ChinKara- The endangered gezelle


Finally Salman returned his home with Katrina. This had been a long week with the news of Salman behind bars in Jodhpur. News channels covered every thing related to Salman, even the seat number 2A and words “Shukriya” addressed to fans from a balcony. it feels great to see so many people gathered to greet you at cost of some simple incentives.

By the way-

“ munh ki baat sune har koi, dil ke dard ko jane kaun; Awazo ke bazaaron mein Kahamoshi pehchane kaun”

This is what the chinkara community might express; if they had been given to express their views. I take this opportunity from our national news portals to enlighten us about CHINKARA.

Chinkara is a species of gazelle (a form of dear) that have the ability to attain high speeds for longer periods of time. Chinkara is classified as extremely vulnerable and endowed species in India. This had lead to extinction of cheetas in India. If there is a bottleneck in a food chain it leads to such results. This had been possible by virtue of poaching culture flourished in India since centuries. After independence the centuries long hobby sports is banned and wild life is legally preserved through sanctuaries.

http://www.answers.com/chinkara

The above link has a set of vital information, which our high TRP news channels could have referred to broadcast some intelligent contents through the idiot box.

But this issue doesn’t begins with Chinkaras and end with Salman Khan. In fact it begins with mankind verses animal-kinds; with a big (?) mark, whom to address beasts. The chinkara represents a herd of endangered species, threatened less by the predators in their food chain but more by the mankind. We ourselves as a community called mankind are predators. We kill those speechless; just for the sake of past-time, food, cosmetics, medicines, decoration, and fashion. Developing countries like India always had been sourcing destinations for the greedy eyes in western world. According to sources, illegal wildlife trade worth 10 billion USD.

Illegal hunting is defined as poaching. A simple fishing could be a crime if it is not the fishing season. Hunting had been a hobby sports across different cultures and civilizations, if we go through the pages of history. In Europe, during medieval times killing of deer (the royal animal) was termed illegal. This is one of the early laws made against poaching. During famines and peasants protecting their fields had been a reason for poaching in past. At present, increase in population and hence urban area protruding 360 degrees are major concerns for killing animals. Especially, adjoining villages near national parks and sanctuaries have such struggles where folks are concerned about their cattle and communities. One such struggle is sarcastically narrated with a Tiger’s perspective in a must read book A tiger for Malgudi As mentioned before, skins, furs and feather of rare species is fashion statement; giving all sorts of want-demand symphony to the illegal business.

Below is a list of popular animal products and their preys-

· Musk deer- cosmetics

· Elephant tusk for ivory

· Turtles for meat

· Rhino horns for aphrodisiac (well! There are herbs available for this)

· Tiger and leopard skin for fashion products

· Bird – pet trade and feather decoration

· Snake- leather industry

As known through the official website of project tiger; the number of tigers (or predators) represents the status of the entire eco-system. Since carnivorous are on the top of food chain and their existence enumerates existence of other attributes of the system. This had been a big reason for extinction of Cheetas from Indian soil; as chinkaras themselves vanished from the food link.

A deer with a 50 KMpH consistent running speed can survive to instantaneous velocity of 110 KMpH of a cheetah to prove the theory of struggle for existence. But how they both can withstand firing bullets and invisible traps which are alien attributes in the eco-system? Shouldn’t we realize to abhor this brutuality irrespective of overshadowing personalities?

RajeevSrivastava

Acknowledgement- www.answers.com ; www.projecttiger.com

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