Wildlife in Odisha seems to be in a state of great distress. let me not spend time on looking for causes; experts have been telling us why such a situation has arisen. What is important is to find out whether we are doing enough to make the wildlife safer. Precious little seems to have been done. Tigers, elephants and bears are on the run. The following narration would reveal the prevailing state. As a small step, can we do what I am suggesting in this pieceIJ
Electrocution has been the major cause of elephant deaths in Odisha. At least 116 elephants were electrocuted in the State between 2000-01 and October 2012. Although the State’s elephant population has risen from 1,841 in 2002 to 1,862 in 2007, as many as 280 pachyderms died due to various reasons during the period, according to a CAG report. Despite the Government of India's request in June 2002, the State Government did not prepare any perspective plan for elephant reserves and the scheme was being implemented through ad hoc annual plans affecting systematic management of elephant reserves. Though elephant corridors (forest links) were disrupted due to the Rengali irrigation project, no efforts were made to restore them.
Odisha was home to 74 per cent of the elephants in eastern India and 10 per cent of the country's tusker population, but the State did not form a special strike force to check their poaching and destruction of habitats.
The Centrally-sponsored schemes like Project Elephant aimed at conservation and protection of valuable population of wildlife in their natural habitats and reducing the man-elephant conflict also did not bear any fruit in Odisha.
The Nandankanan Zoo has a history of inbreeding of tigers since 1965 with one male tiger, born in the wild, and four female tigers, born in the zoo. The birth of cubs from the four females and subsequent mating of the same male tiger with its offspring didn't breed healthy cubs, resulting in the death of about 325 tiger cubs in 48 years. The wild tiger that recently strayed into the zoo can be mated with a female tiger, Sara, which is also wild-born. This would help breed healthy wild tigers. The intruding wild tiger visited the tiger enclosure-32, where tigress Sara is housed, indicating its compatibility with her. Taking into account its frequent visits to Sara, near the white tiger safari emergency gate, the gates were kept open.
There is an ongoing debate on whether the visitor would be allowed to live in the Nandankanan or let loose, as the law book suggests. I am for the young love-struck tiger, which has walked miles in a hostile environment to reach the vicinity of the Nandankanan, to be in the midst of tigers and tigresses. He has spent days waiting for an entry. It would be sheer human highhandedness to hasten his departure from the zoo. let him be welcome in the zoo and let him live the rest of his life free from poachers and away from the receding forests. let him enrich the heritage of the zoo the way the love-sick tigress did in 1967 leaping from a state of loveless freedom into a home of love in captivity and live happily for years. This young male has been more civil; it has waited for days. let us not be judgemental and debate whether he should live in the zoo or not. In the instant case, it is important and relevant to view the subject as the tiger would like to view.
This month, we witnessed an unfortunate incident of a wild bear that went on an attacking spree and killed eight persons in Koraput district. Reports of attacks by wild bears are coming in from other parts of the State as well. The bears feel insecure. Their habitats have been violated.
While I firmly believe in the indomitability of the human spirit and feel elated when our spacecraft soars high and explores intelligent life beyond our solar system, I see very little justification in our reluctance to accept the virtue of a ‘let live’ attitude.
Why should we not set apart a small landmass for nature to take care of sans even human shadow falling on itIJ We have no right to stall nature's freedom; we need not poke our bloody nose everywhere. That was the reason why years ago, in early Nineties, I , as the Finance Secretary of Odisha, had convinced the then Finance Minister Bed Prakash Agarwal to make a Budget provision of fifteen crore of rupees to create a City Forest on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, in the Chandaka region.
That would be a forest with impregnable walls around where flora and fauna would flourish the way nature liked. Tigers could roar; elephants could blow trumpet; monkeys would jump from tree to tree; where tree crown density would be high enough to give from the air an impression of an uninterrupted patch of greenery.
Such a forest would have been our gift to posterity. Maybe, about 100 square kilometer of heaven on earth is all that I had dreamt of. Some provision was made in the Budget, but my dream did not materialise. Different proposals by line department prepared by wise professionals were floated to make use of the money. Ultimately, some manmade parks came up, again vulnerable to human manipulation and depredation.
Why are we so possessive and colonial in our approachIJ Tiger reserves, all over the country, have been vulnerable to unwanted human interference. Chinkara shooting is considered an act of bravado; elephants get electrocuted or butchered; poor bears are getting increasingly shelter-less; a tiger walks miles to seek company and we, pigheaded humans, sit pretty frigid. Act; act now; the way that would demonstrate the depth of your compassion and show your love for life. let others live too.
It is not my case that one tiny Nature Reserve of 100 square kilometer would solve the crisis wildlife is facing in Odisha today. This initiative would only be a beginning of the rejuvenation and represent our commitment to preserve our rich flora and fauna treasure.
(The writer, a former bureaucrat, can be contacted at punarbashu@gmail.com)