saying that population of some animals are exploding in india is misleading.
how is this misleading? Dont you see the monkeys that are marauding our cities?
The hunting permit mechanism to promote conservation of wildlife works this way.. As you would know, leaving the job of conservation of Forests and Wildlife in the hands of Government officials and a few individuals and NGO's has not worked in India. Period! It's a question of who will police the police?. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" as the saying goes.. NGO's are controlled by the MOEF and they usually have to 'shape up or ship out' when it comes to saying anything that goes against the diktats of MOEF. As I see it, Forest officials all over India have a 'wink wink nudge nudge' or 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' symbiotic relationship with politicians and unscruplous businessmen to 'Harvest the bounty of our forests be it in the form of forest produce like timber, bamboo, medicinal herbs, etc.. I remember having read somewhere that some forest officials have alledgely been involved with poaching of the Tiger itself. Bringing in private individuals who are sports hunters into this hitherto cozy symbiotic relationship of officials and business men could if done properly throw a spanner in the works of forest officials. Individual sports hunters who have hitherto been dishonourably debarred from the indian conservation game-plan would be charged heavily to persue their sports (in a manner that is sustainable) Such individuals who could afford to persue such a sport in India would most necessarily be rich, literate and aware of his surroundings. He could very well turnout to be the crucial (missing) stake holder in the conservation scenario of India. As they would be directly taxed, they would be the first persons to realize what is going on in the forests and ask the officials "Where is the trophy that I have paid for?"
I had recently commented on a post by a famous indian conservator on facebook I quote : "
Actually there is a way, but we are too thick headed to recognize it. Instead of trying to uplift wildlife conservation onto a pedestal and turn it into some kind of unatainable 'Nirvana' we should bring it down to the masses in a way they understand and can relate with. If done correctly they can even profit from it. Dr. HS Pabla in his paper 'Use it or Loose it : THE MANTRA FOR MAN-ANIMAL CO-EXISTENCE’ seems to have hit the nail with practical answers to our problems but Indian conservators wont touch it with a barge pole.. Why?? Is it because we want to put Wildlife Conservation up there on a 'high pedestal' like some kind of sanctimonius religious zealot?"
You want to put conservaton up there like some kind of a religion and follow it piously like a devotee. It dosent work that way! Conservation is nothing without humans and although it feels very selfish, it
IS solely for the benifit of man. If it benefits conservation in the longrun by allowing man to benefit directly in the short run in a way that is sustainable, why get so upset about it. I truely believe this is where india has gone wrong.. treating conservation like a religion. Ahimsa and all that...
