at present. Incidentally, the deer is one of the components of the prey base of the tiger our National animal.
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| Wetland |
The red deer may survive for eternity in pockets, but the wetlands outside the protected areas are vanishing and so are many species associated with them. Will these precious ecosystems hitherto neglected be included in conservation planning and accorded protection long due or will the remaining ones die or lose to a suffocating death. For most cities like Mumbai, these are invaluable open spaces that harbor enchanting marine life as well as provide the metro with fresh unpolluted air. We have to thwart all enterprises big and small from their confines including the menacing real estate if the invaluable ecological units have to survive.
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