Why the idea to convert protected areas like the Aravallis into safari parks is a recipe for disaster

I saw some pictures of the Dubai safari park and was horrified: if that’s what they want to do to the Aravallis god help Mother Nature. As for Singapore’s famous “night safari” I visited that many years ago – an experience that was bizarre to say the least. A train running on rubberized wheels (to keep it quiet) took you from one ecosystem to another: the enclosures were relatively small and the animals seemed listless and semi-tame. A pair of tigers, probably unaware, or uncaring, that they were being watched by dozens of people conducted their honeymoon just behind the large plate glass window of their enclosure a couple of metres away from your embarrassed gaze: it was the most demeaning thing to do to the most magnificent apex predator in the world.

You could walk along a trail too, from one ecosystem to another, along a wooden board-walk. And just in case this rough jungle trek tired you, every so often there’d be a little shelter (with a whirring fan, if I remember rightly) where you could catch your breath. Of course, everything was brilliantly signposted – where you were going, what animals you were seeing and so on and so forth and you could get all the information you wanted at the press of a button. But of wildness, there was none!

The equally famous Jurong Bird Park was equally bizarre. Oh, yes the enclosures were tastefully done, and the aviaries for birds from various regions were full of apparently happily singing birds of every hue. But there was this: in the aviary for rainforest birds, a pathway ran around the circumference of the aviary, in the midst of which they had planted their “rainforest”. Promptly at noon a simulated thunderstorm began, showering down on the rainforest as it does in any self-respecting rainforest. But not a single drop of water was allowed to fall on you on the path (they like to keep you on the straight and narrow!). I guess it was something like the way it often rains in Delhi, when one side of your house gets wet but not the other!

What was worse were the shows. They would put magnificent eagles, hawks and owls through their paces, flying across an amphitheatre from their perch to snatch a tidbit being held by a keeper. Yes, so you did see these birds in action and it did heighten you appreciation for them. But later, you came across these same “stars” shackled to perches all in a row, a sight which uneasily reminded you of slaves in the galley of a ship sailing for America back in those terrible days.

I dread to think what’s going to happen in the Aravallis, with all those grandiose plans in the offing. It is 10,000 hectares they’re wanting to meddle with. It seems suspiciously more a money-making project than one about caring for or protecting wildlife and nature. If it is already a protected area, really all we need to do is to protect it as fiercely and loyally as rottweilers! By all means round up the local youths for this, and give them jobs (and better careers) to guide and show visitors around, but leave the landscape and its denizens as is. Don’t convert it into a glorified zoo.

I won’t be surprised that, once it is done, the demand will go up for live action – “natural” shows to be staged – tigers or leopards stalking and taking down chital and sambar; cobras battling mongooses, eagles pouncing on hapless bunnies. But I guess our die-hard vegans will come to the rescue here and insist that the carnivores be fed with soyabean nuggets and khichri instead.

By all means we should develop safari parks – but in devastated wastelands where we have killed, poisoned and destroyed every living thing, including the soil, water and air; not in already protected areas. And given the will and proper scientific inputs (and no political interference) we can do wonders. The Yamuna Biodiversity Park at Wazirabad in Delhi is testament to that. So as a real challenge – how about converting the three monstrous, simmering garbage landfills around Delhi into safari parks? A warning: be quick otherwise some smart aleck tour operator is surely going to cash in and promote them as prime destinations for Eyesore and Stench Tourism!

P S: I think I read recently there was some plan to develop a safari park in Corbett National Park. I do hope I am totally wrong, because this is an oxymoron if ever there was one! Substituting genuine nature with fake nature: now that’s rich!