Compassionate Feeding of Wildlife is Not Conservation

The trend of feeding wild birds is extremely worrying and unscientific, especially so for the pigeons in cities. People mostly do this for religious reasons thinking that by feeding pigeons they are helping the 'poor' and 'hungry' birds and perhaps this helps in washing away their sins! Grains are purchased and scattered literally in heaps for the pigeons to feed. People who indulge in this activity are doing more harm to these birds than helping them. Such artificial feeding leads to overpopulation of pigeons that is much beyond the carrying capacity of a place. This leads to several health hazards in humans as well as pigeons. Doctors and veterinarians have often expressed concerns over this issue, and advise to refrain from feeding pigeons. As it is city buildings offer enough nesting places for pigeons, and with plenty of food available at Kabutarkhanas and practically no predation by predatory birds, the population of pigeons in cities has grown exponentially. By feeding pigeons, we are not helping them survive. They would anyways survive as do other wild birds. By providing them with ready food, pigeons lose their natural ability to scavenge and survive on their own. Pigeon overpopulation leads to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions and produces sick and injured birds. 
Keeping leftover food in the balcony for 'hungry' birds should also be discouraged. Birds quickly get used to our food, which obviously is NOT their natural food. Then why should we interfere with their routine of scavenging for food? Scavenging for food is an important exercise for wild birds that they must indulge in. Instances of obesity in wild birds are not uncommon today! Such ‘compassionate’ feeding may surely attract birds close to you but may result in nutritional deficiencies in birds. Veterinarians warn that such bird feeders may act as a nodal point of disease spread to other species of birds for emerging diseases of infectious nature. Also, birds not feeding naturally might affect the ecological food chain as they may not eat that fruit which only germinates when it passes through the bird's intestine! Our ignorance in these matters can have serious consequences that we may not be even aware of. 

People should connect with nature. However, sadly, many times this connect with wildlife becomes entertainment for these people as well as the onlookers. It has even become business for those who sell the 'food' items. Not to mention over enthusiastic and unethical wildlife photographers, who encourage this behaviour. Tourists visiting wildlife destinations such as Ranthambhor are often seen feeding Tree Pies, babblers, bulbuls for fun, entertainment and photo opportunities! This is NOT responsible tourism and must be stopped by the local tourism stakeholders. I have often seen people pouring wheat flour at the base of trees in Aarey Colony in Mumbai supposedly to feed the ‘hungry’ ants! Monkeys have become rogue and a menace in almost all popular tourist destinations only because of people feeding them with all kinds of food stuffs. 

So people, please DO NOT FEED wild birds and animals unless under extraordinary circumstances such drought, floods or birds under treatment.

#Donotfeedpigeons

Ganapati Bappa Moraya

This idol is made of paper mache and clay. Yet, we do not immerse it. The same idol is being worshipped for past three years. Traditions and customs CAN be appropriately changed without any changes in the devotion, love and respect for the Almighty. A small step, when taken by many, will have a huge positive impact on our environment that we all believe has been created by Him. 

This festival (and many others) bring us together with our near and dear ones. Isn't this one of the main reasons why we celebrate festivals? God is never demanding or His powers are not 'directly proportionate' to the size of His idols. The most important aspect is the sincerity and the simplicity with which He is worshiped. What will He do of all the gold, diamonds, cash that he is showered with? Don't we believe that He only gives, and never takes (except His favourite modaks!).

I also doubt whether He approves of the blaring music being played around Him, his devotees doing item numbers during processions, rich people being given special treatment and a waiver from standing in serpentine queues, mandals collecting lakhs of rupees as donation in His name, pandals being erected in the middle of the roads without any sensitivity towards emergency services, drunk 'devotees' doing a tamasha (popularly known as 'dance') in front of Him while bidding adieu, and many other interesting aspects that have cropped in this festival in the last two decades. I had asked Him quietly few years ago - when my fellow Indians had tried to feed Him tonnes of litres of milk because He was drinking it seems - what is all this fuss about? He seemed upset then, for He couldn't understand why all his devotees had thrown all this milk down the drain in frenzy, when it could have fed thousands of orphans and old age home members.

I bet He still doesn't know!

