IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue XII

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter tries to take a deep dive into our culture to find solutions for today’s environmental problems.

Conservation: Learnings from Mahabharata

Fear:

Several incidents and examples that I have faced or read have remained in my memory as I have not been able to get an answer.

During my childhood days, while wandering alone in the nearby hillock, I have always been fearful whether I will stumble upon some unknown animal or snake. I have no idea if it was a result of reading Jim Corbett’s experiences in his much acclaimed book “Jungle Lore” where as a child he had accidentally stepped upon a sleeping python and had immediately discharged his muzzle loading gun into it and ran away as fast as he could.  In later years, I had successfully overpowered this fear and used to sit alone in waterholes in the night waiting for animals come to drink water.

However, I often wonder why we get tensed when faced with an unknown situation and tend to kill/subjugate the other. This thought had again come to my mind when I was reading Dr. George Schaller’s experiences in the high Himalayas, especially in his book “Stones of Silence”. He had said that hardly anyone had visited Changthang and other pristine wilderness areas and had encountered animals that didn’t have any fear of humans.

Two weeks back, on 9^th December, Dr. George Schaller showed us his slides and he said that these animals had no fear of man. They were never persecuted by man, so didn’t run away when he approached close. However, these days people rundown animals using their motor cycles, if they don’t have guns. As a result, the animals develop fear and now runaway when they see an approaching human being.

In a stark contrast to the lack of fear seen in animals by Dr. Schaller, a few weeks back, fifteen bullets from an automatic AK 47 were pumped into a lactating tigress near the Kohra range in Kaziranga: http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8119

This senseless and arrogant display of firepower in pumping fifteen bullets from the AK 47 left many people stunned.

We always talk of sensitising the armed forces and police etc that they should not over react. Whenever, the armed forces have been given clear-cut instructions they have followed it religiously and have even given up their lives in trying to uphold those instructions. For eg. the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) in Srilanka was instructed not to fire at civilians and the LTTE militants had even taken benefit of this by hiding within civilians and firing at the IPKF soldiers. So it becomes a bit difficult to understand why the armed forces and police officers become trigger happy when they see a wild animal. Why cannot they be instructed to maintain peace in front of stone-throwing mob without firing at a tiger or leopard?

The question that comes to my mind is with no one persecuting us – except for our own brethren – why are we so insecure? Why our first reaction is to kill or maim any animal that appears on our way?

Nabagunjara:

Nabagunjara Rupa by Traditional Oriya Artists

In my childhood days we used to read the Mahabharata and I was especially fond of the carvings in the stones in various temples in Orissa. There is the mention of Krishna taking the “Nabagunjara rupa” or the form of a monster Nabagunjara to test Arjuna. The monstrous Nabagunjara had head of a rooster, neck of a peacock, left fore feet of an elephant, one hind leg of tiger and the other hind leg of horse, waist of lion, hump of bull, tail in form of a snake, and the right fore leg in the form of a human hand carrying a lotus.  However, Arjuna could immediately know that Krishna is playing a trick on him as he could see the Padma ie lotus in the human hand. While reading Devdutt Pattanaik’s retelling of the Mahabharata titled “Jaya”, I was again reminded of this. He has reminded us that this Nabagunjara story highlights an important facet of Hindu philosophy “what cannot be understood by the human intellect need not be feared because it ultimately comes from God.”

In a country where the majority of people are Hindus and since in the past we have had massive mobilisation of people for building a temple, one ought to expect that the Hindu philosophy of not fearing the unknown is followed and we don’t resort to killing any animal, bird, insect, reptile that we find near our human habitations.

Is it a product of our complicated modern life where each of us is looking to “lord over” a lesser mortal to compensate for being subjugated by someone else in the social/official hierarchy?

Or is it because we have forgotten our culture?

Dr. George Schaller had said that Conservation is all about “Culture, Economics and Politics”. With our politicians displaying the propensity to self-destruct and the economic modeling failing to take into account our nature heritage, the Culture plank may be the only hope for Conservation.

Discharging Hot Water: Learnings from Mahabharata:

At a time, when our nuclear scientists and planners are least bothered about the impact of the hot water they want to discharge in the creeks of Jaitapur where the nuclear power plant is planned, it would be pertinent to quote an incident from Mahabharata. (For details about Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6313

After the Mahabharata war, where one billion and two hundred and twenty million people were killed, Gandhari had asked Krishna as to why her 100 sons had to die. Krishna had replied that it was written in Gandhari’s fate that she was destined to watch her 100 sons die.  Krishna told Gandhari that during her younger days, while cooking rice she had poured hot water on the ground thereby destroying hundred eggs of an insect. This had made the insect curse Gandhari to witness the death of her sons the way the insect had to see the death of her own.

Stunned by this discourse, Gandhari had said that it was the act of an innocent child. Krishna had explained that the laws of Karma are like that. Every action howsoever unintentional has an equal reaction, and one has to experience it in this life or the next. So in Andhra Pradesh women are advised never to pour hot water on the ground. The hot water must be cooled or mixed with cold water before pouring on the ground.

In a country with such a rich culture and with specific examples, do we need to look elsewhere to learn how we treat our mother earth?

In the Vishnu Purana, Dharitri or the Earth Goddess took the form of a cow to complain to Vishnu that she has been milked so greedily by the kings on earth that her udders have become sore. So Vishnu promised her that Parashurama, Ram and Krishna will spill blood to teach the greedy kings will a lesson so that she can drink their blood taking the form of a lioness. In another retelling of this story by Devadutt Patnaik in his book “Jaya”, Bhisma on his death bed had told Yudhishtira, the eldest Pandava, that King Vena was killed by the sages when Dharitri or Earth Goddess tired of the exploitation ran away inform of a cow and cried before the sages. Prithu, the son of the slain King Vena, begged before the Earth goddess that without her, his subjects will die. The earth goddess had replied that her udders have been squeezed till it is sore and her back broken by the ambition of the people. This led to Prithu creating a Code of conduct for all humans based on empathy rather than exploitation for the survival of all humanity. This code of conduct was given the name “Dharma” by Prithu. By this code, the earth became a cow while kings became the earth’s cowherds ensuring there was always enough milk for humans as well as the cow’s calves. Today the kings have made way for democratically elected Governments, military rulers, greedy corporations that are often bigger than some countries and other despots.

One should take cues from this example and learn that there is one earth where we live. It is enough for our needs but not our greeds. We need to stop this exploitation of mother earth. We need to rise above this petty fight as to who is responsible for this climate change and who ought to pay/sacrifice their material comforts and ensure that we lessen mother earth’s burden and cool down her anger.

Other Conservation Issues:

Hydropower rejected by FAC – approved by Ministry:

A project developed by GMR in Uttarakhand on Alakananda river was earlier rejected by the forest advisory committee. However, the ministry has decided to give the go ahead for this project which will now come up in the ecologically sensitive area.

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8098

Climate Change: Waiting on climate is escapism: Dr Pachauri

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8251

Climate Change: India in climate change agreement with neighbours:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7996

More than 100 leopards killed in Uttarakhand in 2011

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8200

Alarm due to Crow deaths

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8213

India Does not need Nuclear energy

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7896

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between Nov. 10th 2011 and Dec 9th 2011 that depict interesting behavior, habitat, rare species or just plain beautiful.

Blue Sheep by Hem Chander

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8003

Wild Ass by Supreet Sahoo

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7995

White Bellied Sea-eagle Pair by Abhishek Jamalabad

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8161

Ruddy Turnstone by Roopak Gangadharan

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8026

Purple Sunbird by Kalpamoi Kakati

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8019

Jumping Spider by Joshi Bhavya

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7952

Announcement:

IndiaWilds has completed three years..

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8151

I look forward to your support and inputs in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check : http://www.indiawilds.com/forums

All the newsletters can be found online at http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter/

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com Others may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php using your Full Name as user id.

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481www.indiawilds.com
Diary: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/
Equipment reviews: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/equipment/
Forums: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/index.php

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter examines the present sad state of wildlife tourism, its negative impact and way forward. You comments are appreciated at the end of the article.

Toilets on top of the world:

I was startled and astonished when I came across a news article about a demand for setting up of toilets in the Everest. Their reasoning was that though the mountaineers use portable toilets, the hordes of sherpas who are employed to carry luggage relieve themselves wherever they want and hence the need for toilets.

My initial reaction changed to sadness when the realization dawned by the extent of devastation we are wrecking on our pristine wilderness areas. The highest mountain peak in the world has seen many mountaineers attempting to scale it or “conquer” it as they say. Ever since this mountain was surveyed and given the tag of the highest mountain in the world, it has caught the imagination of mountaineers from around the world. There have been hundreds of deaths while attempting to scale this peak or while returning after a “successful” summit, often these are also due to people consciously attempting a difficult route. While it is difficult and beyond the scope of this article to talk about why this fascination to flirt with danger or glory – depending upon ones point of view – has continued for several decades, the point is that with the march of technology, there are better materials available for all your needs. Infact, it has become a thriving industry to help people climb the Everest. About 9 years back someone had asked me whether I am willing to spend 8000 dollars (eight thousand US dollars) to climb the Everest. I had politely declined the offer. I knew that I was physically not fit enough to undertake a successful climb of Everest and it is beneath my dignity to take that offer and be literally pulled up by sherpas. Nevertheless, that is what happens and wealthy tourists flock to the Everest so that they can brag about their latest “conquest”.

