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Man: The "superpredator"

"When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity." — G.B. Shaw

The writer is a Professor of Physics at Fordham University, New York.
Quamrul Haider
For millions of years, we have remained in equilibrium with our environment. But then, something happened that changed the face of the Earth completely and irreversibly. Our demand for an unending supply of energy to fuel the technological advances and sustain higher living standards has subjected the environment to severe trauma that eventually shattered the equilibrium. Since then we have corrupted our planet in an unprecedented way by exerting an ever-increasing influence upon the environment. Today, we live on a planet whose air is polluted, whose water is contaminated, and whose soil is chemically altered. We have also profoundly affected the organisms that share the planet with us, both by introducing exotic species in new locations and by driving other species to extinction.
Every animal except us has a well-defined habitat, a place where it is generally found and to which it has become adapted: Royal Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans, polar bears in the Arctic, penguins in the Antarctic, and trout in cold water streams. Within this habitat each species has a unique lifestyle not shared by any other species. As their habitat changes, their lifestyle also changes. If an animal cannot adapt to these changes, it goes extinct; its place is usurped by a species which has evolved to fit that particular environment. This is known as gradual extinction.
With our entrance as an ecological factor there has been a shift from gradual extinction to abrupt, habitatemptying extinction. Many animals went extinct simply because we found them edible. Others went extinct because
they were fashionable in our eyes. Many more went extinct or are on the verge of extinction because of our economic activities.
An example of economic activity that will have a devastating effect on the ecosystem of a unique rain forest is the Rampal Power Plant that the Bangladeshi government is planning to build near the Sundarbans - one of the largest mangrove forests in the world and a Unesco World Heritage Site. It is a haven to a wide range of flora and fauna, including the majestic Royal Bengal tiger and the fleet-footed spotted deer. The Sundarbans supports an exceptional biodiversity and is filled with a cornucopia of boisterous wildlife slithering, scampering, soaring, and swimming all over.
However, over the last 100 years or so, habitat degradation due to ecological changes and human activities (trophy-hunting, poaching, uncontrolled cutting of trees, and man's encroachment to ease overpopulation in the neighbouring districts) transmuted the faunal landscape of the Sundarbans and pushed the hog deer, water buffalo, Javan rhinoceros, and mugger crocodile into extinction. Hie endangered species that live within the perimeter of the Sundarbans are the Royal Bengal tiger, estuarine crocodile, Gangetic dolphin, Hawksbill turtle, and the Horse Shoe crab.
Of particular concern is the tiger, whose population is decreasing at an alarming rate. According to the World Wildlife Fund, "a burgeoning human population and its own needs are pushing the tiger out of its natural habitat." If human activities in and around the Sundarbans continue unabated, the Bengal tigers will soon meet the fate of their brethren - the extinct Javan, Balinese, and Caspian tigers. The Rampal power plant will accelerate the process of their extinction.
By building a coal-fired power plant so close to a sanctuary of so many endangered species, the government is showing total disregard to the Environmental Impact Assessment guidelines and the covenants of the global environmental treaty, The Ramsar Convention, to which Bangladesh is a signatory. It suffices to say that the proposed power plant will permanently damage the entire ecosystem -- the climate, topography, wedands, flora and fauna, quality of air and water - of the Sundarbans.
By ignoring the fact that our life is intricately tied to the natural world, the Bangladeshi policy makers are foreclosing on the future of hundreds of species that inhabit the Sundarbans. Our acts of conquering nature have so far been very costly. Many environmental problems that we face today stem from our success at controlling and dominating nature. Thus, to think of ourselves outside of nature's realm is not only foolish - it is suicidal.
However logical the need for energy is, to place the care for continued survival of the endangered species solely upon our present or future begs the issue of responsibility. If we remain passive bystanders, we would be rationalising extinction as a purely natural phenomenon. But since the emergence of man no extinction has been a natural one.
We are the only animal capable of completely exterminating other forms of life. All other species are bound in predator-prey relationships that exercise checks and balances upon excessive increases or decreases in population levels. Sometime in the distant past, we became completely dissociated from these checks and balances and became a "superpredator."
We have an obligation toward wild species, which through no fault of their own have become dependent upon us for their continued existence. Each of these species, tiger or tapir, gnu or gnat, represents a pool of genetic information which uniquely adapts to its environment. When this information is lost through the process of extinction, a valuable key to survival with all of its potential economic, scientific, and aesthetic worth is irretrievably lost as well.
Clearly, the government is trying to manipulate the flora and fauna of the Sundarbans like pieces in a board game. This mindless game will do more harm than good to the country. It is time conscientious members of the society raise their voice and stop the government from invoking the enormous power of extinction that we have inherited from our progenitors. We must save the biota of the Sundarbans simply because all organisms on Earth have a right to exist equal to our own. We may be more intelligent than a beast or a bird, but that does not give us the license for mindless exploitation; rather our intelligence is a charge of responsibility.
“When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when the tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity." - G. B. Shaw
The writer is a Professor of Physics at Fordham University, New York.