Ganapati Bappa Moraya!!!

Is India doing enough for the tiger?

Every citizen of this country must ask this question to self and to the Central Government and the governments of the 19 states where tigers are still found. These states with their respective tiger numbers – as per the tiger estimation of 2014 – are Andhra Pradesh including Telangana (68), Arunachal Pradesh (28), Assam (167), Bihar (28), Chhatisgarh (46), Goa (5), Jharkhand (3+), Karnataka (406), Kerala (136), Madhya Pradesh (308), Maharashtra (190), Mizoram (3+), Odisha (28), Rajasthan (45), Tamil Nadu (229), Uttar Pradesh (117), Uttarakhand (340) and West Bengal (79). It tallies to 2226 tigers - statistically a 30% rise over the population of 1706 reported in 2010.

India today holds around 70% of the global tiger population in its 48 tiger reserves covering an area 69751.64 sq km, which is merely 2.08% of the geographical area of the country. It is incredible that tigers are doing reasonably well in these forests despite all odds and with little political support for their conservation. Most of these areas (tiger reserves) are fragmented and thus have tiger populations that may not be able to exchange genes with the tigers of other tiger conservation landscapes.

While figures do indicate a positive trend in the overall tiger population, it is necessary to understand some hard facts and ground realities that (would) decide the fate of tigers in India in the coming years.

I would like to begin with complimenting all the forest officials and frontline forest staff without whom protection of tigers in India would have been impossible. They put in a lot of hard work – at times putting their lives at stake – while fighting off poachers and timber mafia that are always looking out for opportunities to destroy our natural heritage. As if facing these threats is not enough that the forest department has to constantly face the ire of local communities, whose dependence on the forests is at times almost 100% and the groups of naxalites/Maoists, who have made forests their hideouts. There are many examples of forest staff losing their lives in protecting the wildlife and forests. Although the situation is much better now, yet the quality of arms available with our frontline staff is inadequate (and at times non-existent) and they have to face the anti-social elements armed with modern weapons and ammunition. The department must be provided with the best of the weapons (as is given to the frontline staff in Kaziranga) so that they can fearlessly take on the poachers and other destructive elements. An occasional pat-on-the-back from their seniors, including IFS and IAS officers, and the political top brass is essential to boost their morale.

Fragmentation of tiger habitats is something that we all must be worried about. Tigers breed well if they are provided with inviolate areas with enough forest, water and natural prey. If these three basic conditions are fulfilled, tigers can make more tigers quite easily! Often these are the areas where tourism is flourishing and tourists are often satisfied with ‘seeing’ a tigress with its litter of 3, 4 or even 5 cubs. Photographs are clicked, shared and often become viral on social media websites. This does generate a lot of interest in tigers but may not necessarily translate into conservation action. Little attention is then paid whether these cubs grow in to adults or whether they disperse to other safe forest areas and establish their own territories. It is a general observation (and from the information shared with dedicated frontline forest staff) that the tigers that ‘disperse’ from the core areas of tiger reserves often do not live to die at a ripe age. They meet an untimely death due to poaching or as consequences of human-wildlife conflict. The National tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) have stated that as on 29^th July 2015, 36 tiger deaths have been reported in India. Out of these, for only two deaths reasons have been stated whereas for the rest it says ‘Details Awaited’. One can understand that there can be tiger deaths due to natural reasons also. But what makes the NTCA not mention these ‘natural’ deaths clearly? Or is it not sure about the reasons for the deaths of these tigers? This is a grey area that needs clarity. If the deaths are due to unnatural reasons such as poaching, the authorities must be forthright in accepting this and work on avoiding such incidences. Habitat fragmentation may also lead to genetic inbreeding among tigers. Therefore a landscape-level conservation approach is essential in planning tiger conservation programmes. These programmes may encompass many states and therefore inter-state coordination is of utmost importance. This is seen lacking in many cases. For e.g. tigers are doing pretty well in Madhya Pradesh but they aren’t doing as well in Chhattisgarh although the forests here are connected to Madhya Pradesh and of as much good quality. There are many more examples.