Wildlife tourism the “In Thing”:

And this is precisely what is happening these days. People with sufficient disposable wealth want to do something to get some bragging rights. And unfortunately, visiting wildlife destinations and wildlife photography is considered to be a “happening thing”, as I was told by a few youngsters whom I met in a National Park. The effect of this fad can be seen clearly in our well known national parks.

Tourists hound this radio collared tigress in Ranthambhore

Hordes of tourists screaming at their top of voice when they see a tiger; tourist jeeps jostling with each other for space hitting each other and hurling abuses; tourist vehicles and forest department elephants blocking the path of the tiger forcing to wait for hours away from water in a hot summer day so that tourists can get to see the tiger; tourist resorts coming up in ecologically fragile places; township developing to cater to the constant influx of tourists along with the attendant problems…. The list is endless.

Ranthambhore tiger stopped from hunting by photographers

Too much of tourism:

The fact is there are too many people visiting our few national parks, and it is beyond the carrying capacity of the place. Unfortunately, instead of restricting the number of tourists entering the forests, the draft eco-tourism guidelines by the MoEF talks about a formula which means tourist vehicles move around in a procession with a particular distance between them. Is this what our forests are meant to be? Degenerated into safari parks?

Touching and feeding a Nilgai in Tadoba

The late Kailash Sankhala, the first director and creator of the Project Tiger, had raised his voice against tourism several decades back.

Quoting Shri Kailash Sankhala from his book Tiger! The story of the Indian Tiger “I would suggest we concentrate on creating reserves where man’s interference – or what he arrogantly calls “scientific management” – is minimal. I do not like the term “national parks”, for it has been too loosely used. The initial meaning of “the untouched glory of God” has been so diluted that it has lost its significance. The term “park” conveys artificiality and the word “national” limits its universal appeal. The pleasure of a visit to a natural area has been destroyed by the influx of tourists with their transistors and trailers. I would condemn even the camera, except in case of professionals who employ their skill to interpret nature for the benefit of those millions who never get the chance to visit these gardens of Eden. The casual visitor is always in a hurry, and if he takes pictures he fails to see anything around him; his mind is preoccupied with shutter speeds, lens openings and focusing. The uncertainty of the results haunt him for hours after and instead of enjoying a relaxed holiday he is tensed. Many a wildlife photographer does not hesitate to disturb, sometimes even kill an animal, pluck a flower or destroy a tree to suit his picture. The visitor to a reserve should bring with him nothing but a receptive mind, and take away nothing but the understanding that he is only a small part of the whole complex pattern of nature’s ecology.”

An analysis of the impact of tourism infrastructure in Ranthambhore can be found here:
(http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-v/).

Wildlife tourism is supposed to be non-consumptive and have minimal impact on wildlife and wilderness areas. However, the way wildlife tourism is run in this country, it is having a huge negative impact on the wilderness areas and wildlife. A tiger cub was mowed down by a tourist vehicle in Bandhavgarh on 21^st April 2009 (for details please check here:http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-1-issue-v/) and the case meandered towards a natural death. It is a different matter that the tour operator in this case, as well as most of the tour operators call themselves tiger experts, bringing into light the issue of lack of any control or license. A year after this, a tigress was mowed down by a forest department vehicle in the night, while doing an illegal night safari for some influential persons (For details check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/bandhavgarh-tigress-runover-by-jeep/). Predictably this case too made no headway. Despite this the tour operators maintain that they are eco-friendly.

The tour operators associations say that there are a “few black sheep” in the tourism industry who bring disrepute, else more or less the tourist operators are ethical and are the champions of conservation.

Nothing can be farthest from the truth!

PIL to Ban Tourism in Core Areas:

Recently, a PIL being heard in the Supreme Court to ban tourism in the core areas of the tiger reserves has brought the conflict of tourism vis-a-vis conservation into the open. The NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) has favoured the proposal to ban tourism in the core areas. Predictably this has irked the tourism community.

Interestingly, a part of the conservation community – NGOs, media, and a few so called conservationists – have sprung to the defence of the tourist operators. Tourism is a cash cow and many players have a stake in that which includes wildlife activists, forest officials, tribal rights activists, researchers and other NGOs. It is standard ethical practice which warrants people who have a stake in the tourism pie, should refrain from offering their views as conservationists in this issue.

This case in the Supreme Court can have far reaching consequences. The tribal rights activists say that since the conservationists have argued that there is a need for inviolate spaces – and there have been a few successful efforts to shift villages from the core areas – there should not be any human foot fall in these core areas. However, no human footfall is an impracticable idea and can’t be implemented as well.

It is a fact that we need inviolate areas for our wildlife. And it is also a fact that the tourism in its present avatar is highly counter-productive and needs to be streamlined and curtailed in certain areas. I firmly believe and agree with Kailash Sankhala that human interference should be restricted to the minimum and allow “professionals who employ their skill to interpret nature for the benefit of those millions who never get the chance to visit these gardens of Eden” and patrolling units for the protection of these forests. Road building activities inside the core area should be immediately discontinued.

Lack of Tourism Policy:

Unfortunately, the present state of affairs in the tourism arena is such that it is absolutely difficult to derive pleasure during our visits to the forests. It is sad that lack of tourism policy, is pushing our forests into such an abhorrent state. My analysis of the ecotourism practices in Botswana (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-iv/)was shared with the MoEF. A year later MoEF came out with its draft Eco-tourism guidelines which appeared to be hurried collated (my analysis of it appeared in the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue VI http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-3-issue-vi/). It is really unfortunately, that the men and women in power instead of taking a holistic view are playing the game of blind men and the elephant and interpreting this as per their convenience.

The way tourism is run in this country needs to be regulated. At a minimum the following points needs to be tackled immediately:

Ecotourism Operators:

• Due diligence should be carried out before allowing any groups or individuals to set up resorts in sensitive areas.
• Effort should be to minimize concrete or permanent structures. Absolutely no concrete inside the forests. Instead promote camping using tents.
• The individuals, groups, organizations entering into this field should show their commitment to recruit the right kind of resources, adopt best practices etc.
• The Government may help them in enriching their knowledge from time to time by creating a best practices compendium, organizing seminars etc.

Where:

• At present tourism operators are crowded around a few places. In the absence of any legislation, our tourism operators will only move to well established areas to pick up the low hanging fruit first. For example, when CC Africa (a group well known for its ecotourism practices in Africa) set up its operations in India along with Taj (India’s one of the top most ethical organization); they set up their operations in well known areas like Kanha, Bandhavgarh etc instead of venturing into little known places. In sharp contrast, Jungle Lodges, a unit of Govt. of Karnataka’s Tourism Department, popularized BR Hills as a wildlife destination after setting up their resort in a relatively unknown place like K Gudi.
• New areas should be identified, the carrying capacity measured and tourist operators invited to set up their services in a controlled manner. Tour operators in these less visited areas can provide camping experiences by taking people on treks.

How:

• EIA done by reputed professionals and open to public scrutiny. There should be annual Environment Impact Assessment of the resort.
• Local construction materials used. The design should be in sync with the landscape. The construction should be based on the local conditions like weather, fragile environment, water scarcity etc. Brick-and-mortar resorts should be avoided in environmentally sensitive areas.
• A cradle to grave approach should be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of all materials used in construction.
• The resort should have a knowledgeable ecologist/naturalist as part of the team.
• Though it is good to promote Traditional crafts and culture. It should not be made a practice to conduct tribal dance, sale of handicrafts and other items in the forest. Else, this brings in more people from outside to setup shops. A well known case is Tala village in Bandhavgarh which had around 6 original families and now it is a small town offering even massage joints.
• In case the land is already degraded, the tour operator should take action to restore it along with its original vegetation.
• The Government should create a list of plants and trees in each area and make it mandatory for the resorts to adhere to it. The ecotourism site should be landscaped with vegetation native to that area. Landscaping should not be meant as creating lawns.
• Air-conditioners go against the grain of Ecotourism. The use of local materials, natural ventilation and local trees shading the cottages would help in removing the requirement of air conditioners.
• Light pollution should be minimized by designing appropriate lighting.
• Energy conservation should be prioritized. Renewable energy, especially solar energy should be used in the ecotourism facilities. The Government should provide adequate subsidies. A monitoring mechanism should be set up. Solar panels should be used for both, heat water as well as generate electricity for select appliances such as fans, lights, and kitchen equipment, water heating etc. Occupancy sensors should be used to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption.
• It is estimated that approximately 30% water use in resorts is used for toilet flushing. Low flush toilets should be used to cut down on the water requirements.
• All cleaners, polishes and pesticide must be biodegradable, noncorrosive, non toxic and phosphate-free.
• All buildings should be connected by raised walkways to prevent vegetation from being trampled. Ground cover and other plant and animal life continues to flourish underneath the raised walkways and tent-cabins, and the trees and vegetation whose lives we spared return the favor by protecting us and our guests from the hot tropical sun. A similar structure is present in the White Tiger Lodge in Bandhavgarh.

