Essays

While all of us are rightly so eager to manage pollution of all kinds, it is also important for us to help in protecting wildlife. We should abide by the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

It is no secret that a large scale smuggling of wildlife goods is taking place all over the world in spite of requisite laws passed by a majority of countries of the world in this regard.

Elephants' ivory is sold and for that the poor elephants are killed. Lions are killed for Medicinal purposes and so are tigers. White tiger, in particular, has entered the realm of a rare species.

Another well-known rare species is the Chiruknown as Tibetan Antelope (Pantholopes Hodgsoni). It is an endangered species.

The famous shahtoosh shawls, priced at Rs. Lakh or more in the international market are made of the wool of this animal.

As per reports gathered from the press, "As the Tibetan antelope is an endangered species, there a complete ban on the trade of goods made from the wool of Chirr in about 133 countries.

Wool derived from Chiru is smuggled into India form China mostly via Leh and Ladakh especially through Darchule, Rexol and Jaya Nagar routes.

The main reason for its smuggling is that artisans are available only in Srinagar to manufacture shawls from this wool.

And following manufacturing, these shawls are smuggled to countries like France and the UK where these fetch a very high price."

Under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, the Minimum imprisonment for violation is of one Year. In spite of this, every year, illegal sale of shahtoosh shawls is detected.

we must remember how our ancestors loved wildlife and sought its protection along with the protection of trees and forests. There are Innumerable references to the wild animals into the ancient books.

The Panchtantra stories are about animals. It is said that Shakuntala's son, Bharat after whose name we have named our country "Bharat" used to play with lions.

Even in the medieval age, the children of Rajputs like Maharana Jashwant Singh are said to be fond of playing with lions.

Historically, we cannot forget Asoka’s lions on his pillar which is our national animal.

The tiger is appropriately considered our national animal let us all take a pledge to protect wildlife at all costs. It is not only because animals are also living beings like us but also because our future also depends on this planet on the wildlife being safe and protected. Hence hunting of wildlife should be banned with an iron hand.