Involvement of local communities in tiger conservation is important. Tiger reserves comprise of core and buffer zones. While the core zones are the sanctum sanctorum that buffer zones of areas of multiple use. These areas have villages, people and cattle in large numbers. People living here have grazing rights in the forests of buffer zones. They also legally venture into the forests to collect firewood and Non-Timber Forest Produces (NTFP). These activities often give rise to human-wildlife conflict. Tigers often prey on domestic cattle. The cattle owner is entitled for compensation but at times this is delayed by the authorities. There are cases of retaliatory killing of tigers by the affected villagers by poisoning the cattle carcasses or laying of live wires. While this behavior cannot be justified and is outright illegal, such incidences can be avoided if the system of providing timely compensation is developed and implemented honestly. However, this is seldom seen happening effectively.

It is necessary for the forest department to recognize that the people sharing the forests with tigers have been living here for generations together. Their lives are completely or at least partially dependent on forests and its resources. It is observed that the forest department often has a very autocratic way of dealing with the villagers when it comes to resolving conflict (there are some notable exceptions to this). This must be avoided at all times. Unless the local communities are not made a part of the conservation planning process, no conservation programmes can meet with success. First and foremost, interventions to reduce the community dependence on forests are necessary. The forest department must collaborate with local credible NGOs who quite often have a better acceptance at the community level than the forest department.

Having local community in support of conservation is necessary to fight off poaching. No poacher or poaching gangs can penetrate the forest areas without the information of local communities. Poaching incidences happen either in buffer areas or connecting territorial or social or forest development corporation divisions. These areas are soft targets as the staff here has other priority works than tiger protection. Many states are now involving the territorial division staff in tiger protection but these efforts must happen at a larger scale and across the country. These forest divisions also must be a part of tiger conservation programme planning with adequate capacity building undertaken for them.

And last but not the least, the overall outlook of the present Central Government is a matter of grave concern. If we look at some of the decisions taken in the past one year, one wonders whether this government, with Mr. Prakash Javadekar, the Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Environment, Forest & Climate Change at the helm of affairs, is indeed serious about saving tigers! His ministry has cleared 217 proposals that required environmental clearances from the MoEFCC in just one month! All these projects may not concern a tiger habitat but may be nevertheless important for other ecosystems and species. Several credible conservation organizations have raised serious concerns about the way commercial projects are given go-ahead without enough deliberations and consultations within the National Board for Wildlife, an apex body constituted under the MoEFCC vested with powers to approve or reject proposals concerning the wildlife and natural habitats. But it seems that our hon’ble Minister is worried more about economic concerns over ecological concerns. One wonders what actually is the mandate of his ministry – protecting India’s wildlife and natural heritage or protecting the interests of industries that threaten the very existence of tigers and other endangered wildlife. The recent example is the case of road expansion on the NH7 that passes through the critically important Kanha-Pench (tiger) Corridor. Although the Wildlife Institute of India and many other organizations expressed serious concerns, Mr. Javadekar’s ministry yet went ahead with the road expansion work despite an alternate road available. All concerns and suggestions were shelved quite obviously under the pressure from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways headed by Mr. Nitin Gadkari. There are many other controversial decisions by Mr. Javadekar that have the potential to leave devastating impacts on tiger habitats and other important ecosystems of India.

All this will continue unless the general public – you and me – raise a united voice for the tigers and other wildlife of India. This is the least as Indian citizens we can do. We must, as a strong ‘wildlife lobby’, appeal not only to Mr. Javadekar but to our hon’ble Prime Minister as well and let the governments – Central and States – know that we will only vote for those who understand environmental concerns and work towards sustainable development in India.

Today, on the occasion of the International Tiger Day (29^th July), please pledge your support and lend your voice to the tigers in India. Together, we CAN save this magnificent species from extinction. 

Kedar Gore

29 July 2015

International Tiger Day

Managed to recover this article that was carried by the Bombay Times, a supplement of The Times of India, in the year 2000. The description in the article is no longer valid as the whole area described in the the below article has changed - from a beautiful wilderness to concrete 'development'...

