People versus wildlife: need for sensitisation

Yet another majestic Royal Bengal tiger was battered to death recently by villagers in Satkhira, a district that falls well within the Sundarbans, losing the battle for survival vis-à-vis Man, dubbed by conservationists as 'the most dangerous animal on earth.' The title is hardly inappropriate for the too-fecund human animal given the fact that the disappearance of much of the earth's flora and fauna is directly and indirectly linked to the activities of unthinking people everywhere, throughout human civilization. Behind the killing of the big cat in Satkhira too lies the same story of encroachment, of the ever growing human settlements continually 'stealing' wildlife habitat and shrinking the latter's space to such an extent as to bring the 'thriving' humans and endangered wildlife into close encounters of the most tragic kind. Reports of a variety of wildlife getting manhandled or killed by insensitive people in Bangladesh leave no doubt that there is a great 'poverty of the heart' that needs to be addressed to sensitize citizens about treating other kinds of life ethically and humanely. This attitude is not generally observed, neither in the treatment of beasts bred for food, nor those used to carry burdens. The list of reported casualties include rare reptiles and exotic birds, lost dolphins and forest felines. Some that are not a threat to humans have been subjected to extreme sadistic cruelty, if reports are to be believed. This year, even a giant elephant was mauled most mercilessly with sharp weapons and left to bleed to death ---- for having come foraging for food and, in the process, destroying crops and homesteads. The tiger in Satkhira reportedly attacked the son of a villager as scores of wildly agitated inhabitants were in the process of driving the animal back to the forest. It had visited the village a number of times before and had made a meal of someone's goat too. The dwindling forests clearly were not providing the tiger its usual prey. Removed from the immediate context of natural empathy and emotions for humankind, one cannot deny that it is the beleaguered wildlife that demands more serious attention at this point in time. Needless to say, 'reserve forests' must be really reserved so that the natural balance of predator and prey are maintained well enough and settlers learn to live and let live. This is a tall order given the population pressures and poverty in the neighbourhood, but the government has to be more seriously pro-active to maintain the balance. In this regard, the recent move by the Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh and the Zoological Society of London, to collaborate on setting up a centre to sensitize the young generations about biodiversity and the value of conservation, is more than welcome. Named after the eminent nature photographer, late Noazesh Ahmed, the Knowledge Centre is expected to include a library with the latest resources --- books, journals, films, online databases and news media ---- to attract upcoming generations. Hopefully, this centre will develop into a hub for all kinds of exciting interactions that would make knowledge-based activity 'fun' enough for replication, and so would the government's reported 'multi-decade master plan to protect biodiversity,' trickle down to include those who are obliged to live precarious lives alongside their wilder, more endangered 'brethren'.