Our wilderness areas and wildlife cannot be subservient to anyone’s interests and should not suffer due to the negligence of forest department in implementing laws or due to the inability of the law makers to frame adequate laws. I hope the Supreme Court case acts as a trigger to much needed action. Some news articles and discussions can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7895

Other Conservation Issues:

Windmill Projects and bird hits:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7948

Navy’s Andaman & Nicobar missile test plan threatens Nicobar Megapode

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7899

Articles in IndiaWilds:

IndiaWilds invites articles written on various conservation,scientific and natural history issues. For further details you may mail at administrator@indiawilds.com

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10^thOct 2011 – 9^thNov 2011 that depict interesting behavior, habitat or are just plain beautiful.

A rare sighting: Red Fox by Dipankar Mazumdar

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7875

A rare sighting: Musk Deer by Kaling Dai

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7784

Blackbuck female by Jitendra Katre

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7800

Green bee-eaters in action by Atul Sinai

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7902

Coppersmith barbet by Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7726

Common Crow Chrysalis by Abhishek Jamalabad

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7673

Lizard by Mohan Matang

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7737

Snail by Jitendra Katre

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7762

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter/

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.comOthers may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php using your Full Name as user id.

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481www.indiawilds.com

Diary: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/

Equipment reviews: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/equipment/

Forums: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/index.php

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue I examines issues surrounding some of our often ignored but highly fragile Shola forests. You can post your comments below.

Save our Sholas:

When one views the rows of tea bushes immaculately manicured – yes the tea leaves are cut instead of being plucked in the tea gardens of South India – with a few tall trees planted in rows, one loves the symmetry and gets bowled over by the greenery. Tourists start flocking to have a vacation in these tea estates of Munnar, Valparai etc, which incidentally have a much cooler climate and perhaps soothes the frayed nerves of the tourists. They come back with picture postcards of their vacation in abundant greenery.

If you really think it is green in the true sense, wait a minute.

The tea estates came up when the British started clear felling the shola forests and establishing the tea estates. In those days, the estates were few. However, after the departure of the colonial masters, more and more people started colonizing these wilderness areas, replacing those with tea estates and exotic plantations.

Shola forests:

The Shola forests – which are broadly categorized as tropical montane forests – can be found in the western ghats at an altitude upwards of 1500 meters. The shola forests are generally found in patches in the depressions of mountains with grasslands bordering it.

Sholas and Mega fauna:

The shola forests and grasslands are home to an endemic species Nilgiri Tahr who are adept in escaping from predators by climbing the steep hill slopes. I found numerous scats and dungs of tiger, dhole, elephant and gaur apart from Nilgiri Tahr. In one place there was scat of tiger and dung of elephant and gaur forming a triangle of about 8-10 feet.

Sholas and Water:

This high altitude ecosystem of Sholas and grasslands helps in absorbing water and stopping the water runoff and the consequent erosion.

It is interesting to know that the term Shola was derived from the word “Cholai” in Tamil (small water body within a vegetation cover/ shaded and wet area). According to Swarupanandan the origin of the word Chola or Cholai can be traced to the word ‘Jal’ in Sanskrit, which means water. (Ref.Swarupanandan, et al., 1998)

Retention of Organic Carbon:

A study (Ref. V. Nandakumar et al) found that the shola forests show more organic carbon content in the soil than evergreen forests, grasslands and eucalyptus plantations.. The dense canopy created by the shola forests leads to less exposure to sunlight vis-à-vis grasslands or eucalyptus plantations. The unique microclimate within the Sholas with a low and steady temperature and high humidity reduces the evaporation and transpiration demands on the shola vegetation. This unique microclimate together with less soil erosion, leads to more addition of litter than its removal and hence results in net increase in organic carbon content. This role of Sholas in conserving more carbon compounds in the soil compared to dry grasslands and eucalyptus plantations has not been given much of importance till date.

The study also found that Shola forests has higher Cation Exchange Capacity and has higher organic matter, clay content, lower bulk density and volume expansion and has better protection for nutrient cations compared to grasslands and eucalyptus plantations due to the higher cation binding power.

Threats to Shola forests:

Cultivation:
The tea estates brought people to work as labourers. They in turn started cultivating vegetables which they were habituated to. Over a period of time, the tribals realised that beans, carrot, cabbage etc which were cultivated by the labourers gave much higher economic returns than the crops traditionally cultivated by the tribals. To make matters worse the tribals also learnt the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. So it is not only the tea estates who use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but also the tribals, polluting the fresh water streams that originate from the area.

Lemon Grass Cultivation:

The crops like beans, cabbage etc require attention, so the tribals can’t cultivate it very large areas. However, they discovered that lemon grass cultivation doesn’t require much attention. The lemon grass oil which is extracted from the lemon grass is easier to transport after distillation. So most of the high hills in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala areas in the Annamalai and Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary looks green from a distance, however, on closer look one finds that it is cultivated with lemon grass, which none of the herbivores like nilgiri tahr, gaur, elephants etc eat. So the lemon grass has no positive contribution. Ofcourse, one can say that lemon grass cultivation leads to binding of the soil and water runoff is arrested. However, the shola forests and grasslands that were there before these lemon grass cultivation started have a much higher capacity of water absorption.

The lemon grass needs to be distilled to extract the lemon grass oil. This requires huge amounts of firewood. One of the muduvan village (tribals) that I visited told us that they have collected firewood for the next five years, as they know that all the hills are denuded and there are no trees to be cut. Certainly a sad state of affairs!

The recent explosion of tourist traffic to areas like Munnar have further increased the demand of the lemon grass oil. In the last one year alone, the price of lemon grass oil has increased form With such a lucrative income available, it is unlikely that the tribals like muduvans will ever think of relocating from the forest areas. In a few places, there are efforts to provide efficient distillation units to lower the firewood consumption, however, there are no long-term solutions to control the structural changes brought out by the lemon grass cultivation. Rather, there are efforts being made to create pucca roads inside the sanctuary using the NREGA program.

Firewood Collection:
It was interesting to note that among the tribal populace, the firewood collection is mostly done by the women and children. Most of it is done from the Sholas and a small percentage from the wattle and other exotic plantations and from the estates. Firewood collection from the sholas has got a deleterious impact on the sholas. It may be pertinent to mention that the shola forests are unique in their composition with fire resistant trees on the periphery. Cutting those down will leave them vulnerable to future fire threats.

Grazing:

Grazing places a huge threat on the sholas. In an article in Ecological Economics, Perrings and Walker mentions that cattle grazing lowers the resilience of the ecosystem. It also gives rise to the chances of invasive weeds entering into the shola ecosystem.

Eucalyptus Plantation:

In the past wattle and eucalyptus plantations have been set up by the tea estates to serve their fire wood needs. However, with the increase in awareness about the deleterious impact of eucalyptus plantations, various State Governments have taken steps against it. However, In a recent visit to Devikulam range near Munnar in search of Nilgiri Tahr populations, I came across the ghastly sight of eucalyptus plantations near the shola forests at an approximate altitude of 2200 meters. Grasslands and shola forests have given way to these exotic eucalyptus plantations spread over several hills. When one comes to know that this is done by a State Govt. arm, it is indeed worrying. You can see the discussions on the two images here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5774
And here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5688

Reducing the organic matter content of these shola forests by burning, cutting down of the sholas, converting to eucalyptus plantations etc, will affect the water retention capacity of the soil. This in turn will reduce the water discharged to the streams that originate in these places. So the eucalyptus plantations have to be immediately cut down and the area left alone for natural regeneration of the native vegetation to take place.

The shola forests has been described as a Climatic climax by Champion in 1938. Shola forests have taken several thousand years to evolve into their present stage of climax. Is it not criminal to clear fell these to make way for eucalyptus plantations?

The shola forests have an impact on our water security as well as climate change. In a country where conservation perhaps starts and ends with the tiger, I hope we understand the value of the shola forests. It is a part of our irreplaceable Natural Heritage. We don’t have much of time to save our sholas.

Other conservation issues:

The Rule of the Mob: Leopards beaten to death

Another leopard beaten to death on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar! (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5878 ) This just adds to the killing of leopards in various parts of the country. Virtually every other day we hear a story of leopard being beaten to death or trapped in a cage or burnt alive in a field or simply found dead and carcass burn (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5851) or a venerable wildlife Institute setting on fire the trees in its campus to drive away leopard (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4104). The other day the story was a bit different with a photo of one police officer published in the newspapers showing him shooting a leopard (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5842 ). It is tough times for the Panther pardus.

