Indian Dodo – Ameya Yellore
Soon India will be the sole member of the club of nations with extinct species as their national animal. Tigers are going the Dodo way. This misfortune and embarrassment is due to Chinese trade’s demand for Tiger parts. Tiger is long since extinct in China and now they are hell bent on destroying the species in India and other Southeast Asian countries... Soon, Siberia will be next and then there won’t be any Tigers in this world.
All sorts of greedy goons, from small time hunters & smugglers to Maoists benefit from Tiger poaching. The actual hunters that include tribal who live in and around tiger Sanctuaries actually get only a small amount of money, which they need for their basic needs, from poaching activities. They themselves do not need to poach tigers as their way of life. They do it not for tiger parts but for the money they get by supplying tiger parts to bigger goons and smugglers who form an international racket of traders in tigers’ parts.
Since the amount these tribal earn from poaching is relatively small, they can be weaned away from poaching. The need of the hour is to control these people by conceding them some of their basic necessities. If they have to survive without poaching then an alternate source of income for them will do the job. Rehabilitating them with adequate sources of livelihood can help change the delicate balance of motive behind poaching. Without the support of these locals the tiger poaching goons will be no match for our forest rangers. Tiger extinction will be contained and India will save its face.
Action by the government is essential in Tiger conservation but the role of private parties cannot be ruled out. If the tiger is to survive then action needs to be taken. Allotting forest land and breeding them in zoos is not the way ahead from now on. Private bodies, NGOs, should work with the government and also on their own to make tiger conservation lucrative to these tribal. We need to move from our couch to make tiger poaching a thing of the past. Weaning the tribal away from tiger poaching activity is the challenge for Nature Lovers now. Proper action on this front can still save our national pride.
There exists a delicate balance in nature. If one species dies off or is introduced to new areas, there is chaos. This has been seen in various places like Australia and islands of Madagascar where a small mongoose like animal accidentally landed on an island and soon evolved into a much larger panther like predator. Newer predators target many of the existing prey species and soon lead to extinction. Allowing gun toting poachers will translate into a similar situation.
Extinction can be more dangerous than we think, for if a top predator is replaced by many other smaller predators the smaller predators will soon evolve into larger individuals and turn into a new potentially dangerous species. The original prey will also evolve but into weaker individuals and even other species. These forces of change will soon destroy the forests as we know them today. Without forests, without the biodiversity of today, more species of plants and animals will become extinct or evolve into different living beings altogether. This in turn will affect agriculture and other activities that have an impact on human lives. These forces of nature have the fearful potential of hampering and harming lives of People, plants and animals across the world. Tiger extinction therefore has more drawbacks than embarrassment. It has economic impacts too.
What lies ahead is a choice. Conserve or perish.
Stop Tiger Trade. Stop Tiger Extinction… Stop Annihilation.
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