The Concrete Jungle

courtesy: Bombay Times, 2000




The readers will probably laugh at me, if I say I watch birds in Andheri! But ever since my college days, I 


have been watching birds at various locations in Andheri (W) like Four Bungalows, Lokhandwala Complex andVersova. For anyone who is familiar to these places, it will be hard to believe that bird life actually exist in such crowded areas, overflowing with people and vehicles. Though I agree that over the years, the number 

of bird species have gone down, still a walk on a Sunday morning from December to February will give you a fair idea of the potential of these places as birding areas.






Just next to the Four Bungalows signal is a vast stretch of open land almost 3/4th the size of the Oval 

Maidan. The area is completely covered with reeds and grasses, with pockets of small water bodies. The rain water accumulates here, July onwards. Close observation reveals the presence of Purple Moorhen, Indian 

Moorhen and White breasted Waterhen. All these are typical water birds around the size of a domestic hen. Purple Moorhen is not a common bird in the city limits. Both the species of Jacana - Pheasant tailed and 

Bronze winged, are commonly seen in fairly large numbers walking among the reeds. Jacanas are brilliantly coloured birds and are also called  Lily-trotters as they nest on the leaves of the water lilies. The shrubs and the trees nearby provide an excellent resting place for the Little Cormorants, which are large black birds

occasionally swimming underwater to catch fish. They are commonly seen drying their outstretched wings in the sun. Cormorants lack the oil glands present in other water birds and hence cannot give a coat of oil on 

their wings to make them waterproof. Among the tall grasses, lies hidden the Pond Heron. This grey 

coloured heron waits patiently for a fish to come near and then with great speed and accuracy catches it 

with its long beak.



Couple of occasions, I have managed to sight a pair of Chestnut Bitterns. These birds are great skulkers and are rarely seen in the open. By November end, migratory sandpipers start ,making their appearance. Most commonly seen are the Common Sandpiper, Wood Sandpiper and Redshank. I remember one afternoon about 8



years back. When I was returning from the college, a sight of some unusual birds caught my attention. I returned to the spot with my binoculars for investigation and almost fainted with joy! What attracted me, was none other than a male Mallard (migratory wild duck). The Mallard stayed with us in Andheri for a week and then disappeared. I didn't have good camera then for documenting the beautiful birds I saw. The same year, almost 7 pairs of Lesser Whistling Teals (wild ducks), which bred in this miniature wetland. Flocks of



Shovellers, Gadwals and Common Teals spent some days in the water body near in the land belonging to the Airport Authority of India, near D N Nagar. Marsh Harriers used to frequently soar above the marsh to catch one of the ducklings.






Apart from these, Redvented Bulbuls, Magpie Robins, Rose ringed Parakeets, Pied Mynas, White breasted

 Kingfishers are resident and common. The Indian Coral Trees (Erythrina indica) and Silk Cotton Trees

 (Bombax ceiba) attract Rosy Pastors and Greyheaded Mynas in the migratory season. Common Swallows are the most abundant and occupy each and every telephone cable passing overhead. Their twittering calls and 

zigzag flight to catch the mosquitoes and gnats in the evening, is what one remembers the most. Come

 twilight and one hears the kwaak call of the Night Heron proceeding towards its hunting grounds.



Lokhandwala Complex is situated entirely on the reclaimed land. Just outside its concrete walls, one can 

explore the beautiful Mangrove ecosystem. Yes, the same plants growing along the creek water and normally referred to as 'wasteland'. These are the same mangroves, which have been protecting the city of Mumbai for ages from tidal waves and rough weather, acting as breeding grounds for a variety of fishes, prawns and other estuarine species and preventing coastal erosion in Mumbai and elsewhere in the world. Such an 

important and unique ecosystem is being destroyed in the name of 'development' in Andheri, Goregaon, 

Malad and right upto Gorai. Much of this area still needs to be explored to understand its biodiversity. 

Hundreds of Common sandpipers, Wood sandpipers, Redshanks, Greenshanks, Marsh sandpipers and Little 

Stints are seen feedingon the mudflats. The Black winged Stilts with their long red legs wade into the creek water. Little ringed Plovers, Kentish Plovers, Sand Plovers and Golden Plovers are seen along with the 

sandpipers. The mangroves provide excellent hiding place for thousands of Great Indian Reed Warblers 

feeding on insects and smaller invertebrates. The Fantail Flycatchers song gives you sweet company as you move further inside. Bluethroats and Wagtails are seen feeding on the ground. White cheeked Bulbuls 

replace the Redvented Bulbul as we enter the Mangrove ecosystem. It can be easily identified with a white 

cheek patch and yellow colour on the vent.