Leopards are remarkably adaptable. Their needs are frugal and can survive in degraded forests preying on lesser wild prey as well as a goat or a village mongrel. However, this adaptability seems to be acting like a millstone around its neck, as people feel that nothing needs to be done as the leopard can survive in its own in degraded habitat or sugarcane fields.

The explosion of human population and the consequent demands has led to clearing up of forests and its herbivore population. As a result, the leopard is now completely devoid of its natural prey and has to depend on livestock for its survival. A hungry leopard moving out of the small patch of forest land in search of another habitat with adequate prey base leads it to pass through human habitations and cultivated fields. This creates unfortunate scenarios, as the people are not used to seeing a spotted feline. Also this brings into fore our hidden nature which feels happy at someone else’s pain, a regressive mentality of decimating all other species infront of us.

To make matters worse, as in the case of the mob lynching to death the leopard near Bhubaneswar, a TV camera man wanted to search for exclusive footage (a la Al Jazeera TV) and reportedly instigated the people to take law into their hands. The result was inevitable. The forest department, as is the case everywhere in India, remained a mute spectator.

This unfortunate incident should not be passed over with just a feeling of sadness.

• The TV Cameraman needs to be arrested and the footage, computers etc should be sent for forensic examination.
• In such cases, in all parts of the country, Section 144 should be immediately issued and people arrested.
• All the persons, involved in the lynching should be arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Being in a Mob should not be seen as a sure shot way of escaping being convicted.
• To save the leopard, a Project Leopard should be announced. A massive exercise to be undertaken in all the states to map the remaining suitable habitats. Suitable action plans to save the leopard to be drawn.
• We are on verge of losing the leopard. Instead of frittering our energy in creating grandiose plans for bringing in exotic species like African Cheetah and introducing them into cages, we have to act fast in saving our leopard. I would appreciate our members to raise their voice in support of this cause.

Culling orders on monkey, wild boar and Nilgai in Himachal Pradesh:

Who says that culling is only done in Africa and USA.

The Himachal Pradesh Forest department is issuing permits to shoot monkeys, wildboars and Nilgais. For further details please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5596

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10th Dec 2010 – 9th January, 2011 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful.

The Rain and the Sun by Dr. Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5741

Lady Paradise by Tushar Dixit
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5617

Pied Kingfisher by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5623

Great Pied Hornbill Mrudul
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5764

My first Frogmouth by Tushar Dixit
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5825

Tiger Cub by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5587

The Yawn by Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5649

Traffic sense on crazy weekends – a message – Roopak Gangadharan
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5580

Moyar Valley by Mohan Raj
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5689

Funnel Web spider by Akshay Kumar Manjunath
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5786

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at:

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter
In case, any member of IndiaWilds forums has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com Others may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php with their full name.
Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue XII marks the completion of two years of existence of IndiaWilds as a Conservation and Wildlife Photography forum. In this issue we examine some of the often ignored areas that impact climate change. This newsletter is available online. To view and post your comments check at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-xii

Climate Change:

A year has passed since the farce conducted in Copenhagen summit. Have we become more conscious about climate change? Has it brought any change in our behaviour? Let’s examine whether we are on the right track.

Let’s start with our popular minister for MoEF Shri Jairam Ramesh ridiculing SUV’s as Socially Useless Vehicles. A smart politician that he is, he understands that this attack on the SUVs – that were earlier considered to be symbols of the rich – is not going to harm his political career and even may help him earn a few brownie points. However, is he focusing on the root cause?

Public Transport:

If he would, then he would have expressed dismay – I don’t think if he can do any better – at the shockingly inefficient public transport system which forces individuals to buy a two wheeler or a car or hitch a ride in a fuel guzzling three-wheeler. The sale of these automobiles is helped by a nexus of lending agencies and agents who would be hit if we move towards an efficient public transport system. Furthermore, the housing tax breaks induced home buying spree of individuals, deftly manipulated by the real estate lobby and aided by the poor urban planning by our Government departments ensures that individuals buy residences that are often at a considerable distance from their place of work. These complicated relationships can often rival the intricate web of relationships between various organisms in nature. I am sure it would now be evident to all, that streamlining the public transport system would need a huge focus and commitment and hence didn’t feature in the Hon’ble Minister’s wise cracks. We need a messiah who can streamline our public transport system. However the vacancy for that job is likely to remain for a long time.

Sports and Public Events:

If SUV is a sign of conspicuous consumption, then it is time that we look at some of the wasteful consumptions that we engage in a mass scale. The sports events conducted in the night or events in airconditioned complexes immediately comes to mind. Take the case of conducting night race in Formula 1 Grand Prix, the pinnacle of motor sports.

Night Race in Formula 1:

Formula 1 Grand Prix – the pinnacle of motor sports – has a huge carbon footprint due to its fuel guzzling engines, crisscrossing the world with Boeing loads of equipment etc. As if that was not enough, in 2008 it was decided to conduct the first night race in formula 1 in Singapore, so that the race can be viewed by European viewers at a convenient time. Let us examine its environmental impact.

The F1 race track in Singapore is 5.067 kilometers long. To light this 5.067 kilometer circuit, 108,423 metres of power cables, 240 steel pylons and around 1,600 light projectors are used. Each bulb is of 2000 watts. The total power requirement to light the circuit is supposed to be 3,180,000 watts ie. 3180kwh or 3.18 Mwh. The lighting level with around 3000 lux, is supposed to be four times brighter than the lighting in sports stadiums.

Considering that there would be practice in Friday, qualifying in Saturday and race is Sunday; the race track will be lighted for atleast for a minimum of 18 hours in three days. So the power requirement for lighting the tracks on the three days would be 15*31800000 watts i.e. 18*3.18 Megawatts ie. 57.24 Mega watts. Apart from this there would be additional lights brought by the teams to light up their pit areas and lighting required for grandstands. I am sure they would have kept the track lit for an equal number of hours for testing. So the total consumption can be atleast 100 Mwh.

It is estimated that the average household energy consumption in US is about 936kwh per month. So 100Mwh can light up more than 100 houses for a month or 3000 households for a day in the USA.

Is it not a criminal waste of energy, especially at a time when the dark clouds of climate change are engulfing us?

2022 Football Worldcup in Qatar:

Formula one, though it has a massive fan following, can be branded as elitist and infact was branded as such by our sports minister the previous year. A few days back, FIFA the body that governs football worldwide announced that Qatar is going to host the worldcup in 2022. Qatar, a country where the temperature during June and July goes well beyond 40 deg. C, has decided to use air conditioned stadiums where the temperature can be brought down to around 20 degrees. Well the amazingly rich football players need not worry playing in the heat and dust of the desert, as FIFA has said that there would be air-conditioned stadiums to play in. Is it not crash consumerism that can be avoided? Unfortunately, I didn’t see a single word of condemnation for such a thoughtless action.

Cricket:

There is a saying, if you point a finger, then three fingers point back at you. Formula 1 may be doing this recently. However, Cricket – the sport that has a hysteric fan following in India – is not far behind. Lets consider the floodlighting of the stadiums. Data from MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) shows that the four floodlights lighting the stadium consume 360,000kWh, this is based upon a running time of 400 hours over a twelve month term. So every hour consumption is 900kw. If we use this average for the calculations for our T-20 matches, then each T-20 match spanning over three hours will consume 900*3=2700 kw or 2.7 Megawatt. Since the T-20 tournament fixture is yet to be drawn, the number of matches can be anything between 60 and 94. So the power consumed can be atleast 162 Mw considering 60 matches. Per capita consumption of power in India is 612Kwh. So the power consumed in lighting IPL matches can light up the homes of 264 people for a year or 96617 people can get power for a day.

There are far more number of One Day Internationals and T-20 events conducted in the night these days than a child can count. The reason is solely to increase the spectacle. Do we care to raise our voice against these spectacles? These sports events have become energy guzzling orgies. If we don’t raise our voice against those, solely because we love sports, or because these events are popular, then we certainly don’t have a right to engage people in trivial things. Scientists and leaders are all engaged in the blame game on small trivialities, such as impact of gas emitted by cattle on climate change; where as they are silent about these frequently occurring major energy guzzling events.

The talk of cattle reminds me of another issue that was raised by Shri Jairam Ramesh last year and laughed upon by critics – the issue of consumption of beef and its impact on climate change.

Beef & Climate Change:

Vast tracts of virgin rain forests in the Amazon are being ruthlessly razed down to the ground by machines. When one watches the video of these chainsaws cutting down hard growth trees in seconds, that took several hundred years to grow, one becomes speechless. In those areas come up industrial scale soybean farms and cattle ranches primarily for satisfying the beef demand from Europe. Today, a school kid can lecture us – provided we pause to listen – that the trees release moisture to the atmosphere and a large patch of forest often helps its cause by releasing large amount of moisture to the atmosphere which helps in rainfall.

