Animal Atrocities – be Sensitive to Animals

“Large scale” death of some crocodiles and black bucks in two different parts of India last month has come as rude shock to the animal lovers and the environmentalists of our country. At first it was in parts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh where carcasses of gharials or crocodiles were found in dozens. Then it was in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh where bodies of four black bucks were found in cornfields.

It was in the first week of December last year [2007] when people where shocked to find half a dozen of carcasses of crocodiles in the crocodiles sanctuary of the Chambal. As is generally the case with most of the government officials in our country in this case also people who matter and custodians of the sanctuary perhaps did not pay enough attention to the gravity of the situation. Little effort was made to ascertain the cause of the deaths. It could have been some sort of epidemic, pollution of the water of the river, poisoning or god knows what. The consequence of this negligence and indifference on the part of the wild life officials was disastrous as was proved within a week’s time. On December 12 last another 11 dead crocodiles were washed ashore the riverbanks of the Chambal in Etawah in Uttar Pradesh. The same morning four more dead crocodiles were located on the same riverside in Madhya Pradesh.

The shock and agony of this disturbance incident had hardly died down when on December 19th bodies of four black bucks were discovered from a cornfield in an Andhra Pradesh village. Forest official’s sources opined even before any post mortem was done that the death of the black bucks might have been caused as the animals might have consumed fertilizers! The official sources also confirmed that any action against the farmers in whose fields the carcasses were found was unlikely, as the deaths “appeared accidental”. This goes on to prove how little the wild life officials are concerned about the well being of the animals they are supposed to look after and take care. It is true that the black bucks in Devnaur village, the place of occurrence of the recent deaths of the four black bucks, are a constant threat to the crops, as they roamed in cornfields freely. Naturally, the farmers of the village are annoyed. It is quite likely they would take every possible measure to protect their corps from the herbivorous animals. And one of the easiest ways to protect the crops from the wild animals is to kill them. As the animals are protected under wild life act, any physical harm caused to them is punishable under law. Therefore, they farmers or, anyone else, are constraint to kill them. It is the duty of the forest department of the irrespective of the states of the country to see to it that the wild animals get enough food and water inside the forest area itself preserved for them. It is also the duty of the department to make sure that the animals do not stray into human habitat and become a threat to the villagers near the reserved forest. But the government officials hardly take up these steps causing great harassment to the villagers. Corruption, inefficiency and lack of concern for the well being of the wild animals are common traits of an average Indian. And it is these poor wild animals, many of which are placed under “endangered species” category, which have so often to pay with their lives for these human vices. Rampant killing of animals and birds and other creatures as well as large-scale destruction of forests has already disturbed the ecology balance on earth causing many a problem for life on it. To prevent the situation going from bad to worse, every one of us do our country and the world a service by showing respect to the life of other creatures also. Public servants who are paid for this should understand that they are also morally and ethically bound to work for the well being of the wild animals.

Author: Subhash Dey
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