“Are Humans, Humane to Animals ?” Author : Vasudha Malik, in the Hindu, dated 4 th, October, 2007 Abstract by :Rabasure ,
in 600 words. India is a home for some rare species of fauna. In order to protect them from the human onslaughts like hunting, poaching, felling of trees and urbanization etc, under the initiatives of late .Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, two acts, namely, the Wild Protection Act, in 1972 and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980 were enacted. However, by that time we lost a rare species of big cat namely, Cheetah and it had vanished from the sub-continent way back in 1962.However, the country is now trying hard to restore the lost pride by cloning one. According to the opinion of the wildlife experts, we caused the disappearance of cheetah, by their senseless hunting by the humans.The cheetah is not the only animal which bore the brunt of insensitive human behaviour. In all likelihood we also face the extinction of tigers in the near future, if poaching and
shrinkage of habitat are not prevented immediately. It is estimated that we have 40 % of world’s tigers population in India. In the year 1980,the number of tigers was estimated at 4,000,but by 2004 it got reduced to 3,723.The conservationists are very much concerned about the dwindling of tigers, but nothing substantial was done to protect these endangered species. The tiger population in the Sariska National Park faced a heavy human onslaught in the form of economic activity, through poaching, mining and extensive farming, completely wiping. out the tigers. Today there are no tigers in the said park. Voracious Man, out of his appetite, hunted the tigers for their beautiful skin, head, claws, meat and blood and their body parts were utilized for preparing traditional Chinese medicines, which commands a high price. Another rare and beautiful animal, chiru, an antelope, found in the Himalayas is slaughtered for its fine wool ..Three Tibetan
antelopes are slaughtered for its wool, for weaving one shahtoosh shawl, which is sold for a heavy price of $ 4,000.Though India banned shahtoosh trade in 1976,still it is flourishing illegally. Today only as few as 50,000 chirus live, while in the year 1900, one million chirus lived .Recently when CBI detained three illegal traders with 57 shawls, the ugliness of the trade came to the fore. For producing the above shawls, the traders must have killed and spilled the blood of at least 161 chirus. Despite of laws existing to protect these poor and voiceless creatures, as many as 20,000 chirus are slain every year. These defenseless antelopes, killed for the sake of hunting pleasure by men, revel in hunting these antelopes, but they do not actually realize that their colourful lifestyle is stained with blood. . Deforestation undertaken by men result in the shrinkage of their space, forcing the animals to come out of forests to urban areas in search of food, thereby endangering the lives of common people by their attack. The shrinkage of the animals habitat is best illustareted by the mushrooming of residential colonies nearby the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. The craze for urbanization resulting in the felling of trees and loss of prey for the leopards. These big cats are caged when they attack human beings in the nearby slums. Human beings consider and treat the animals, as their objects for their use like, meat, leather and trade etc ..The animals are denied their natural habitats by the human beings ..But, just like human beings, the animals also have their right to lead a life free from pain and suffering.