The 2006 report of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow -Environmental Issues and Options” mentions that Livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than the transport sector, 18% from the livestock sector vs 13% from the transport sector. As we know, increased prosperity leads to increase in consumption of not only food grains but also of animal proteins. The FAO report has confirmed that with mindboggling statistics. The global meat production is going to double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 tonnes in 2050. Livestock uses 30% of the earth’s entire land surface and 33% of the global arable land is used for producing feed for livestock.

I am not sure if the developed world is going to give up on their luxuries of beef eating, as it requires a tremendous amount of awareness generation. However, a partial reduction is also going to have a huge impact.

Climate change is going to harm developing countries like India the most, as a major part of our population lying below the poverty line is going to be impacted the most. Climate changed induced diseases, submergence of coastal areas and islands, water scarcity due to perennial rivers turning seasonal are some of the few issues that is going to impact our people. With nearly half of the population yet to be connected to the electricity grid, which is at present primarily powered by power from polluting thermal power plants, and hydel projects inducing submergence of vast tracts of forests, there is no sign of green house gas emissions reducing. The aspirations of the people to ape the western lifestyle, symbolized by the SUVs may hog the limelight; however, there is no solution or will power in the political class to contain climate change is in sight.

Other Conservation Issues:

Call for banning synthetic pesticides in and around our wilderness areas:

Our wilderness areas givers birth to our numerous streams and rivers and serve as the lifeline of our country and our economy. Spraying of poisonous chemicals as pesticides leads to accumulation of those in the soil and pollute our fresh water sources. A Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers project has clearly shown that synthetic pesticides can be replaced by neem based pesticides. Hence, with a clear alternative in sight, It is time to ban synthetic pesticides around National parks, Sanctuaries, Reserve Forests, protected areas, wetlands and areas of ecological importance. For further details, please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5539

Supreme Court bans Plastic in pan masala sachets:

In a far reaching move, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has banned use of plastic in pan masala sachets. This is expected to reduce the amount of littering in our wilderness areas. For more details on this issue you can check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5563
Wish the Hon’ble Supreme Court can ban use of plastics in all our wilderness areas. For the deleterious impact of plastics you can check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108

Centre Issues Wetland Conservation Guidelines:

Our wetlands, are being indiscriminately filled up and concretized after being branded as wastelands. Hopefully, the issue of wetland conservation guidelines by the centre will help bring in more focus in saving our wetlands. For further details you can check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5499

Train driver jailed for running over elephants:

In a far reaching move, a train driver who had run over elephants has been handed a jail sentence by the court. I think this incident will wake up the callous railway authorities and will force them to think of long term solution to the problem and order for alternate alignment of railway tracks. For further details please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5429

Seizure of Pangolin Scales:
We have to be careful about our lesser known species, else they are going to be extirpated much before the tiger.
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5484

Notable Images of the Year 2010:
Images shared by our members in 2010 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful….

Mammals:

Pair.. by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3417

A Dream called Tiger by Subramanya CK
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3231

Elephant digger by Dipankar Majumdar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3626

Birds:

Black-winged Stilt by Gautam Biswas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5434

Purple rumped Sunbird by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4535

Kestrel Hunt by Tushar Dixit
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5555

Landscapes:

Rain…at last! By Dr. Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4197

And clouds cover the jungle…. By Sagar Patil (with a compact camera)
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3876

Sunset Hue by Dr. Kalpamoit Kakati
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5365

Others:

The Green Predator by Dr. Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4206

Master of Disguise by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5041

Kandil-pushpa at Kaas plateau
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5058

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-xii

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, any member has forgotten his/her user id and password, then he/she can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481

This issue of the IndiaWilds Newsletter brings into focus our approach towards poisoning our wilderness areas, fresh water sources with pesticides, allowing use of pesticides that have been banned in other countries, role of planning or the lack of it in fuelling the so called Development vs Conservation battle. The newsletter is available online at http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-xi and you can also post your views directly in the article.

Is India a dumping ground?

This question arises time and again when we find inferior products sold in India despite those being banned in most of the developed countries. It has again come to the fore with the recent controversy about pesticides. We look at two chemicals

Endosulfan:

India is the largest user of Endosulfan, a highly toxic organochlorine compound that is used as an insecticide and acaricide. The impact of this deadly pesticide in India came to light in Kasaragod where it was sprayed in the plantations for nearly three decades. Since our plantations have come up in the place of pristine wilderness areas which are often the source of many a rivers and streams, spraying of pesticides leads to pollution of the water sources apart from accumulation in the soil. Studies have indicated that exposure to Endosulfan causes genetic mutation and has played havoc with the health of people and animals. Since its half life is estimated from 9 months to 6 years, it remains in the soil for a long time and continues to impact the lives of all living beings.

It has been banned in most of the developed countries including the US. Unfortunately, despite the repeated demands by the Govt. of Kerala, the Govt. of India doesn’t agree to ban this highly toxic chemical. For further details you can check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5224

Furadan:

Several years ago, I came to know about this insecticide when I saw poachers use this in Chilika lake to kill birds. This pesticide is placed on the leaf of the water lilly, lotus etc and the birds die after eating those. Out of the hundreds of birds that die, the poachers are able to retrieve the bodies of a few and then sell those to the nearby eateries (dhabas) dotting the National Highway. Interestingly, this pesticide was sold in Africa by FMC. When it was reported that there were cases of lion poisoning, the organization decided to take back all the stocks that were present in the channel. Some details about it can be found here: http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14187 and here: http://www.furadanfacts.com/InTheNews.aspx?itemId=1002

Interestingly, Furadan is marketed in India by Rallis India, a Tata group enterprise. I guess no one in India has pointed out to the Tata group that a product that has been withdrawn from Africa is still being marketed in India by one of its companies and there has been no effort to withdraw it from India.

Looking at these two examples, there are several questions that come to mind. When a product is withdrawn from Africa, why it is available in India? Why the Govt. of India is loathe taking action and keeps on insisting for further studies before banning toxic pesticides? Is life in India cheap?

The other issue that is not visible on the surface – and which nevertheless needs a mention – is why conservationists haven’t raised their collective voice against the indiscriminate use of pesticides, especially in ecologically sensitive places? Are we only concerned only about the visible impact like death of our megafauna like tiger, elephants etc due to poaching or deaths due to rail and road accidents?

Development vs Conservation: The Role of Planning

We have been talking about development getting hampered due to focus on conservation or wilderness areas to be sacrificed to maintain a decent quality of life. Is this true? Today, we would examine the role of planning.

Take the case of the Navi Mumbai airport. It has been continually in the news, as setting up the airport will lead to sacrificing a 90 meter high hill and 98 hectares of mangroves. For further details please check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3882

Finally, the environment minister and the civil aviation minister came to an agreement on sacrificing mangroves to set up the airport, as it was felt that looking for an alternative plot for the airport will result in a delay of atleast 2-3 years more. The question that comes to mind is who is to be blamed for this? The editorial of a major English daily says that if this compromise was to be done, then it could have been arrived at earlier.

The key lies in the word compromise. Compromise by its definition means it is not the ideal solution. Why do we need to be saddled with a solution that is not ideal? Can we continue to hide behind the flawed logic that money has already been spent on the project and there would be time over run if we continue with the environmentally disastrous projects? A similar situation had come up when the Commonwealth Games village was constructed in the flood plains of the Yamuna. Despite several representations, it was decided that already money has been sunk in and the time was short, and hence the project was given the go ahead. It was another matter that the games village was flooded. The question is who is accountable? Is there any one answerable for their follies? Why do we suffer, just because a few bureaucrats and politician have messed up?

What is the role of our planners? Our urban planning is a mess. Large infrastructure projects like airports have a long gestation time and hence need to be planned well in advance taking into consideration the growth of the population in the city and the growth in cargo. Also, since a airport requires large area, the Government has to earmark the areas for future use, so that they don’t resort to these last minute decisions. Conservation has been branded as anti-development due to the lack of foresight and planning. I hope, in the near future we can rectify that.

Jumbo Smuggling Racket in Assam
A shocking news came to light, when a racket for elephant smuggling was unearthed in Assam. It is surprising that though elephants cannot be moved without the permission of the Chief Wildlife Warden, his signature was forged and police and forest department officials didn’t get a hint of it. It would be good if members may write to the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam demanding a CBI enquiry. For further details, you please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5232

Brutal Killing of Baby elephant in Assam:

As if the Jumbo smuggling racket in Assam was not enough, an elephant calf estranged from its mother was brutally killed by the people. The forest department officials appear to be mute spectators. The video tells a gory tale. Several important questions come to mind. If the common man living in the buffer areas react in such a brutal manner towards our endangered species, how relevant is the forest rights act? For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5171

Lafarge Plant in Meghalaya:

The battle for so called development vs conservation continues in the North East. The protest against the Lafarge plant in Meghalaya is escalated to the Hon’ble Minister for MoEF. Similar complaints from other states in the North East are sent to Shri Jairam Ramesh as people appear to have more faith in him rather than the State Governments. For further details check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5322

Valley of Flowers under threat:

The valley of flowers which was revered for its association with sages, loved for its beauty and bio-diversity, is under threat due to a proposed thermal power project in the Bhuidar Valley. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5165

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10th Oct – 9th Nov, 2010 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful..

