There is no worse news than this happening in a nature rich state such as Goa especially during the week where 190 countries pledge to protect the global biodiversity. The Western Ghats is a supreme gift from nature when it comes to biodiversity. There are efforts made in the last several years to conserve this gift and also present it to the world. In fact, the campaign to protect Western Ghats began in Goa itself way back in 1987. Goa’s Peaceful Society had taken an initiative in this regard. The international media had taken notice of the 100-day walk from Navapur to Kanyakumari. An environment conference too had been organised at Ramnathi with the cooperation from locals. There have been ongoing efforts from various organisations and institutions to protect the Sahyadri. Despite all this, it’s a shame that a leopard had to lose its life right on the border of a wildlife sanctuary courtesy to a man-made cause. It’s a question of who will really find the killer of this big cat?
Before this, a striped tiger was killed in Sattari and the evidence was destroyed by burning its carcass. The enquiries were held but nothing major came to light. The alert and sensible locals had raised their voices which went unheard. The hypocritical approach of pledging to safeguard the environment on one hand and to oppose crucial national projects such as Project Tiger on the other is what led to the death of this leopard. The rules were also violated for the members of G-20 in this very month at Borivali National Park. During the visit of G-20 members to Borivali’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, the park administration organised a musical program at the heart of an overprotected area inside the jungle to welcome the guests. The program featured loudspeakers despite the national park being a silent zone. The noise pollution can impact the lifestyle of animals be it their mating cycles, their procedure to feed milk and food to their offspring or even just for them to exist. It need not be mentioned separately that such rules have to be strictly followed. The primary information is that the leopard died after being trapped in the metal snare and it is indeed difficult to track the person who set the trap. Usually at the village level, people do not really speak about their fellow villagers and so, one has to accept that the inquiry will have to be closed due to lack of information. In fact what is surprising is that the Forest Department is unaware of such traps being placed right on the border of a sanctuary. The forest rangers need to patrol the area assigned to them. The condition is that rangers have to reside within the area of work but who will keep watch on that? The Indian Forest Services army is second to Indian Administrative Services in our State but who is answerable to such incidents? Who will take the responsibility when a wild animal lose its life? The blame should be put on those who take credit for expansion of the forest area. A game of expressing commitment towards protecting biodiversity on one hand and to try to omit the villages from eco-sensitive zones on the other is what is currently being played in the State. The issue now is who will truly protect the forests, wildlife and environment? Western Ghats holds significant importance not only to the country but also at the international level. It is expected for the biodiversity, wildlife, wildlife trails and environment to get top-most priority. It is mandatory to follow the basic principles in order to safeguard the Sahyadri. Not following those principles could be one of the reasons behind the unfortunate death of this leopard. There should be no two opinions about life of people residing in the forested areas but at the same time enough attention should also need to be given to protect the wild animals. Increasing industrialisation, immense growth in population, pollution and human intervention has reached the fences of jungles and sanctuaries. Nature can withstand this stress but only to a certain extent. Since the boundaries of human intervention have been crossed, the incidents of leopards getting crushed under the vehicles have become fairly and unfortunately, common. The concrete buildings were erected by excavating mountains. No one can claim that there are no animal hunting activities being held just because of lack of evidence. The urbanisation on a large scale around jungles, sanctuaries, national parks has become a norm and that is the truth. Human intervention in such areas cannot be termed as development.
