Life for us has been easy and we all prefer living a comfortable life; be it staying in a comfortable room or owning a luxury suite with animal leather couches and ivory based crockery, be it showing off those leopard skin handbags or wearing a crocodile skin waist belt. A man/woman owning such items is usually considered to belong to a high class society. But, do we see what is on the other side, besides seeing the pride in owning such things ? I'm sure the answer is No.
Based on a recent article published in "Science Advances", there is a catastrophic mass extinction of many earthly species, and it seems to be looming large and it is us (humans) who are directly to be blamed for this. Be it deforestation, and taking away homes of forest animals or polluting the water bodies and intoxicating other species, in every aspect we are to be blamed.
Today we stand at a point, where we cannot retrospectively look back at those species which we have lost, just because there are many more that we are losing with time. In this blog post I will throw some possible light on three wildlife species which are nearing the dusk of their existence..
1) The Bengal Tiger
A Royal Cat, a symbol of bravery
Our Nation's pride, But,
Poaching men, reduced its density
For long, The Bengal Tiger is seen as India's national animal; But sadly, what have we done to protect it.? Sign a petition and forget, or just adopt a tiger cub, pay some money and forget. It's sad to say, only minimal efforts have been taken to save our Nation's pride. The count has gone down and I'm sure there will soon be a time when we'll crave to hear it roar. Caging them and keeping them away from their habitat won't really work. They need a homely environment, where they add a balance to the ecosystem living a life where they can hunt of their choice, breed with a comfort and live with comfort.
After recently hearing about the 60% reduction (reduction to 1400 from 3500) in tiger population over the last decade, It is shocking that none of the policies made to protect the tiger has ever worked. Should it go this way - their dawn isn't far. Its time we need to help strengthen the "project tiger program" under the national tiger protection authority and see to that we help build more tiger reserves and maintain our nation's pride
2) Lion Tailed Macaque
Away from Humans, in the upper canopies,
Swinging across evergreen tress,
soon nearing the tragedy of extinction.
Before I comment on the endanger that the Lion Tailed Macaque is in, let me tell you - a majority of this nation doesn't know that we are supposedly blessed to have one of a kind of this species, which is exclusively found in the western ghats of this our country. To add more, they are very well known to dwell amidst the moist evergreen forest where they survive eating fruits, flowers or sometimes prey upon birds or birds eggs. They usually prefer to have a life of their own and feel comfortable staying away from human habitat. I'm not sure why, but I seem to have a special liking for this animal ever since I remember seeing it on my trip to ooty (Ootangamandalam) a few years ago. Sadly, over the last decade many of those places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu where these Lion Tailed Macaque used to dwell has showed a poor census.
Tell me, what did this innocent faced ape do face such a destiny ? Does it deserve this fate for just trying to live away from human habitat. Its time we look up to build a better ecosystem for these Macaques and stop involving in their lives and let time swing across those tall evergreen trees.
3) Indian Peacock
Dancing in joy, with a crown on its head,
with its iridescent tail feathers spread
will it catch our attention again
A fascination in every poets eye, a peacock or its peahens is usually a metaphorical representation of color, joy and happiness that has never failed to highlight the poem. Be it medieval history or the cultural significance you can always find the beauty of a peacock everywhere. They seem to catch everyone's attention when in joy. Seeing a peahen spread its feather and dance is something one cannot forget for life; but, what we have forgotten to see - is that the so called the national bird, is yet another species on the list of endangered species cause of weather changes, domestication, illegal poaching or stealing away its eggs.
Today its come to a point where we only can see a peacock/ peahen only at a zoo or a wildlife park. The others are either caged in theme parks or near lakes. They sadly don't find the joy they crave for, be it in terms of rain or in terms of mating; and sadly lose their life out of depression. Its time this free nation, frees this bird to live a life of its own and spread its joy once again
What can be done now ?
The first and the foremost thing is education. There are poor villagers who have no idea about animals which belong to endangered list. If they see a tiger in their village, one might just seek pride in killing it and being called a veteran for life. Its important to visit villages near such wildlife reserves and educate people about the animals which are endangered and how it can cause an imbalance in the ecosystem.
More forest rangers and security measures should be taken around wildlife sanctuaries
People must learn to adopt/ spend for wildlife animals and see to that they can do their best to see them live a healthy life
Treated water should be let into wildlife sanctuaries and felling down of trees in such wildlife sanctuaries must be avoided strictly.
The Government has to come up with a policy, where by every other animal is insured. If at all the animal is killed, the money from its insurance would be directly spent in seeing that the other animal in the same species live a proper life and are able to multiply under proper conditions.
Our greed, our creed
has seen earthly species bleed
The dusk of wildlife is near
endangered, and living with fear
Its time we do our best
and let nature do the rest..
Sulaiman Sait
I am participating in the Save the species contest for the book "Capturing Wildlife Moments in India" in association with Saevus Wildlife India, read the reviews for the book "Capturing Wildlife Moments in India here.
Even I was not aware of those facts about Macaque. You are right, we should control our greed and take constructive steps to protect them.
ReplyDeleteGood luck for the contest.
@Saru Ma'am - Indeed its all about controlling our greed and rightfully working our way with constructive steps to protect the wildlife...!
DeleteAn enlightening writing...I loved the last poem of the post. Says it all :)
ReplyDeleteThank you @Simran... !!
DeleteAbsolutely true. We need to save them on an urgent basis and it is our collective responsibility to do whatever we can.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck!
Thankyou @Alok Singhal ji.. And.., Yes!! We need to save them on urgent basis and with collective efforts...or else, by the time we look at this post a year or so later..., they might progress upward in the list of most endangered species...!!
DeleteIt was immensely insightful. It had the six traits of all writing done beautifully. Ideas, organisation, word choice, conventions, presentation and sentence fluency. I love how you chose to end on such a lovely powtic note. It's a definite step up from your usual writing.
ReplyDeleteAll the best. :)
Thank you @Raashmi... I'm glad you liked this post.. and thankyou for such detailed evaluation of my writing style, loved the report :P Nonetheless thanks for reading this post and leaving a comment here :-)
DeleteAm happy you attempted to write a blogpost on this topic of endangered species. In future the grandparents will only tell their grandchildren that once there used to live an animal called tiger and a bird called peacock which were both our national symbols.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post. Proud of you my son. Keep writing and educate many more people.
Thank you Mom for your comments... Indeed, with your blessings and guidance, I'll continue writing many more posts and will continue educating people...
DeleteA few more animals like the Asiatic lions could've been added, but nice dohas for each animal. Curbing real estate and properly demarcation of the forest areas from human population, educating the nearby villagers to not panic and go on a killing spree when the spot a wild animal but to call in the authorities is needed. Also, having a Forest ranger's office in each and every village that borders the reserved forests is needed in order to reduce time to take action against the villagers and as well protect them in case of a wandering and hungry animal comes into their villages
ReplyDeleteYes Shreyas.. A lot more has to be done in order to curb all these actions... But, it time we change words into actions...
DeleteThanks for your wonderful comment...
About the villages near reserved forests: I had read once that most of the times animals in these villages are killed out of terror that they create among people. Tigers used to kill people due to the shrinking forest size and when they attacked humans, humans took revenge out of awe. Ultimately, the outcomes of deforestation, poaching and human greed had to fall upon these innocent animals and villagers. The fact is that only a few humans have created this mess. Greed of a few tormented a many. Rest of the work was done by ignorance. Spreading awareness regarding endangered species among common people is the first thing to be done in the favor of saving wildlife. I very much support the cause behind this post. Very well done, Sulaiman. :)
ReplyDelete