3 good write ups....

[Guest guest]

A little mercy, my Lord

The most distressing feature of the voluminous

judgment delivered by the Karnataka Lokayukta on the

stray dog problem in Bangalore is the absence of any

attempt and inclination to take a rational, restrained

and judicious view of the issue. Nobody might have

much quarrels with the observations contained in the

judgment that the officials concerned in the Bangalore

Mahanagara Pal-ike (BMP) should go about their

legitimate duties of tackling the stray dog prob-lem

unperturbed from “unwarranted threats” from the then

minister for urban development and poverty

alleviation, Mr Jagmohan and officials of the social

justice empowerment ministry.

 

Nevertheless, the nettlesome question is whether it is

possible to comply with the directive of the

Loka-yukta to “summarily destroy stray and ownerless

dogs in Bangalore City “without getting one’s

conscience pri-cked. Besides, the impre-ssion sought

to be created in the 65-page judgment that the

fountainhead of compassion for these dogs is from

those who are fortunate enough to move in their

limousines is at best be termed as some-what weird way

of looking at the issue. But all one can do now is to

implore the presiding officer of this quasi judicial

institution to revise his opinion. In sum, the

physical elimination of the dogs known as stray and

ownerless ones should be the last resort.

 

If the phenomenal strides made in the spheres of

science, medicine and technology were to be

effectively and earnestly harnessed there is no reason

why ani-mal birth control progr-amme should not get a

fair try and make headway. The guiding principle of

such great scientific and technological advances and

also that of the jurisprudence is certainly not to

degrade and destroy the life of either human beings or

of mute animals mercilessly. There is of course a very

strong case for strengthening the supply and

distribution system of anti-rabies vaccine

 

_____

 

MINTY GOODBYE!

Animals behind bars are called exhibits. Humans behind

bars are called Criminals. All humans who ill treat

animals are criminals, because animals are also

rightful citizens of this Earth.

LAKSHMI MURALI tells you a chimp’s tale!

My name is Minty. Oh, make that ''my name was Minty " .

You see, I am no longer alive but I've not yet got

used to the idea of being dead. Can you believe it,

just last month, I was the center of a lot of

excitement, shaking hands and posing for photographs

with five grinning men. They were from the Company

that had adopted me for a year, under the " Adopt an

Animal Scheme " . It was a wonderful scheme thought up

by The Big Man. He had many such bright- ideas. He’d

hold competitions among school children for suggesting

good names for the Zoo's newly born babies, he had

organized a Zoo Club for children to learn more about

animals, there was going to be a Library about us.....

We all loved The Big Man as much as he loved us. They

say he wept when I died. Wait, let me begin at the

beginning.

 

I am a Chimpanzee, born in Sweden. I know, I know;

there are no Chimpanzees in Sweden or Denmark or any

of the European countries. Chimps are found only in

African Jungles. My mother was born near Tanzania. But

when she was very young, she was rescued from poachers

and sent to the Zoo in Sweden, where she was given a

good life. There she learnt that the chimpanzee

population in natural habitats was becoming smaller

and smaller, so some good people called

Conservationists, had made plans to breed chimps and

some other endangered animals in safe captivity and

send them back to protected sanctuaries in their

original homeland.

 

When I was old enough to move away from my mother, the

Sweden Zoo sent me on a long journey to India. No I

was not going to an Indian Jungle, but to a Zoo in

Karnataka in an " exchange " programme. When I landed

here, at first I was afraid they'd put me in the jail

they call " Cages " ; but I soon relaxed because my new

home turned out to be a large open enclosure with five

huge trees and lots of tall grass. There was also a

room in the enclosure for use during night or rain.

And I had a room-mate, another chimp who had come from

San Diego Zoo, two years earlier. We became good

friends immediately and Boy! What fun we had swinging

from the tyres, hanging from the trees, playing hide

and seek in the deep trenches dug all around our

" estate” and echoing the Hoo-Hoo-Hoo cries of the

Orangutans in the next enclosure!

