“EXTINCTION of Wildlife in India”

                       Speech on “EXTINCTION of Wildlife in India”

Dear friends

Even as I am standing infront of you to speak on the topic “If Wild Life Vanishes Can Man Be Far Behind?” a tiger has just died for its skin and bones, an elephant has been poached for ivory and many other beautiful specimens of Wildlife like leopards, snakes and dolphins etc. are in death throes. All because of man- the so called crowning glory of God’s creation, the so called intelligent and thoughtful animal.

The celebration of the Wildlife Week coinciding with Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday makes a lot of sense for he was an apostle of peace and non-violence and a preacher of co-operation and co-existence. But I am sorry to say, people in Mahatma’s country are woefully lacking in any sympathy and compassion for Wildlife.

Most of them do not even know that their country is one of the world’s mega-bio diversity rich countries with more than 76000 species of fauna living in 17 major forest types. 441 Wildlife sanctuaries, 80 National Parks and 28 Tiger reserves not withstanding, species like tiger, elephant, snakes and many others are facing the danger of being wiped out from the surface of the earth.

Who is to blame for this eco-disaster? The biggest culprits are the internationally connected wildlife poaching and smuggling cartels which do a whopping illegal wildlife trade of Rs. 90,000 crores annually . Are you known that in the year 2009, 31 tiger skins, 39 sackfuls of tiger bones, 581 leopard skins and 778 otter skins were seized? Wildlife activists believe that the extent of damage is 10 times more than the catch. As for the legal action, what a shame that out of 1400 individuals accused of poaching and illegal wildlife trade in 748 cases of seizures between 1994-2003, only 14 have been convicted and sentenced and 22 others arrested? Some thought for wildlife protectors !

I hardly need to emphasize here the vital link between the existence of wildlife and the existence of man who is on top of the food chain. If the food chain collapses – there is every danger of it- man’s future hangs in balance because wildlife is an integral component of our bio-diversity and eco-system.

So if wildlife vanishes, man’s extinction is not far behind. Is anyone hearing the call of the wild?

Thank you!