The Conservation of Wild Life in India : PART-TWO

In India, many exotic wild life animals have been introduced, from outsides that are a threat to maintain the proper ecological balance due to loss of biological control. However, it is a good news that both the national and international organizations have become completely aware about the fatal sides of this problem and the importance of wild life conservation has been given ample measures against the world wide destruction of wild lives.

There are two major importances of wild life conservation mainly, the biological importance, socio-economic importance and the importance of the cultural and aesthetic value of wild lives.

The biological importance involves the proper maintaining the ecological balance in different food chains. In a food chain if the number of primary consumers is decreased then the secondary consumers will become the predator of the domestic animals and that will be a terrific threat. On the other hand if the number of secondary consumer is decreased then the number of primary consumers that is the number of herbivores will be increased. As a result of which the herbivores will attack the cultivated vegetables and other plants, which is another threat to human civilization. Therefore, it has been proved that the imbalance of an ecosystem is a curse for human ecological niche. Besides, birds are good pollinators and birds like Crows are helpful to make clean the environment (I am mentioning this as I am a bird lover).

In India, 'Indian Board of Wild Life' was set up in 1952. This was followed by the establishment of 'Wild Life Board' in the states of Indian Union.

The highlights for methods of conservation have been taken are :

1. Enactment of wild life laws with proper implementation.

2. Species conservation.

3. Assemblage protection.

4. Habitat Conservation.

5. Mass education giving to the people for conservation of wild lives.

There are mainly four types of protected areas are meant for the purpose of wild life conservation. These are a) Sanctuary, b) National Park c) Biosphere reserve d) Ramsar sites and World Heritage sites. In my previous article [Conservation of Wild Life in India, Part-One] I did not mention the fourth one i.e. Ramsar sites.

Some protected areas enjoy international importance. Wetlands of Global significance are designated as Ramsar Wetlands after Ramsar Convention (1971) and National Parks and Sanctuaries of global significance are known as World Heritage Sites.

Examples of such Ramsar wetlands of India are given below :

1. Chilika in Orissa.

2. Keoladeo in Rajasthan.

3. Harike in Punjab

4. Loktak in Manipur.

5. Sambar in Rajasthan.

6. Wular in Janmu and Kashmir.

Among the above mentioned Ramsar wetlands Chilika and Sambar are belonged to brackish water category and others are belonged under fresh water category.

Some examples of protected areas of India are given below :

SANCTUARIES :

1. Jaldapara (West Bengal)

2. Kaziranga (Assam)

3. Bharatpur (Rajasthan)

4. Buxa (West Bengal)

5. Dachigam (Kashmir)

NATIONAL PARKS :

1. Corbet National Park (Uttar Pradesh)

2. Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh)

3. Hazaribagh National Park (Bihar)

4. Keoladeo Ghana National Park (Rajasthan)

BIOSPHERE RESERVES :

1. Gorumara (West Bengal)

2. Gir Reserve Forest (Gujarat)

3. Periyar (Kerala)

4. Madhumali (Tamilnadu)

5. Bandipur (Karnataka)

6. Chandradhapa (Uttar Pradesh)

7. Manas (Assam)

8. Sundarban (West Bengal)

9. Nokrek (Meghalaya)

IUCN has recently revised the Red List Categories and Criteria which is called version 3.1 : IUCN (2001) and this has come into force with from January, 2001. The present categories with their abbreviations are :

1. Extinct (EX)

2. Extinct in the wild (EW)

3. Critically Endangered (CR)

4. Endangered (EN)

5. Vulnerable (VU)

6. Near Threatened (NT)

7. Least Concern (LC)

8. Data deficient (DD)

NOTE : Categories 3, 4 and 5 together are regarded as Threatened. Threatened species is liable to become extinct if not allowed to realize full biotic potential by providing protection from exotic species/human exploitation/habitat destruction/depletion of food sources.

1. An endangered species are in danger of extinction and whose survival is unlikely if the causal factors continue operating. The Sloth Bear, Tiger Wild ass are some endangered species of India.

2. Vulnerable species are likely to move into the endangered category in near future if the causal factors continue to operate. Antelope is an example of vulnerable animal of India.

3. Some critically endangered animals of India are ;

a) Gyps bengalensis

b) Batagur baska

c) Glyphis gangeticus

4. The species which are in danger of extinction but the cause is unknown called Indeterminate species. Snow leopard was listed as indeterminate species in India.

In India, Project Tiger was started in 1973 whose aim is to create reserve forests in selected areas in India to increase the tiger population. W.W.F. has sanctioned Rs. 6 crores for this project. At last nine areas were selected. These are listed below :

1. Divided Sundarban (West Bengal)

2. Manas (Assam)

3. Bandipur (Karnataka)

4. Kanha( Madhya Pradesh)

5. Melghat ( Maharastra)

6. Ranathambore (Rajasthan)

7. Palamou (Bihar)

8. Simlipal (Orissa)

9. Corbet Park (Uttar Pradesh)

Project Rhino was started in Assam in 1987 and also started in Jaldapara of West Bengal.

Project Crocodile breeding was started in Orissa, and Project Snow leopard was started in Himalayas.

Few protected Indian wild animals are :

1. Gharial ( Gavialis gangeticus)

2. Great Indian Bustard (Choriotis nigriceps)

3. Black buck (Antelope cervicapra)

4. Chital (Axis axis)

5. Gangetic Dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

6. Siberian white crane (Grus peregrinus)

7. Python ( Python molurus).