Master of Disguise by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5041

Kandil pushpa by Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5058

Otters harassing mugger by Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5058

Tender Moment by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5143

An experience to remember by Pralay Lahiri
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5253

Bos Gaurus at Nilgiris by Mohan Raj
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5162

Barasingha male by Atul Dhamankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5208

River Lapwing by Atul Dhamankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5254

Pied Kingfisher by Ragoo Rao (using a compact camera)
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5135

Large Egret by Sandesh Astgikar:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5228

Stork billed Kingfisher by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5107

Future of the shoals? By Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5095

Life in Shapes by Rahul Parekh
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5260

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-xi

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com
Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481

Why conservation has failed in this country?

I have often heard people bemoaning that India is still known for elephants or snake charmers rather than its prowess in IT, telecom etc. People feel ashamed being asked about tigers or elephants and try to justify that they stay in modern cities far removed from forests. They fail to fathom the rich treasures nature has bestowed on us. They fail to appreciate that the tigers and elephants of this land are deeply ingrained in our culture. I won’t blame people, because they have not been taught to appreciate these. Whose fault is it?

Conservationsists! Pat came the answer from my friend.

If it is the responsibility of the conservationists, then where are they?
Well, however hard I tried to think, I could not find conservationists. Various names of people, NGOs etc started flooding my mind and I started eliminating one by one.

I thought of tour operators as they call themselves conservationists. What brand of conservation do they engage in? I could not remember a tourism operator, hotelier, agent etc nurturing and bringing to life a wilderness area. They follow successful conservation efforts like the way a wildeebeast follows rains during its migration. They will flock to a park after sightings of the megafauna increases. They talk of conservation solely to maximise their profits through tourism. So each tiger is valued according to the revenue potential. They place the interests of their clients over wildlife or wilderness areas. In one case, a big and reputed tourism operator used to take their clients to a spot in the night where a tigress used to cross the road with her cubs. The jostling for prime position had extended from the day to night time as well. After a few days, the tigress had enough and she changed her timings forcing all the tour operators – big and small – to stop.

Wildlife Photographers: Moving from one National Park to another, these wildlife photographers click or “shoot” as they call it wildlife. Ofcourse they bring joy to themselves and to others who watch the photos of magnificent wildlife; they never utter a word to save or conserve wilderness areas or wildlife. A recent case in the point is the death of a tigress in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve; who jostled with each other to photograph her, irritate her by blocking her road and hence forcing her to snarl. When she was run over by a vehicle inside the reserve, the silence among the photographers was deafening.

A part of me is a wildlife photographer. I have clicked many photos of this tigress without stressing her. However, I have been repeatedly asking myself if I have done my duty in raising my voice and helping nab the culprits. My personal views on this incident can be found here (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/bandhavgarh-tigress-runover-by-jeep).

There are too many gory tales of wildlife photographers trying to get a photo at the cost of seriously distressing wildlife, from pulling out a snake from the hole in the ground for photographing it, to destroying the nest of an endangered raptor so that others can’t photograph it…the list is pretty long and shocking. For wildlife photographers, Conservation is definitely not the claim to fame.

NGOs: On the surface they appear to be the ones championing the cause of wildlife. A closer look, and you will realise that 99% of the NGOs are created for making money. This doesn’t mean that no one is working for wildlife. The rest 1% may be divided between the small and the big players.

The well meaning smaller NGOs are mostly fighting a loser’s battle due to lack of resources or ideas or both. Some of the large NGOs are focused primarily on creating infrastructure like schools, hospitals etc inside the wilderness areas rather than thinking about the wilderness area. There are a few who are focused on tracking and prosecuting wildlife trafficking. Successful prosecution can act as a big deterrent. However, there are instances when agents in the guise of traders are helping in creating a pseudo demand and that leads to killing of endangered species. And there are some others who feel that only awareness creation is conservation. And to make matters worse, each thinks that only their work is good.

Researchers: Our wildlife researchers are supposed to be at the forefront of research and the common man is often in awe hearing some of the esoteric techniques used in conservation. The information obtained from their research is at times very important and influences our approach towards conservation. Does that make them true conservationists?

A recent incident in the Wildlife Institute of India, where the authorities set fire to trees to ward away a leopard coming into the campus to drink water shows that there is a huge gap between what they preach and practice. (For further details you may check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4104 ). This may have been the most muddle headed and unfortunate incident; however, this is not just an isolated incident. There are too many reports of reputed researchers championing the cause of research or infrastructure projects ruining our wilderness places. Similarly, there are no dearth of researchers who have bought land or taken land as grant from the Government and unwilling to part with it even though wildlife migratory corridors are getting affected.

Among the young breed of research scholars, often use of a new technique or tool is the primary focus. Every animal is viewed as a potential opportunity to employ an invasive technique, which often defies logic. Often the primary goal is just a research paper, PhD degree etc but not conservation. I wish there is a holistic perspective, transparency and collaboration so that researchers don’t end up investigating the same hypothesis in different parts of the country.

George Schaller, perhaps one of the greatest naturalists of the 20th century, in an interview to Data Quest magazine had said: “Field biologists, such as Karanth and Chundawat, can use technology in the form of satellite radio-collars, camera-traps, DNA analysis of scats and other techniques to determine population size, movement patterns, and other aspects. That provides extremely valuable information. Such knowledge is essential for conservation but it is not conservation. Conservation, in the final analysis, is culture, economics and politics,”

Culture, economics and politics! I guess we are now back to square one. It’s better to leave this exercise of finding a conservationist to another day.

Of course, there is always an exception in life. A number of you are among those exceptions, and I am sure you all will agree that there is a need to bring a change in our approach to conservation.

Another Tiger Death and the State of affairs of Wildlife in the Madhya Pradesh:

The Nation was rocked by the news that the Jhurjhura tigresses has been runover by a vehicle in the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve. Initially a tourist vehicle was blamed. Later on it emerged that the forest department was trying its best to shift the blame on the tourists. Unconfirmed reports from locals as well as media suggest the involvement of a Madhya Pradesh minister’s relative. Only three junior officials have been suspended. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report has suggested a CBI enquiry to uncover the truth. To learn more details about the incident and to raise your voice you may check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3942

It would be good of you, if you too can raise your voice asking for a CBI enquiry to be conducted to unravel the truth.

Reward for wiping out tigers in Panna:
Public memory is short. However, it is not too short to forget the wiping out of tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve. Despite Dr. Raghu Chudawat – who was engaged in research in Panna – raising his voice about the dangers afflicting Panna, the Tiger Reserve authorities led by Field director Dr H S Pabla kept on insisting that all was well in Panna. Finally, when truth came out that the tiger population in Panna has been wiped out; the concerned officers were shifted out. Now Dr. H S Pabla – who can be termed as an accomplice in the crime, as he resisted all attempts to save Panna’s tigers – has been rewarded with the role of Principal Chief Conservator (Forests). For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4119

Looking at these two incidents, one wonders whether the Madhya Pradesh Government is indeed serious about protecting tigers and wildlife. It may be pertinent to mention that Madhya Pradesh was the last State to sign the tripartite MoU with centre and NTCA (for details check here http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2323 ) and only did so after a lot of effort and campaigns. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which is ruling the state of Madhya Pradesh, calls itself the party with a difference. Is this how it is making a difference?

I am sure many of you would like to ask this question to the Hon’ble CM of Madhya Pradesh Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan and the BJP party Chief Shri Nitin Gadkari.

Conservation:
Some of the other key discussions in IndiaWilds:
A report about threats to Melagiri forests:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3985

Sunderbans: Losing battle?
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4084

Ecotourism a Forestry Activity or Non-forestry activity?
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4102

Some good news from Kudremukh:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3717

Human safaris endanger Jarawas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4195

Wildlife Photography:
Every month we highlight a few images for their aesthetic abilities, natural history importance or for increasing our knowledge of a little known species. Please check the following links to access the images.

White throated Fantail by AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3923

Cormorant by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3971

Injustice by Neil Mehta (Image of one of the orphaned cubs of Jhurjhura tigress)
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4091

Yawning by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3893

Dudhwa Rhino’s by Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3907

The moving starts, in a starry night by Jatinder Sawhney
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4063

Reflections in Hunder by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4021

Olive Ridley Turtle egg laying by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4067

Antlion of Anamalai by Mohan Raj
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3998

Greenish Chamelion by V S Sankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3951

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Blog: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds

I came across a news item from Bangladesh and immediately sat up and took notice.