 

The head of the Zoo, whom we called The Big Man was a

real nice fellow. He'd call us by name, give us a few

treats from his pocket and check with our keepers if

we were all eating and playing well.

Our keepers were different. Some were good, some were

bad. But there was one nasty man no one liked.. When

visitors crowded near the railing of our enclosure, he

brandished his stick at us or made threatening noises

expecting us to perform for the visitors. When some

stupid people from that crowd teased us, throwing

stones and twigs, this keeper did not protect us from

them. Worst of all, he had trained Subba, the

Orangutan, to smoke some foul thing called cigarette

and made him smoke when there was an audience and

collected money from them.

Soon after arrival, I had met my country cousin, a

Rhesus monkey called Thimma. He was a regular little

imp, who wandered all over the zoo and The City and

collected so much information about everything. My

room-mate and I loved to relax under the crab-eye tree

and listen to Thimma's fascinating tales about the

Humans.

 

Thimma told us not only about people who destroyed

forests, poisoned the waters and exterminated animals,

but also about some people who gave their lives to

save animals or to protect the earth. " People can be

such perfect Devils or such perfect Angels! " he

declared wisely.

 

It was from him that I learnt about the dear old lady

who had spent 40 years with wild chimpanzees in

Africa. Ms Jane Goodall had recently visited the state

capital, it seems. " Oh how I regret not being able to

see her! " I whined " She was one of the people

responsible for saving my Mother's life! "

 

I often thought about my mother in Sweden. Of course,

she was too old to be sent back to the wild, but I

hoped that at least some of her other children

eventually returned to Africa to live as free souls. I

knew I would never be let free, because I was never

trained to find my own food nor to fend against any

natural enemies. Thimma often joked I wouldn't last a

day in the wild.

" You are a Show-Piece that's all. So, just relax and

enjoy! "

 

One day Thimma looked grim. " You know, that rude

keeper, he and his friend have stolen a sack of fruits

and vegetables meant for the Hippo. The Big Man found

out and kicked them out.. But I just saw them with

some of their no-good friends huddling and whispering.

Something rotten is going on " .

 

The very next day, two Tapirs fell ill mysteriously

and one of them was dead by night fall. Three days

later, a young Giraffe broke his leg for no reason,

while two Peacocks just disappeared! Then, the black

panther became seriously ill. The Big Man was now a

very worried man and he made frantic rounds of the zoo

with his vet, checking and rechecking all of us for

symptoms of any infection or illness, virus, bacteria

whatever. " Virus is not the reason for animals

dropping dead. " said Thimma angrily. " I think its

those rotten men doing the mischief, because The Big

Man fired them. "

 

Then we sat talking about how humans treat animals

generally, how they ill treat stray animals in The

City, how the visitors to the Zoo tease caged animals,

and how men like those wicked keepers hurt and rob

them.

" I feel like stealing the keys and opening all the zoo

cages so that all the animals can invade The City and

give those Humans a good scare! " growled Thimma

angrily.

 

Suddenly we heard a gruff voice ordering us to move

into the room. This was not our usual keeper but a new

person. Obviously, he didn’t care for us and we

disliked him immediately. For about a week, we had to

suffer his rudeness. Thimma consoled us saying things

will get better, once The Big Man settled some

quarrels among his staff. Alas! Before that could

happen, I was forced out of the scene. I can't even

remember the sequence now, it all happened so quickly.

One day, when we were getting into the room, the rude

man let fall the trap door before I was fully in. The

heavy iron door cut into my arm with an ugly thuct.

That's it. After that, it was a blurring confusion of

horrible pain, blackouts, smell of strong

medicine...... I thought about my mother, about The

Big Man, about Africa and the Green Jungles that I

never knew............

 

They say The Big Man wept when the vet told him I was

dead. I also heard that the Zoo was shut down for a

week, people from The City made much noise, Humans

from High Places issued angry orders and finally,

after a thorough shake up, the Zoo reopened with new,

animal-loving, trained staff. The Big Man was smiling

again. He also put up a new cage near the entrance

with the sign board. " The Most Dangerous Animal on

Earth " . Humans peeping in saw themselves, reflected in

a huge mirror.

