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Wildlife Conservation in India

by Heera Nawaz
JUNE 5 marked the World Environment Day — an occasion to reflect upon Issues like deforestation, depletion of the ozone layer, greenhouse effect, desertification. soil erosion and such matters related to the conservation of life on earth. As wildlife constitutes a very important segment of this ecosystem. It is also time to ponder over the various measures adopted to protect and nurture tt over the years
Sadly. in a developing country like India, wildlife conservation occupies a very low priority In the overall scheme of things. For instance, a farmer In a village is naturally more concerned with the sustenance of his family than pro tecting the tiger In a nearby wildlife reserve. In fact, given the option. he would go about felling trees for firewood, thereby causing widespread deforestation and decimation
It is in this context of inter dependence between man and anima) that former Prime ^Minister Indira Gandhi once observed: "Whatever the economic or political context, what happens now to animals will eventually happen to man. The conservation of our inheritance deserves the same natu raj care as that of our economic development"
Moreover, the uses of wildlife are numerous. Animal based products range from cod to halibut Itver oils as rich sources of vitamins A and 0 No less than 40 per cent of the drugs used tn medical care are derived from wild" sources and a quarter of all pre scrip tons are blolofpcaJ in origin. In fact . the biological component extends to the conservation of the biosphere through preservation of essential life processes that constitute the ecosystems of the world.
However, more than any of these factors, the significance of wildlife lies In Its great visual splendour and the deep understanding it provides to the meaning of life. As Jawaharlal Nehru once remarked: "Life would become very dull and colourless If we did not have these magnificent animals and birds to look at and play with."
It may be noted that tn ancient times, wildlife conservation occupied a very high priority with Indians. Emperor Ashoka 1s said to have set up several abhayaranyas (sane tuaries) for the protection of animals. "Wild Game Laws' and "Fishing Laws" were also formulated and inscribed in his stone edicts. Besides, over the years, animal* like* cows, monkeys. cobras and peacock*
significance.
In villages, children are brought up on stories from the Panchatantra and Httopdesa that glorify the caprice* of wild animal*. Furthermore. Kautilya's Arthasahtra prescribes the most severe punishment to anybody caught trapping or molesting deer, blsons and other animals They were best left to roam about fearlessly and leisurely in the wilderness, much to the delight of onlookers.
In modern times, things took an different turn follow ing ruthless poaching, trap In the name of shikar. During the last three decades itself, India lost about a doaen rare animals and an equal number of bird species due to such Indiscriminate killing* the single-homed rhinocerous, the cheetah, the brown antler deer pink-headed duck and mountafl quail are almost extinct as ■ result In 1952. the Indian Wildlife Board was set up which led to several States establishing sancturles and enacting laws for the protection of wildlife. A study conducted by the Board that year revealed that there were barely 1827 tigers left In the country — a sharp drop from a figure of 40,000 estimated at the turn of the century With the Intervention of wildlife activists and public opinion makers, hunting of tigers was banned tn India In 1970 Some "sportsmen" actu ally went to court appealing against this ban, but the ruling went In favour of the liger
Three years later, spearheaded by the World Wildlife Fund, the Project Tiger cam paign was launched. Within a span of seven years, the tiger
3,015 aa a result Apart from the tiger, a number of other endangered animals like the swamp deer. Indian ele phant.wlld buffalo, hispid here and paygmy hog benefitted. Another success story (which is an offshoot of Project Tiger) Involved he baraslngha whose population had dwln died to 66 in the early 1970s
Mr. H.S. Panwar, the well known director of he project went out of his way to con struct special "breeding enclosures" In forest reserves to raise the population of this rare species of deer.
Many exotic species like that of the elephant and mon key can attribute their survival to the religious thinking of Indians based on scriptures that diefy these animals Then there are the Jains who believed that no Hfe should be deliberately killed. It Is this consideration for the welfare of the ecological community as a whole that accounts for renewed interest in wildlife conservation among the Indian public. — (PH Feature^