Bangladesh which had promulgated its wildlife laws in 1974 is revamping it. Under the present laws, the maximum penalty for a wildlife poacher or smuggler is 2000 taka which is equivalent to Rs1316/- and a two year prison sentence. Under the soon to be enacted new laws, the sentence has been enhanced to life imprisonment and 3,00,000 taka (equivalent to Rs. 1,97,529/-).

Now lets see what is happening in a biodiversity rich country like Malaysia, which is close to us.

Malaysia is scheduled to implement its new Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 by the end of this year. In this new law, killing of an endangered species like the tiger (Malay), Rhino (Sumatran) etc will invite a maximum punishment of RM 100,000 (Equivalent to Rs. 14,04,000/-) and five years in jail or both if the animal is young or is a female. The maximum fine for killing an endangered male species of rhino, tiger etc is RM 50,000 (equivalent to Rs. 702,000/-). Also, important is the fact that for the first time crime of setting up snares, hunting, or keeping certain species captive-such as rhinos and tigers- there is a mandatory jail sentence.

Now it is in sharp contrast to laws in India. According to the current laws the maximum punishment for murdering an endangered species like a tiger is three to seven years in jail and a fine of ten thousand rupees for first offence and twenty five thousand for second offence. And offences related to trade and commerce in animal trophies, articles derived from certain animals will result in a maximum punishment of three year imprisonment and fine upto Rs. 25000/- I am sure, you will agree that this is not a deterrent enough and the wildlife crime syndicates are able to easily get people to work in their channels.
It is said that the Government is interested in amending the laws to increase the punishment. The proposed punishments for killing a tiger is five to seven years for a first time offender and seven to ten years for a repeat offender. Needless to say that the present as well as the proposed quantum of punishment is not big enough to act as a deterrent.

Faulty Prosecution process:

We all agree that the prosecution process is faulty and drags on for a long time. The rich and mighty often get away with these crimes. For example, Hindi film stars like Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Tabu, and Cricketers like Nawab of Pataudi etc are yet to be punished for killing blackbucks. And this is despite the strong and vociferous protest by the Vishnoi community.

Wildlife crimes are heard in a magisterial court rather than a Sessions court. The evidence is often dismissed because the evidence is not able to be presented properly. Since, very rarely a wildlife crime is committed in front of other people it becomes essential to create evidences and link it to the criminals. So expertise in forensics, ballistics, biology, chemistry, apart from plain old logic is required to deconstruct the crime scene and prove it in front of the court.

Argument against stringent Wildlife Laws:

A number of conservationists believe that it is more important to reform the prosecution process rather than enhancing the quantum of punishment. They cite the slow and tardy nature of the prosecution process. It is often difficult to prove the guilt. So the rate of conviction is poor.

Unfortunately, the conservationists are basing their arguments on their perception and are unable to see the big picture. It is a kind of juvenile attitude, where each kid thinks his candy is better. The solution to the issue of preventing wildlife crimes is not just by improving the prosecution process, but by strengthening the wildlife laws as well.

Shabbir Husain Qureshi, the man who was arrested with one of the biggest catch of wildlife parts in Indian history – 4 tiger skins, 70 leopard skins and 18,000 leopard claws – was released after quickly finishing his sentence. Obviously, he went back to committing wildlife crimes again.

Why punishments should be exemplary?

I would disagree with people who feel the present level of punishment stipulated in the laws is sufficient or who feel that we need not focus our energy in enhancing it.

Take the example of Indians who travel abroad. The so called elites, or the middle classes as well as the working class people like plumber etc are all very careful in obeying the rules in a foreign country like Singapore. The supposedly simple acts of indiscretion like spitting or defecating in public, which people here are so used to, is not at all practiced by our people in a country like Singapore. The level of punishments in the small country like Singapore acts as a big deterrent. If we are able to slap exemplary punishment for killing a tiger, then definitely the people on the ground who actually kill the tiger or act as conduits will refrain from doing so. We will then have a small amount of crime to contend with.

Recognition for wildlife crimes as equally important:

Today, Wildlife crimes are given less importance as perhaps there is a feeling that wildlife is an expendable commodity. Murder of a schedule I species like tiger is not treated as equivalent to the murder of a human being. And this is despite the tiger being the vahana (vehicle) of goddesses Durga. And ofcouse, we use the term poaching for killing of wildlife, where as murder is the term used for killing a human being.
If we look at some of the gruesome murders committed in India, like killing a person and skinning him or killing a person and burning her body in a tandoor (clay oven), the crime was adjudged to be the rarest of the rare and the persons given death penalty.

Now let’s look at the modus operandi of a poacher engaged by a crime syndicate. The poachers lay snares to trap a tiger; the tiger is caught and tries vehemently to free itself. With every effort, the snare tightens more and more and the tiger keeps on bleeding due to the snare cutting deeper into the flesh. The tiger is then discovered a day or two later, sometimes ever later, and then the poacher places the gun virtually on the tigers head and shoots it point blank. The tiger is then skinned. The flesh and bones are dried and sent to be consumed in a country abroad. Is it not gruesome enough?

Do you think we should condone such cruelty? Is this not a rarest of the rare case and fit for capital punishment?

It is time, we toss away our rule books and rewrite those to keep in sync with the times. Also, apart from wildlife related laws, the laws related to falsification/fabrication of evidence etc should be made stringent, so that people don’t readily agree to testify to cover up a crime.

Apart from strengthening all our laws, we should not overlook the importance of educating the communities that get involved in wildlife crimes. At times, the accomplices of poachers are poor individuals from the local community, who succumb to enticements and agree as they are often told that the crime will not come to light and if at all it is known, then the tardy process of law enforcement will result in them coming out in bail. The forest department with the help of NGOs and local media should undertake sustained campaigns to increase the awareness about wildlife crimes. That will go a long way in saving our wildlife till the law ministry is able to strengthen the laws.

A word for conservationists:

I think it would be pertinent to recall the story of the blind men and elephant that we had read during our school days. A few blind men came across an elephant and each one touched a particular part of the elephant. One of them felt that the elephant is like a snake, the other thought it to be a rope. The third one felt the elephant to be like a wall. And there were answers like pillar etc. One can know that each one is right in his or her own way, but still collectively they were farther from the truth.

I won’t be surprised if someone feels that our conservationists are acting like the blind men and the elephant. I hope our conservationists share their perceptions with each other and arrive at the overall picture. That will go a long way in saving our last tracts of wilderness left in this country.

I can still remember that warm summer morning. It was the month of May, and as usual I was the first one to reach the forest gates much before it opened. It was an uninteresting start as for a long time we didn’t see anything. Then we came across a Eurasian thick knee. I clicked a few images and then we moved ahead. A solitary wild boar (Sus scrofa) was approaching towards us and as usual I was in no mood to click a wild boar. Suddenly it stopped in its tracks about twenty feet away from us. I could see that a cobra had raised its hood. The wild boar looked at it and then stepped aside and continued in its movement. We took a cue from the wild boar and moved ahead.

At 6.11 am in the morning I reached rajbehera grasslands. Two cheetal deer (axis axis) stags were sparring. The light was lovely. I immediately started clicking. The 1.4x converter was attached to my lens, and I removed it and started clicking. Hardly had I clicked a few images, we could hear growling of tigers. My driver started urging and partially blaming me that we missed tigers fighting just because I was busy shooting deers. Later after checking the time recorded in the images, I saw that I had spent a single minute in clicking deers. So I didn’t curse myself much.

We raced ahead to see two tigers growling and hitting at each other with their claws barred. However, the moment we reached the spot they separated and moved in different directions. It was not a full bloodied conflict. I could make out that both were tigresses. The smaller of the two was our Jhurjhura tigress. She moved ahead in the rajbehera dam direction and the other tigress moved in the opposite direction.

Soon the cheetal herd (Axis axis) saw the tiger and started marching ahead like an army towards the tiger. It was an interesting sight. Normally, one expects the deer to be scared of the tiger and run away. However, in this case it shows that the deers do have intelligence level as opposed to what we think of them to possess. The deers were keeping a close watch on the movements of the tigress and turned back when they were sure that the tigress moved away from that patch of forest. They then resumed feeding on grass.

I followed the tigress and could create images of her scent marking and defecating. She kept on checking the scent markes left on the trees and bushes and then finally crossed the dirt track infront of me and disappeared into the tall grass.

On any day, this would have been the highpoint for a wildlife photographer or tourist. However, there was much in store for us that day.

We turned back and proceeded towards climbers point to reach the waterhole, as the Jhurjhura tigress had gone in that direction. There we met one of the cubs of the Jhurjhura tigress. A couple of other tourist vehicles had reached there and the cub got disturbed as the vehicles started chasing her.

I don’t understand what fun people get by following behind a tiger walking in the road. Soon the cub moved into the grassland. It was an unfortunate incident, as this cub was separated from its mother and we didn’t even see this cub in the evening. Tourists should be careful of their impact on the tigers and other wildlife. We saw that the jhurjhura tigress and her other cub were on the other side of climbers point. I had agreed to carry a forest department officer in my vehicle and he informed the forest ranger about the tigers by wireless.

