This year has seen an unprecedented increase in wild animal attacks in the country side of Kashmir leading to many deaths. While those who survived death are just ‘walking dead’ with vital organs of the body like eyes, ears, lips clawed out by the beasts.
In some areas of North Kashmir bears have been seen moving like stray dogs, creating a sense of fear among the citizens. The country side villages of north Kashmir these days resemble a goblin-infested street of medieval tales, with the people preferring to stay indoors after the sunset.
In Sangrama constituency packs of wolves have been seeing roaming together. The canine is a ferocious animal which believes in ambush hunting. The stealth predator has launched a series of attacks on children killing as many as five and injuring scores others. People in the countryside have been attacked everywhere-some while having a casual stroll in the woods, some in their orchards while others have been attacked right in their courtyard.
Those people who survive these attacks narrate the horrible ordeal they have to endure every day. The sheer torture of not being able to reveal their faces in public would send shivers down the spine of every human being. They have to endure unmentionable hardships for a lifetime.
Majority of the people attacked belong to the lower strata of the society slogging it hard making both the ends meet. While in some cases government has come forward and provided a monetary relief of one lakh rupees to the families of the deceased, there is no dearth of cases where government just preferred to look the other way. Government’s oblivion appears even more sinister given the responsibility of government to protect its citizens from the wild animals.
Even though government is seen acting promptly to kill any man-eater Leopard or a Wolf but one wonders whether such cosmetic approach would entail safety of people in the countryside whose indulgence in agricultural activities necessitates association with the peripheral forests bordering the villages. Some wildlife officials while pleading anonymity said that they were tired of telling people of “Dos and don’ts” of avoiding a conflict with animals. The officials feel that since orchards and paddy fields located in the peripheral areas of villages are a functional necessity of rural life.
Can we imagine a village life where people do not tend to their cattle or do not work in their orchards? The answer is a categorical ‘NO’. The reality beckons the question that whether we have infiltrated deep in to the domain of wild animals. Has our greed blindfolded us to the fact that we humans are encroaching upon forests which essentially is the homeland of these wild animals? In the rat race of materialism, are we busy in building our concrete jungles and wiping out natural ones? With blinkers on, are we oblivious to the fact that other animals have an equal right to live in this world as much as we have?
Some officials of the department of wildlife feel that the frequent sightings of the black bear must be ascribed to the fact that we are building our homes in forests. When we build homes in forests, the contact with wild animals is imminent. Kashmir is not the only place where bear attacks are on the rise. Take an example of Romania. It is also facing this problem. The government there is also urging the people to refrain from encroaching forests.
We cannot lose sight of the fact that the bear population is on rise from the last two decades presumably due to a ban on hunting. The government has also been found lackadaisical in some cases. The local press is filed with stories showing countryside people protesting against the callous attitude of wildlife department. Why is it that a wild animal which kills one person goes on to kill many others while the wildlife officials wait? Why is that despite frequent SOS calls from villagers on sighting a bear falls on deaf ears of the wildlife department?
The government has plenty to answer and the unprecedented (and justifiable) media hype ensures that government cannot evade answers. The cosmetic approach of providing one lakh rupees of monetary help will not do any more.
It is an irony that wild bears have killed people where the wild animal sighting is nothing less than a miracle. Take example of a village near Chadoora where two people were killed recently reportedly by a man-eater Leopard. Or the famous sighting of a bear near the Gupkar house of Mufti Muhammad sayeed in the capital city of Srinagar.
The Government needs to take serious efforts before it is too late. Government needs to undertake a survey to establish how many people were maimed for a lifetime after wild animals attacked them. The maimed need financial assistance from government because it is government’s duty to protect its citizens from wild animal attacks.
The government needs to take all sections of the society on board while evolving a long-term strategy to deal with the problem. We should evolve a strategy which entails safety of both the animals and most importantly that of man.
Wild animals on prowl in the countryside