Lesser Black headed and Brown headed Gulls are seen swimming in flocks in the small water bodies. Though we are talking of birds, sightings of Jackal and Common Mongoose is not very uncommon. The dumping of 



garbage attract a number of jackals. Versova and the shores of Madh island too attract large number of our feathered friends. Last year, when WWF-India members and NSS volunteers were cleaning the beach at 

Seven Bungalows after the Ganesh immersion, a group of around 30 Greater Flamingoes were seen flying towards the Madh island!





The list of species is far more but by now it is quite obvious that, one does not always have to travel to 

Bharatpur or Corbett to see birds, which are anyway common in our own backyard. Just a keen eye for 

observation and a little patience, will bless you with some of the best sightings of your life.

Thank you Mr. Javadekar

Shri. Prakash Javadekar
Honourable Minister of Environment, Forests and Climate Change
Government of India

Respected Sir,

You have shown the easiest way to mitigate human-wildlife conflict - just kill those 'errant' animals by declaring them as vermin! Wow, your thinking is extra-ordinary. I wonder why none of your predecessors ever thought about it, if it was so simple? Sir, you have created history. Why should we even debate about alternative crops, putting up bio-fences or other wildlife-friendly measures? Too much time would be wasted in all this, isn't it? Just kill (in the name of wildlife management) and the matter is over. You know Sir, some villagers have been secretly killing these animals by using snares, live wires and even guns! But now they don't have to worry as they can kill 'problem' animals openly and legally. Truly 'acche din' for people.

You have excellent judgement to take decisions. How does it matter if the decisions taken are against the ethos of the ministry you are in-charge of? After all, you are worried about 'acche din' for the nation, isn't it? (wildlife is not a part of this nation, is it???) Your ministry should be proud that it has managed to sanction the road construction through the Rann of Kutch, which is only breeding habitat for the flamingos in India. So what if it is the ONLY habitat in India? It is for the flamingos to find an alternate breeding site.

Even the tigers, sloth bears and many other species who inhabit the forests around Pench, where your ministry has cleared the road expansion along NH7, will find an alternate habitat to survive. If only the National Green Tribunal would have thought the way your ministry did...sigh! Why don't you construct a neatly designed housing colony for these creatures Sir? But please ask your team members to design the cages aesthetically. After all, all of us look upon you as the saviour of wildlife in India.

The birds and animals of the Karnala Bird Sanctuary celebrated the World Environment Day with much fan-fare this year. Why? Because that was the day when your ministry cleared the expansion of the highway that passes through this forest. What timing Sir! Just 2 hectares of forest will be destroyed. And many of your colleagues have planted saplings in so many places on World Environment Day. All this will compensate for this loss. Nothing to worry.

Sir, lots of minerals are waiting to be extracted from several forest areas across the country. I am sure this work will soon be started, with your ministry's penchant for 'fast' decisions. Already too much time has been wasted in doing these honours.

Few days ago, I read that our honourable Prime Minister has appealed to the people of India to keep a bowl of water for the birds. I was touched by this gesture. I hope he is aware about your decision to declare Nilgai (Blue Bull), Wild Boar (and scores of other animals included in Schedule II [Part I], Schedule III, IV, V) as he is very compassionate towards animals. Remember the beef ban?

And lastly, please don't mind if your decisions taken in the interest of 'acche din' are criticised. All those critics are 'natural fools', who only think about wildlife conservation, protection of India's precious natural resources, preserving the few remaining natural ecosystems and biodiversity hotspots, mitigating the effects of human-induced climate change and many other 'useless' things that would only benefit India's natural treasures and no one else!

Looking forward to more such 'sound' decisions from your ministry.

Yours truly,

A Natural Fool

P.S. Sir, by the way, I hope your ministry is working on your statement of 'donating' tigers to other countries!!!