The
Royal Bengal Tiger or the Indian Tiger which is the most endangered VVIP of
this country has found a new enemy for its life.
No,
not the odd poacher this time, it is the same celebrated so called experts in
Tigers who wanted to save the tiger from the hands of the poacher while it was
young and sexy, but now want it eliminated as the tiger turns a frail veteran.
India
is a country where the Tiger is not only protected by the Wildlife Protection
Act 1972 or the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1962, but as per the
article 51A(g) of the Indian Constitution Fundamental
duties it is the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the
natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wild life, and to have
compassion for living creatures.
But
of late an old Tiger that had killed a few humans but was captured alive is
facing an uncertain future. A section of celebrated experts feel that instead
of capturing the animal it should have been swiftly killed.
"We can't be sentimental about this. Our objective is to
save the tiger as a species, not individual tigers," Karanth, director for
science (Asia) at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told TOI."
Mr.
Karanth, who perhaps is referring to the Animal Rights & Animal Welfare
people when he uses the word 'sentimental' fails to see that the Indian
Constitution was not framed by animal welfarists instead it is the
sensibilities of people such as our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi (Bapu)
who preached, “The greatness of a nation
and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
In India we don't cull elephants just because their population
has increased (much due to the shrinkage of forest cover, thanks to us humans)
unlike countries such as South Africa.
Every animal or human being is supposed to get respect in
India even if the animal is made ready for a ritual sacrifice.
Therefore
veteran experts like Mr. Karanth (with due respect to their contributions
towards conservation) should not make such statements and if at all they are
actually concerned about 'SAVING THE TIGER' and not just running an industry of
it, then they MUST work on a 'retirement policy' for animals. At least
begin with the animal that is the VVIP- The Veteran Tiger.
