India’s ‘Mayday Conservation’: Why we wait until wildlife is on the brink to act

Worse, when counts in Sariska National Park, and Panna National Park revealed (in 2002 and 2008 respectively) that there were zero tigers left in these parks, furious officials turned out the researchers and scientists who had blown the whistle instead of getting after those officials who had painted a hunky-dory picture of the tiger population in these places. But zero is zero and eventually the truth did out and another mayday rescue attempt began – by relocating tigers from other parks to these places. The all-too-famous Ranthambore National Park suffered a similar fate after being brought into the limelight by the sterling efforts of the late Fateh Singh Rao Gaekwad and Valmik Thapar. Today, irresponsible tourism is proving to be another threat – putting the animals under undue stress.

Stricter protection measures are now under way, with more money being pumped in and new

Tiger reserves being notified, and the population of tigers is increasing as are the threats faced by the animals: Human-tiger conflicts are on the rise as tigers expand their territories – and the Forests Rights Act of 2006 – give tribals the right to live and work in forests. Worse, tiger habitats are being infringed upon by the very governments who swear to protect them – by new highways and big dam projects being announced in these areas.

The Asiatic Lion had another narrow escape. Down to around a dozen survivors at the turn of the century, the protection provided by the Nawab of Junagadh and the British, enabled these survivors to hang on in the forests of Gujarat’s Gir. Today, their population is estimated at around 700 animals and they have strayed well out of the Gir National Park. Here too, we keep our eyes closed: with nearly the entire population confined to one state, it is horrific to imagine what an epidemic like canine distemper could do (and in fact did – in the Serengeti and Gir) to the population. With pig-headed pride, Gujarat has refused to let any of its lions be relocated to other states, in spite of court orders to the contrary. The lions are sitting on a time-bomb here.

The Indian one-horned rhinoceros is another case of back from the brink: Down to less than 100 animals at the turn of the century (and just 12 animals in it’s now stronghold the Kaziranga National Park in 1908) frantic conservation methods, including relocation to other protected areas has seen its population rise to around 4,000 animals in India and Nepal combined. While it is protected by gunmen in Kaziranga, poaching continues to take its toll as do habitat fragmentation, floods and incursion. The Chinese believe its horn (made of keratin, same as your hair) will make them more virile – they seem to have an inferiority complex about this issue. In Manas National Park, the entire population of rhinos was wiped out by insurgents.

The red panda, another inhabitant of the north-east, as well as Nepal and China, is also under the gun, being poached for its skin and having its habitat destroyed and fragmented. The numbers are down to 10,000 animals. Also confined to the north-east is the beautiful Golden Langur – one of the most endangered primates in India, with a count of 6,000-6,500 animals left. Scarcity of food, death by electrocution and road accidents take their toll as the animals venture beyond their forest habitats in search of food. In the last 30 years, the population has declined by 30 percent.

Down south, the fate of the magnificent lion-tailed macaque is much the same: here, habitat destruction and fragmentation (due to logging, coffee and tea plantations) has been a major cause for their decline. They are run over by cars, electrocuted and when small populations are confined, there is danger of inbreeding depression. Conservationists are now building rope bridges to enable them cross roads safely, from one feeding area to another. There are estimated to be just 3,000-3,500 macaques left.

When you pit these numbers against our own 1.4+ billion, you suddenly realize what these animals are up against, as we claim and destroy more and more of their habitats. The powers that be, as always, promise one thing and deliver the opposite. So highways and dams will continue to be built in protected areas, the potentially disastrous Nicobar project will go ahead (in the name of ‘development’ and ‘national security’ – who can argue against that?), basically the annihilation of all life in those pristine forests and suddenly one day we will wake up and realize, ‘Hey, this animal or bird is about to be extinguished… mayday, mayday, mayday!’ It is only fools who don’t learn from their mistakes.

As for birds, that’s another story.