Recently, leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Narasingha Mishra slammed the Government over the deteriorating law and order condition in the State dubbing it as jungle kanoon.
Though the very term is used to mean disorder, misrule and anarchy, but a person who is an animal lover and has been close to jungles and wildlife would never agree to it.
He would rather say that the wild animals and birds adhere to a very orderly existence and never digress from the law of nature. In other words, it can be said that jungle kanoon is better and healthier than the present world order, which has vitiated to a great extent.
In wild conditions, lion or the tiger is a peak animal. It is more disciplined than man. The lion always lives with its family and maintains harmony with other members of his family. The tiger or lion always maintains a territory and never encroach upon others’ territory.
It respects others’ rights to live and prosper. By no account, does it harm others. The male lion is the head member of the family and protects the family members from all adverse situations. lioness, the mother, feeds the young members and takes care of the family.
Although tiger has no family life, lion entertains a life partner throughout its life. In case of tiger, it has particular mating period, especially during the winter. The mating takes place between a male and a female who are agreeable and there is mutual consent between them for the act.
One cannot find rape in the animal world as it is a common affair in case of human beings in the present day scenario. No member of the animal world encroaches upon other’s territory unlike our politicians who are too much self-oriented and can go to any extent for their personal interest. They can change the definition of a family in order that their illegal act of grabbing Government property in the name of each family member is justified.
Animals always eat fresh. But in case of human beings, any food will do, whether stale or kept for days in refrigerator. Man stores food for him and for other members of family for days together and sometimes more than his requirement.
All the carnivores of the wild only take food as much as they require and hence hunt animals only according to their need. Unlike human beings they do not go for hoarding. They do not make wanton destruction. The hunting of carnivore is purely need-based.
If we consider the case of the herbivores, they graze and eat as per their needs also. But man kills or hunts animals as a matter of sport. Man takes pride in humiliating others, but animal never do it.
The superiority of mammals is always maintained in the wild conditions. But the so-called civilized man breaks all the rules and becomes a headache for others. The whales and dolphins are the mammals of oceans and lagoons who are very much peace loving and are fish eating animals.
Their playful activities make the people joyful. Instead, it is man who hunts them for his pleasure’s sake and greed. Nowhere is the animal world safe from man. Man harms him and also others and does not believe in coexistence.
Except jaguar, all four types of big cats are sighted in India. Chita, the most cunning cat, is now virtually extinct. Among the cats, there is social harmony and no infighting. In exceptional cases, one cat fights with other for food.
The weaker always respects the stronger. But in case of man, the weaker is always ignored, while the stronger always wants to dominate on the weaker.
Thousands of laws are there to maintain law and order in society. But in the animal world the law of nature is enough and the inhabitants follow it without fail.
Goons and criminals are so active these days that police and legal systems fail to contain crimes. Everyday new and complicated crimes are committed and the police and legal system seem ill-equipped to deal with them. There is neither policing in the wild, nor goons or criminals.
If man-animal conflict is growing these days, human beings are to be blamed for it. Man has proved to be a great intruder of the animal habitat. It has been destroying the animal habitat for industrialisation and mining activities.
As a result, large swathes of forests are destroyed and the wildlife in them killed. Gradual shrinkage of their habitats and lack of food force the animals, especially elephants, to barge into human settlements and go on a war path.
(The writer is a former senior forest officer and an environmentalist. Tel no 9937460649)