Comments on: Global Warming Impacts Wildlife: How Campuses Can Help

By: Samudra Gupta

Samudra Gupta — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:43:19 +0000

WILD LIFE
HAZARDS AND CHALLENGES
One advantage of rivalry in the media, particularly television, is the extent these channels go to, trying to score over another. The reality stories can take you to the core of any issue. Poaching, for example. I was witness to a marriage in a village in Uttar Pradesh, where it is still the convention to feed the invited a generous serving of deer meat. Shocked? Welcome to wildlife preservation in India!
The incident I referred to is in Bundelkhand. The same story prevails in Alabama, Zambezi, Cougar, Norway or Nigeria. Man is yet to come to terms with the basic actuality that the world is supposed to be shared. There are creatures, literally millions of species that inhabit the planet. The most imposing of them all, man, should have undertaken the responsibility to protect and preserve the rest. Instead, he has hunted, massacred, desecrated and annihilated every other animal. Sometimes it has been for survival but mostly it has been a pleasure hunt. What sadistic glee does man derives from the carnage of the feeble and the defenseless, only his intrinsic animal instinct can answer that. In certain countries and cultures, it has assumed hideous proportions. To feed on live creatures of the sea in Japan, dogs in Mombassa, live snakes in Thailand or baby seals in the Scandinavia or to kill tigers for pure pleasure in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia are all manifestations of this loathsomeness. The sharks are threatened, as are the creatures that have to battle a myth of terror associated with them. On land, snakes are slaughtered merely out of fear. Man eats the rest anyway. Cows, horses, sheep, goats and almost all kinds of birds are palatable to man’s insatiable gastronomic experimentation. Sometimes, our pressure on the land and our penchant for expansion has led to the disappearance of habitat and forests have turned into metros. The pitiable creatures have been confined to manicured parks and sanctuaries. Less space, less food has led to more competition and fast extinction. In other places, animals have served as prizes; a part of the décor in drawing rooms where taxidermists had a whale of a time. Killing of lions in Masaimara is a sign of coming of age. Slaughtering tigers in India was a regal passion and cause of pride. Animal appendages serve as voodoo cures and aphrodisiacs in many parts of the globe.
Individual efforts have produced some heartening results. In India, Mrs. Maneka Gandhi has done wonders leading a lone crusade against a populace that is essentially ignorant and indifferent. There are many organizations worldwide that have raised the general awareness of the masses regarding animals that were feared without reason. Ignorance is often the commonest culprit behind killings. With leading awareness, the bald eagle is off the endangered species list. The number of tigers has dramatically multiplied worldwide. The whales have returned. A million acres of rainforest has been saved, forever. The global trend has shifted towards vegetarianism. The pet societies are doing brisk business. Television channels catering to wild life top the popularity charts. The place to view wild life is not the zoo. It’s in the wild. Respect for other species can alone salvage the situation. It does not take the capture of a famous personality to prove a crime. In Bundelkhand, will it take a Salman Khan or a Pataudi to implicate the butchers? Every species has a role to play. The sooner we realize that, the better for us. And them!
Samudra.g@rediffmail.com

By: Samudra Gupta

Samudra Gupta — Thu, 21 Sep 2006 17:43:00 +0000

By: Puja

Puja — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:01:27 +0000

I am appriciating this blog. Really! colleges & universities students can do a lot for wildlife.
I would like to say one thing more to all the students “Please Save Tigers”.
TIGER, the most potent symbol of Asia, the pride of the Jungle is facing trouble. Today there is little ground remaining for our national animal.
According to researchers the tiger population has dropped over the past 100 years from an estimated 100,000 in 1900 to only 4000 in the 1970′s.
In wake of the tiger crisis, government launched the Project Tiger in 1972 and we achieved little improvement in population of tigers from 4000 in 1970 to 5000-7500 tigers at present.
So let us all unite to re-establish the dignity of the “Greatest Cat” that they deserve. If you really want to save this magnificent creature from becoming extinct, then come forward and voice your concern. Merinews provides an open platform for all to share & express their opinion on issues important to them.
Click here to submit your views: – http://www.merinews.com

By: Puja

Puja — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 08:01:00 +0000