Dear Panditji,
In answer to Pawanji’s query, I recall an incident of monkey menace in my colony.
There were hoards of them wandering around with their young ones. They usually remained
forlorn, but at times they got aggressive and attacked the residents. Some sensitive
old-timers said that the monkeys keep coming from timeto time, looking for their original
homes. They had been forced to abandon the woods that were cleared away to house humans.
Wonder who are the real trespassers. In Pawanji’s case, did the fields originally
belong to the nilgais and mahes that they are searching for their lost homes and food
sources? Do the fields in his village stand super-imposed on woods and scrubland that were
destroyed to create arable land? It’s a case of a woeful history, just like the
monkeys in my locality. Such problems arise out of the attitude toward natural
conservation, which has been ‘anthropocentric’, where human needs are given
pri-macy over other those of other life forms. The answer lies in being
‘earthcentric’. Recognise equal rights of all species and protect bio-diversity.There has
to be some give and take from both the sides. This would take long. Till such time, the
residents need to reconvert some cultivable land into woods or allot some grazing land for
the animals and appease the spirit of nature.
 Pushpa Gurumani
E-4, Geethanjali Enclave
New Delhi - 110017
BEST
LETTER
WRITER
gets a copy of ‘The Urban Rainwater Harvesting Manual ’ as an award!!! |
|
|
Dear Panditji,
My school teacher, Mrs.
Manohari helped me in answering Pawanji’s question. Wild herbivores like nil-gai,
mahe and nodi enter crop fields due to lack of food and water in their natural habitat.
They eat grass and small wild herbs. You could provide them with water holes and
pastureland.There has been an ecological imbalance created due to heavy
poaching of predatory animals. This has increased the numbers of wild herbivores.
But, we can stop them from
entering the fields, through green fencing. It’s better to use thorny weeds, instead
of wire fences and trenches. Also, body odour scents (phenaromes) of predatory animals
like lions and tigers can be sprayed near the fence. This smell would make the herbivores
find the crop fields as dangerous and direct them into the forests.
There are other harmless ways to
keep the wild herbivores away from the fields. As these wild animals are scared of noise,
Pawanji could use sounds of drums and crackers or record them and play when the animals
enter the farm.
S.Thirupura Sundari,
Age 15, Chennai
hsevvel@hotmail.com
Dear Panditji,
We are part of the Investing in Nature
Programme with BGCI and are starting a magazine for primary school children in Spanish. We
have found many articles in Gobar Times magazine incredibly interesting and request
permission to adapt certain articles.Helen Vilbert, Via Email,
Environmentalist, Argentina People and Nature Foundation, Argentina |
|
