The Hindu : New Delhi News : Capital simians may bully the Kuno lions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Capital simians may bully the Kuno lions

By Bindu Shajan Perappadan

NEW DELHI, AUG. 17. With relocation of 2,500 monkeys from Rajokri in Delhi to the Kuno Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh following an order by the Supreme Court, animal rights activists here are claiming that the decision would not only harm the existing wild lion population there but also lead to adjustment problems among the relocated monkey population. The monkeys were caught from inside the Capital and kept in cages in the Rajokri area and following reports of bad maintenance and widespread diseases, the Court had ordered relocation of these monkeys.

But animal activists now claim that while the "problem'' may have been shifted from the Capital, trouble for these monkeys is far from over. In fact, their relocation has spelt trouble not just for them but also for the resident lion population of the Kuno Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. "How this well-meaning directive came to be implemented in a sanctuary under development for a specific purpose defies all conservation logic since prima facie the manner this transfer was done violates all principle of animal welfare and the well accepted and standardised practices of re-introduction of a wild species back into the wild, not to mention the irreparable harm that it has done to Kuno Sanctuary,'' says the former Chief Conservator of Forests, Chhattisgarh, and former Director of Traffic India, Manoj Mishra.

The Kuno sanctuary was identified in early 1990s following a rigorous scientific enquiry led by scientists of the Dehra Dun-based Wildlife Institute of India as the second home for the endangered Asiatic lion. The Government supported a decade long project to "prepare'' the Kuno habitat for the lion. This preparation has seen rehabilitation of around 10,000 people residing in 19 villages inside the sanctuary to sites outside.

But with this latest relocation, animal rights activists are questioning the wisdom of juxtaposing urban monkeys against a forest environment, where they carry an "urban setting'' ailment that can be transferred into the existing forest population. Also, they are ill-equipped to live in the new environment.

"Wild animals and birds that come to inhabit urban sites develop such traits and strategies that on the one hand make them adapt to urban environment, while on the other results in considerable decrease in their wild instincts and skills for survival in wilderness. Non-human primates like monkeys and langurs living in urban settings tend to develop a dependence on human environment and often suffer from ailments including tuberculosis. Their free ranging existence within the sanctuary and nearby forests is bound to spread such infections to other susceptible wild animals in the sanctuary. In the worst-case scenario they would locate and maraud nearby human settlements. If the latter were to happen in this case, it would be classical case of transferring a problem from a vocal urban conglomerate to a rural settlement,'' explains Mr. Misra.

"The monkeys that had been brought to Rajokri included lab monkeys and urban monkeys and we are very sure that their release into the forest zone will put at risk healthy wild animal population there. Also, these monkeys before any such introduction require detailed individual health investigation and time for acclimatisation which hasn't been looked into,'' points out the former Director of Project Tiger and founder Director of the Wildlife Institute of India, H. S. Pawar.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi