Island Syndrome creating war-zones

Although questions have been repeatedly raised over the 'shoot-on-sight' policy, wildlife and nature conservationist MK RanjithSinh Jhala believes bold action needs to be taken if wildlife is to be saved. He said he was in favour of the policy, though it could not be "openly implemented".

"Kaziranga is the classic example of this situation. There is almost a war going on inside the sanctuary between the poachers and the forest guards. The poachers are mostly heavily armed and because of the lucrative business it is difficult for them to resist poaching. But if you want to protect wildlife, you need to take some strict steps," the 78-year-old RanjithSinh told this correspondent.

The former secretary has been the pioneering figure in drafting of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. He also helped to established 14 new sanctuaries, eight new national parks, and doubled the area of three existing national parks while he was appointed as the secretary of forest and tourism in the Madhya Pradesh state government.

Controversy has surrounded the shoot-on-sight orders at Kaziranga where poachers have been allegedly killed in forest. British media house BBC was banned from India's tiger projects for five years for questioning such "protective" measures in the Kaziranga national park. Recently, the Director of Corbett National Park, Parag Madhukar Dhakate, was removed from the post for apparently extending support towards shoot-on-sight orders.

"Ivory, rhino horn, tiger and leopard skins and parts, pangolin, nilgai and deer horns, elephant tusks -- as long as there is a demand in the market, poaching will continue and (may lead to) extinction of such species. This has happened in Panna and Sariska," he said.

He served as the country's first director of wildlife preservation under the environment ministry from 1973 to 1975, a position that he later held for a second spell as well. He has recently written a book called "A Life with Wildlife".

While speaking about other dangers that might affect a large percentage of wildlife population, he mentioned the "Island Syndrome" -- a phenomenon where wildlife creatures are confided within a certain periphery.

"If animals are controlled within a territory, they will start fading out and gradually face extinction. Wildlife needs space and the area provided to them in India is getting reduced. You need to move human settlement to give a larger area to forest territory which is now no longer possible. And it is one of the major threats faced by wildlife in India," he said.

"The so called 'development at any cost' kind of mentality is extremely dangerous. From human settlement near the sanctuaries and to opening of industries, everything has been set up violating the rules. If diamond, coal or oil mining possibilities are found beneath the forest reserve, those areas (the reserves) will be wiped off," he added.

He highlighted that it is because of the fast vanishing act of reserve areas that there had been a significant decline in prey, which is forcing wildlife to cross the forest boundary in search for livestock, leading to man-animal conflict.

"I remember an incident where a snow leopard had entered a human settlement in Spiti and killed 45 out of 54 livestock of a farmer but hadn't eaten them. There is a limit to which the humans will take up the loss and will end up killing the animal," he noted. But was the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 sufficient for tackling the situation?

"The act is still very much relevant today, but where is it being implemented? The government will dilute it. Forget wildlife, the present governments do not want the environment factor to impede in any way and this hurts," he commented.

When asked about his experience with Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister in 1972, under whom the act was passed, he remembered that she instantly agreed to it.

"When I presented the copy, she turned around to me and immediately said 'yes'. She was very interested in environment and she had very good people to advice her. Not to forget, she was also the first environment minister," he said.

The former prime minister took the initiative to write to the states to hand over power to authorise or control wildlife parks and sanctuaries, he said. "Eighteen states gave her the power, even before they saw what it was. She had the vision towards environment which present- day politicians don't have" he added.

By Somrita Ghosh