Editorial: Wildlife Weak

Any reference to Sikkim and the qualifying sentence invariably makes mention of the fact that it is a biodiversity hot-spot. We have all read reams after reams on the various geographical zones that Sikkim packs into its 7,096 square kilometres. Experts tell us that Sikkim has 4,000 varieties of flowering plants and herbs, 450 species of orchids, 300 species of ferns, nine species of conifers, 550 species of birds, 600 types of butterflies and a list of fauna that outstrips any other area its size. This is what one has read. Few would have seen even a sliver of it. The past few years have seen a rise in wildlife-human conflict [with the wildlife at the suffering end], but these have been limited to bear attacks and sightings and the rare clouded leopard incident, beyond that, even the bustis have not been spying on too much biodiversity. Deer populations are on the rise one is told, but in the absence of any scientific study, this could be credited as much to the wiping out of the predator population as to the ban on hunting. May be the fauna has retreated deeper into the forests; but even that is unlikely because Sikkim’s small size ensures that even the thickest of forests has but a constricted sweep with either a habitation or a road encroaching the slopes. Admittedly, in the absence of any statistics [current or otherwise], the suggestion that wildlife or flora is not very abundant is as unlettered as the frequent claims of Sikkim being a biodiversity paradise. This is not to challenge claims or Sikkim’s position in biodiversity rankings, but to underline the need for more detailed, from the field contemporary studies on Sikkim’s flora and fauna. Any such effort will obviously begin with a genuine stirring for something on these lines by the Forest Department and then a parallel effort to excite interest on such matters among the young, for it will be they who inherit whatever is left and will hopefully soon study the state of Sikkim’s wilds. This section has often registered problems with the tokenism of special days and weeks that planners organise to escape any real commitment to resolving real issues the rest of the year round, but even in their tokenism, such days have a role to play – in exciting the interest of the young since it is invariably they who get pulled out of classrooms to join rallies and raise placards. In the context of wildlife, one such occasion arrived every October with the first week observed across the country as the Wildlife Week. The first week of October is over now, but wildlife has not made any news, even by way of events, hence this effort.
Events for the Wildlife Week should be organised in way and on the belief that what the younger generation sees, it will protect. A trip to the Himalayan Zoological Park at Bulbuley above Gangtok will bring them a chance to see only a handful of animals. Sikkim’s flora and fauna spans a much wider expanse and there is a real need now to educate students on how abundant Sikkim’s biodiversity is. The observance of World Wildlife Week should thus provide the impetus to take the introduction of the Sikkimese young to their environment to the next level. The universal greed for “progress” is apparent, if not even more amplified in Sikkim, and has pushed the wildlife [hopefully] deeper into the forest reserves. Sikkim, to its credit, can stake claim to having segregated areas as wildlife reserves much ahead of even India, but now the time has come to reaffirm this commitment. The State has already lost animals like the Takin, the Pygmy Hog and the Sikkim Stag to the bracket which records “extinct animals” and has placed more in the “endangered list.” Someone, and only the Forest Department comes to mind, has to now take the responsibility of educating the younger generation on the inventory of animals that the State still has with it. Sponsored visits to wildlife sanctuaries and tours conducted by experts are the need of the hour. Then, the young will see what Sikkim has and will become more committed to protecting it. Ignorance can prove fatal, because if the present trend of tokenism continues and more animals are lost, no one will even notice the loss until it is too late. There might actually come a time when the young grow up believing that the Red Panda is a stuffed toy and not a real animal. Conservation will not be possible once that stage is reached...