India once was a haven of wild life. It was the land of big cats, tigers, lions, leopards, cheetahs, elephants and rhinoceroses roamed in large herds. The other flora and fauna was matchless. But that is history now. Mindless hunting, widespread poaching, shrinking animal habitat and ever growing pressure of human population growth have played havoc with the wild life of India.
Driven to extinction the tigers, lions and rhinoceroses survive in wild life sanctuaries only. Even there they are not safe. Recently all the tigers from Sariska Tiger Sanctuary were found to have vanished. The probe led to a shocking revelation that poachers had killed them off for their valuable pelts and other body parts. Thus, the situation is grave for the endangered species under relentless human pressure.
India’s diverse topographic and temperature zones provided habitats for a variety of flora and fauna. The western Himalayan region has three temperature zones and is rich is forests of pine, deodar, spruce, silver fir, conifers, silver birch and junipers. In the eastern Himalayan region 4000 varieties of flowering plants, shrubs, palm, laurels, maples, alders, birch, conifers and junipers flourish. This area abounds also in bamboos, willows and rhododendrons. In the low Gangetic plains sal forests predominate. Brahmputra valley and adjoining hills are full of luxuriant vegetation of tall grass, clumps of bamboo and broad leaved tree forests.
Indian peninsula is rich in a variety of palms. Tropical vegetation is thick in west coast and Western Ghats called Malabar area. Hard wood trees like rose wood, iron wood and teak grow here besides a number of soft wood trees and bamboos. Andamans and Nicobar islands are thick with forest cover. India has about 15000 kinds of flowering plants and 35000 non-flowering varieties.
This rich vegetation once provided rich habitats for numerous fauna. Our country was home of amazing variety of wild animal life due to the diverse green cover of vegetation and forests. There were more than 350 species of mammals, 1200 kinds of birds, 30,000 species of insects beside a great variety of reptiles and fish, river, pond and well creatures.
Elephants, Indian buffalo, bison, nilgai, black buck, wild ass, antelope (Barah Singa), one horned rhinoceros and a variety of deer like cheetal, sambar etc. make up the herbivorous mammals. Indian lion, tiger, panther, leopard, (cheetha, now extinct) and other species of smaller cats make up the ‘Cat’ category. Western Himalayas have its own specie of bear called Himalayan bear. A specie of Panda is also found but it is very rare. All the jungles of India have many kinds of monkeys and apes or langoors. In Ladakh region wild yak is found.
The bird life of India is rich and very colourful. Indian peacock is our national bird. Great Indian bustard is a rare bird. There also are ducks, hawks, jungle fowl, pheasants, partidges, quails, green pigeons, parakeets, hornbills,
bulbuls, mynahs, cranes, crows, house sparrows, kingfisher etc. are a common sight. Himalayan tregopan (Monal) is a very pretty bird and sadly it faces extinction. There are crocodiles, gharials and a variety of fish and turtles in rivers and lakes. Smaller species of water creatures breed in ponds. Hill streams breed trout and masheer fish. The rivers in plains are home of singhara, and other varieties of fish.
Wild life is an essential and integral part of nature and environment. They help in maintaining ecological balance and conservation of environment. No life form is without any purpose. Every creature plays a vital role in nature and its scheme of things.
We are also a part of wider animal life system. Man’s being social, intelligent and thinking creature does not give it a licence to destroy the environment and murder other life forms. Animals are constant and renewable source of food, medicine and protection of eco-systems. The human life would become barren without the presence of other creatures. Imagine, without butterflies and bees trees and shrubs won’t bear fruit in absence of pollination. Snakes protect our crops by destroying rodents. Vultures clean up the dead animals and save us from diseases and epidemics. Earthworms make the soil fertile. Big cats keep the population of herbivores in check to protect the green cover of the land.
A number of animals become our food and keep us alive. Birds scatter away seeds for regeneration of greens. They also add beauty to our lives. Wild life is a great attraction for tourists. It boosts our tourism industry. The birds, bees, beasts, insects and other creatures are integral part of nature, our life and national assets. We must preserve them because if they go, we shall be the next to go as per nature’s law. Even our ancestors knew the importance of wild life and gave it important place in our art, culture, religion, mythology and literature.
Today the situation is alarming. Many of our magnificent species face extinction and only survive in protected reserves. These reserves face ever increasing threat of poaching and encroachment from growing human population. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, governs the wildlife conservation and protection of endangered species both inside and outside the forest. This Act bans killing and the trade of rare and endangered species, their pelts and any other body parts. They are congnizable offences. Presently there are 75 national parks, 421 wildlife sanctuaries and 35 zoological gardens in India.
The wild life protection laws must be strictly applied to thwart the killing of endangered animals and selling-buying of banned goods realised therefrom. The people around the parks and reserves should be made a part of conservation programme and educated in its importance. We should not buy pelts and other proceeds of protected animals. Huge prices they command is what prompts the poachers to take the risks and try to bribe the sanctuary officials or locals. The importance of wild-life protection needs to be made a part of the school education.
