(IN): Concerns over jackals at Tollygunge Club

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Link: http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070014632

 

*Concerns over jackals at Tollygunge Club*

 

Monideepa Banerjie

Wednesday, June 6, 2007 (Kolkata)

If you are a regular at Tolly Club, it's a fairly common sight to see

jackals prowling round the club's green fringes in broad day light and at

night.

 

Some members feel it is not safe to have the animals on the premises. Others

want the jackals to co-exist in this island of green in Kolkata's concrete

jungle.

 

''Jackals are shy animals. They won't come charging out of the bushes to

bite the members. So I think if we leave the jackals to the fringe areas of

the club and the few dense thickets, they should be fine and living here for

the next 100 years,'' said Banani Kakkar, Tolly Club Member, Founder, Public

Environment NGO.

 

The jackals have been living on the club premises since 1895. They have

never attacked anyone but their numbers have increased and there are

concerns that they may contract diseases like rabies from local dogs.

 

The club has reported the matter to the wildlife department and wants the

animals to be relocated at least.

 

''Lately I have seen some jackals that look like they are sick. They have

lost their coat and they stink when you pass by. They are definitely not

well, which is not good. They should be killed,'' said Satyen Deb, Member,

Tolly Club.

 

''We have asked the wildlife department to see whether they can relocate

some of these jackals. I'm sure there are experts that will tell you that in

a particular given area of land how many jackals it can sustain as it's

natural habitat. If the number increases beyond that number, there is a

cause for concern, because you may then land yourself in serious trouble,''

said Air Commodore K B Menon, CEO and Managing Member, Tolly Club.

 

Wild life authorities say the club's greens are big enough to house 40 odd

jackals.

 

''There is no over population as such, no reported cases of disease nor is

there any recent report of jackal deaths by club authorities. They are

cutting down the jungles, filling up the dens. So once you fill up the house

of the jackals, where will they go? They will come out,'' said V K Yadav,

IFS Conservator of Forests.

 

What do you do with these jackals trapped in an urban setting? Some want

them done away with altogether, some want them here in the semi-urban

setting while some want them sent to the wild.

 

But while the decision is being taken, the jackals are suffering. Their fate

demands immediate attention