 

The next time you go to the zoo, stand near a cage or

the railing and imagine how you'd look from the

animal's eye view - you’ll be seen behind bars!

Animals behind bars are called exhibits. Humans behind

bars are caued Criminals. All humans who ill treat

animals are criminals, because animals are also

rightful citizens of this Earth. Promise yourself

never to become a criminal.

 

_____

 

Wildlife at the mercy of ritual hunters

For centuries people in villages living in the

periphery of dry deciduous forest and mixed scrub

jungle in various parts of the State have been engaged

in ritual hunting of wild animals. Today, as many of

these wild animals are fast dwindling, there is a

crying need to stop this deadly ritual.

By Michael R Patrao

DH News Service, BANGALORE, March 14

The life of several species of wild animals in the dry

deciduous forest and mixed scrub jungle of many

villages of North Karnataka is in peril as the annual

hunting ritual begins soon after the Holi festivities

which comes on March 17 this year. Mixed scrubbed

jungle is found in the area where the Krishna river

flows - Hukkeri, Gokak, Mudhol, Bagalkot, Almatti,

Kudalasangama, Narayanpur, Lingsur and Deodurg.

 

This variety of jungle is also found all along

Malaprabha which joins Krishna at Kudalasangama -

Khanapur, Savadatti, Ramdurg, Badami and Kamatagi. The

mixed scrubbed jungle is the home of a number of wild

animals which include rabbit, black-naped hare,

partridge, porcupine, wild boar, jackal, spotted deer,

black buck and peacock. One of the endangered species

is the Veranus Lizard (also known as monitor lizard),

the largest lizard found in India. Legend has it that

Shivaji made use of this lizard to climb steep forts

by fastening a rope to its tail. City wildlife and

nature photographer V Sudhindra documented the ritual

hunting both on camera and video last year on behalf

of Institute for Natural Resources, Conservation,

Education, Research and Training (INCERT).

 

Last year he made several trips and spent several

months on the hunting trail which is observed on

different days in different villages of North

Karnataka. The first ritual hunting of the year,

called Holi Hunnime Bete (Holi festival hunt) begins

on March 18, a day after the Holi festival. People of

villages in Herekal, Kamtagi, Bagalkot, Guledgud,

Anagawadi, Bilagi, Almatti, Muddebihal, Savadatti,

Talikot, Lokapur and Mudhol go into the nearest forest

for hunting of wild animals.

 

Unlike in the dry deciduous forest of South Karnataka,

where only sticks and guns are used in hunting, in

most parts of North Karnataka in addition to sticks

and guns, Mudhol hounds are used in hunting, from whom

the small animals have no escape. They also beat

tamate, a local percussion instrument like a

tambourine to scare the animals. The hunting begins in

the morning and goes on till late evening and even at

night. They hunters carry jowar rotti and chutney,

which serve as meals.

 

One of the biggest hunting expeditions in which over

1,500 hunters participate will take place on March 20

in the surrounding jungles of Kelavadi Ranganath

Temple and hunting takes place in sparse jungles of

Bagalkot, Ilkal, Amingad, Gudur, Hanumasagar,

Gajendragad, Dothihal, Kushtagi, Sirur and guddadalli.

The hunted animals are offered and displayed at the

Rangaswami temple. On March 23 the hunting will move

to Bavalathi Ranganath temple where about 800 people

from Anagawadi, Herekal, Bilagi, Mudhol, Bagalkot,

Bellur, Manthur and Halki participate. On March 24 the

hunting expeditions take the name of Badami

Banashankari Guddadu jatre .

 

_________

 

GREATNESS OF NATION AND ITS MORAL PROGRESS

CAN BE JUDGED BY THE WAY ITS ANIMALS ARE TREATED- M.K

GANDHI.

STOP HUMAN AND ANIMAL SUFFERING - GO VEGAN

 

 

 

 

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