Within an hour the forest department ranger and the elephants arrived at the spot to conduct Tiger Show. At that time the Tiger Show had not earned its notoriety. I climbed on one elephant to go over the hill and have a look. I then realised that the jhurjhura tigress had killed a Sambar and hence she was fighting with the other tigress to protect her kill. The mahout wanted to go closer to the tigress; however, I always prefer photographing from a distance when I am on top of an elephant, giving the tiger sufficient space. The light was not good, so I just clicked a few images and then watched the tigress.

After sometime, the tigress and her cub went to the other side to climbers point and started feeding on the Sambar carcass. It was a delight watching the tigers use their rasping tongue to feed. Tiger is a fastidious in its habits. It starts feeding on a kill by first puncturing below the tail portion and pulling out the intestine. You will often find the intestine lying a few feet away from the kill. A leopard however, eats the intestine as well.

In the Sambar kill, the neck was neatly dislocated, the way an adult tiger kills. Its technique is completely unique. Other big cats kill by suffocating. At times, large leopards are reported to have killed in this manner, however I haven’t experienced it.

The climbers point was much more dense at that time, than it is today. There was a cave like ledge there and the tigress took rest after some time. The cub was busy gorging on the sambar kill with short rest inbetween.

After an hour or so, the tigress urged the cub to leave the carcass, but the cub was not willing. Soon a tug of war started. The cub had inserted its leg inside the carcass to get a better grip and was resisting the mother. Finally, the Jhurjhura tigress gave a mighty pull and the cub had to listen. They moved to the other side and into water.

By the time, around ten or eleven tourist jeeps had reached the spot. A group of excited school kids were also there and one can imagine the din created. The Jhurjhura tigress gave vent to a snarl and then entered into the water. I have seen this snarl getting stronger over the years. It was an irony that she used to resent the presence of noisy tourists and ultimately, she laid down her life under the wheels of a vehicle.

The tigress and her cubs were cooling off and the cub was swimming in the waters. Every ten minutes or so, the cub used to come near the mother and rub cheeks showing affection. It was nice watching unalloyed love and affection among species, whom we consider inferior to us. We call them beasts, animals etc, however anyone who has watched these supposedly ferocious animals, would concur that that they are more humane than us.

There were hardly anyone willing to get onto the elephants for the tiger show, as the tigers were infront of us in the open. The ranger got irritated and started driving away the tourists from the spot. A few moved away from the spot fearing the wrath of the ranger, and the ensuing din caused the tigress and her cub to get out of water and leave the spot too.

I too left the spot feeling happy having seen several facets of the Jhurjhura tigresses personality. She had defended her Sambar kill from a larger tigress, ensured that her cub is well fed and drinks water and cools off at the right time. She has resented the intrusion into her privacy by snarling and had moved her cub away from noisy crowd. The afternoon Safari brought another memorable experience with her family which I have already described here http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/when-a-tiger-cub-seeks-your-protection .

Anyone who is born is destined to die. However, one feels sad when a young soul passes away. You feel annoyed when you realise that the premature death is due to rash driving. And I am sure, you would be devastated when you realise that this rash driving has orphaned three small kids who can’t fend for themselves.

Precisely that has happened in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.

The Jhurjhura tigress who had three small cubs have been felled by an errant jeep. The cubs hardly five months old, are too young to fend for themselves. And no other tigress can play the role of a surrogate mother and teach them hunting skills.

And now look at the tragedy of the absurd being played out in Bandhavgarh.

Initially, the forest department denied that the jhurjhura tigress was killed. The Field director was quoted as saying that a male tiger has been killed. Then he said that the death is due to fighting with another tiger.

It was an egregious blunder from the Field Director, as fighting with another tiger would have left behind deep wounds, unlike the present case where external wounds were not found on the body of the tigress. Then it was said that the tigress died due to possible drowning or poisoning. Then they said that the tigress is not the jhurjhura tigress but its daughter from its previous litter aged 30 months.

In the meanwhile, the Forest department had identified 11 vehicles that had gone in those routes and brought the guides and drivers of those vehicles for questioning. It should be noted, that in each vehicle one guide is mandatorily given by the forest department. It was said that the forest department would seize the vehicles.

The markings in the face and the body clearly established that the tigress is indeed the Jhurjhura tigress. I have been photographing her for many years and have seen her raise successive litters to adulthood. I can easily recognize her image from front as well as sides. I used to joke that I have an annual date with her in the waters of Bandhavgarh. I can remember her careful foot steps during stalking when the hind leg exactly falls on the place vacated by the fore leg. I have been privy to watch her shower motherly love on her cubs. She is ready to admonish her cubs when required. She often used to show annoyance whenever tourists intrude into her privacy. My life has been filled with some pleasant memories of her.

Today, I feel a sense of tremendous loss. I feel a sense of shame, shame of having been born in the same race as the insensitive criminals who hit the tigress and the criminals who are helping cover up the crime.

I feel disturbed, when I see that a majority of wildlife photographers and tour agents, who routinely enjoy clicking the images of this beautiful tigress and sharing the images in photo sharing sites, are today silent. Perhaps, they have moved on in life? Ready to enjoy the moment till it lasts? Is this the trait of the human species?

Or is it because the culprits are supposed to be powerful individuals that people have chickened out? Are we so fearful of the powerful and the influential?

I feel annoyed watching this theater of the absurd. And I feel disturbed watching the studied silence of the papparazi – the wildlife photographers – who were hounding her and her cubs when she was alive.

Remembering the moments of bliss that I had experienced with her, I am sharing a few images here.

May God Bless Her!

Sabyasachi

Today I am going to relate an incredible experience that I had in 2006 in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. While looking back at my old images I came across this black and white image of a tigress and cub in water and the memories came flooding back.

It was an eventful day. In the morning I had a good sighting of a tigress and her cubs on kill and in water in the climbers point and suaribah area. In the afternoon we reached the spot again but the tigers were sleeping on the hill and were not visible.

I moved ahead and then later around 6 pm we could sight a tiger in the stream opposite climbers point. It was the Sukhipatiha male, neck deep in water. There were a few trees in front of us and the tiger was hardly visible. The guide deserves praise for spotting the tiger. The light was very poor. I used my flash to get his eyes shining so that people can locate the tiger. We then left the tiger at peace with itself and moved to the other side of climbers point, to the suaribah area. The tigress and her cub had come back to water and there were a few other tourist vehicles there.

My vehicle was not in the right position, and I didn’t click beyond a record images as I was not getting the right images. We waited for some time and the tourist jeeps started leaving the place around 6.10 or so as the forest department gate closes at 6.45 pm and the vehicles have to be out of the forest by that time. It was 6.19 pm when the tigress and the cub got up and went up the hill. All the vehicles immediately left the spot. My driver commented that the tiger is irritated with the vehicles and hence left. I told him that definitely, the tigress and cub will come back to water after we left the place. So we moved ahead slowly and no sooner had we reached the corner, the tigress and cub started coming back to water. They had a heavy meal as they had finished a Sambar within a day and definitely wanted to be in water to cool off as well as to drink.

We immediately reversed and came back to the waterfront. The tigress and cub watched us and didn’t react. So we realized that they were comfortable. I started creating a few images. My driver, resourceful that he is, suggested that I can click till 6.30 pm and then leave by the other gate. However that meant a drive of about 15 kilometers more. The light was very low and the shutter speed in my Canon EOS 10D digital SLR camera was pretty low. I hardly used to shoot beyond ISO 100 in that camera. So I slowly opened my tripod and placed it on the ground and started creating images.

There were a few deers (Axis axis) grazing in the meadows. Suddenly there was an alarm call from them. I was surprised as the alarm call was in the rajbehera grasslands direction. I was told that it might be Sukhipatiha male. It was likely, as we had sighted the Sukhipatiha male on the other side of the hill in the stream. This male tiger is yet to establish its territory. So it was staying in caves on the hills opposite the climber point area and used to surreptitiously hunt and fend for itself taking enough care to hide from other male tigers.

I could see different reactions in the tigress and the cub. We could not see the Sukhipatiha tiger, but the tigress got up and started moving in that direction as if to confront him. Fear was writ large over the face of the cub. It would be pertinent to mention that a wild tiger can cause harm to a tiger cub from another litter in cases where the intraspecific competition is immense. In such cases, it can even kill a cub.

The tiger cub immediately got up and started coming straight towards me. I was worried, because I had placed the tripod on the ground and had placed my camera and lens on it. Even at the tender age of 8-10 months an adolescent tiger has enough power to twist the tripod like a plastic wire. However, my driver remarked that the cub wants to hide near us. I then realized that the cub is seeking protection from the male tiger. I still couldn’t believe it. A wild tiger cub trusts a human being to hide from a male tiger! I felt as if a kid is coming close towards me for shelter. In a world where other fellow human beings don’t trust you, a tiger reposing faith was an emotional moment for me.