The news announcement is, "Leopard terrorizes an Indian Village". But who is being terrorized the most and who is doing the terrorizing? Here we have a wild leopard running through a suburban park and over roof tops and walls surrounded by many people at close range. The cat does not attack these people but runs on by. This leopard is frightened. Out of its environment. Eventually in a park area, surrounded once again by perhaps a hundred excited people, mostly men wishing to show to the world their macho skills the leopard is jumped on by a large Indian man. I also read of man eating leopards. If a man can catch a leopard using his bare hands as is the case here how can they be man eating? The truth is that man eating leopards are attacking children and women but not men because they have too. We created the situation under which the leopard does this. I would have thought some sensible precautions and scare tactics would suffice. We owe the leopard that. The cougar in America is a similar sized cat and that can be frightened off. There is not need to shoot a cougar.
The leopard is not a "big cat" in the way we know it. It is the size of a large dog and the weight of a lightish man. So the animal is not that hard to tackle and really in this instance I saw no reason to tackle the animal at all. Why not try and guide the animal back to its world? An excited mob of people will not help. Sorry to be critical again but I just don't see this as the right thing to do. And we should remember that we, people, caused this cat to come out of its natural environment to the human one. Let it go back unharmed.
After the newsreader said that a leopard terrorises an Indian village, she says the leopard "succumbed to its injuries". I presume injuries inflicted during its capture. There were people with sticks as well. What happened? The leopard basically got killed by an Indian mob who were ostensibly protecting themselves from a leopard that wanted to get away! The news reader should have announced, "Mob terrorise a leopard and kills it!"
I am fascinated and I am afraid appalled by the social stresses of forcing large wildcat and human animal together. It happens all over the world and frequently in places like India where there is a high human population and a consequential shrinking wildcat habitat. This forces the cat to encroach onto "human territory" and frequently to have to look for prey near or in human settlements. Come on India, you can do better. And yes, I know we in the UK totally screwed up in respect of our large wildlife species many years ago, killing them all off, so I have no right to criticise etc.. But I just don't want to see such a fine animal killed needlessly. Why can't people live in harmony with the leopard and the tiger in India?
Here is another example of us screwing up. This time in Africa in relocating a leopard. In this case you can see the size of the leopard and even in this attack the man comes away relatively unharmed:
The Tiger of Mysore is in the news and for me India is a very important place for the world. It is the front line in the battle to save the tiger so I would like to link a story about the sale of the Tiger of Mysore and the tiger itself. This is a golden tiger's head encrusted with precious stones from the throne of Tipu Sultan, who was known as the "Tiger of Mysore" and who was, in effect, the ruler of the Indian Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 until shot by the British in 1799. So we are talking about 2 tigers both of which are not actual tigers! I mention a third below.
Mysore is in Southern India (see map below). Tipu Sultan is considered India's first freedom fighter. The golden tiger's head is the last remaining from the Sultan's throne, which was broken up by the British East India Company's forces in 1799 when the Tipu Sultan was also shot dead.
The object was taken by the person who oversaw the East India Company, Baron Wallace of Knarsdale and has remained with the family, forgotten, it seems, in a bank vault for the past 100 years or so. It is estimated to be worth about £800,000. It may well fetch more if an Indian gentlemen wants to bid for it, which will, I am sure, be the case as this object has a very fine pedigree indeed. I don't know the history of the East India Company but clearly they upset this ruler as he gave his life in the cause to kick them out of India. It could it seems be argued that the Tiger of Mysore was stolen. Perhaps it was considered to be one of the spoils of war. I wonder if there is an argument that it should be returned to India. And if returned or bought by an Indian it should either symbolise the revival of the protection of the real tiger populations or help to fund tiger conservation.
The clockwork tiger automaton depicting a the death of a European soldier by a tiger, a gift (or made for) Tipu Sultan.
Tipu Sultan was a scholar, poet and soldier. A devout Muslim his subjects were Hindus. He practiced all the things a devout Muslim should. Tipu Sultan liked inventions and it seems, boys toys. One such toy is famous and it is a tiger automaton (clockwork tiger - see above). It was made for him personally and no doubt pleased him very much as it portrayed a tiger attacking a European soldier. Tipu Sultan was at war with the British. It is said that the clockwork tiger was made to show the killing of Hugo Monro a senior army officer who had defeated Tipu but who had been killed by a tiger on 22nd December, 1792 on Saugor Island.
Tipu Sultans got his title, "Tiger of Mysore", because it is claimed he killed a tiger with his knife, his gun having failed to go offf. His life in brief:
1750
Born at Devanahalli in Karnataka
1756
Aged 15, accompanied father in 1st Anglo-Mysore War
1792
3rd Anglo-Mysore War ended with defeat for Tipu Sultan and he was forced to give up half his kingdom and 2 sons as hostages
Wild catsand corruption go together like ham and cheese or strawberries and cream. The cream is the financial profit from businesses who either want rid of the wildcat because it stands in the way of financial gain or they want to make profit from the wild cat, direct. And there is often a terribly close and cosy connection between big business and politicians and/or the leaders of quangos and other organizations concerned and charged with the preservation of the world's wild species. It is a frighteningly small step from financial profit to the eradication of the wild cat and it is only the authorities who acting honestly and in a principled manner who can break that step.
Important Note:I know that a massive amount of good work goes into preserving the tiger. This post is not intended to criticise India or any other country or culture. In the UK we wiped out all large wildlife hundreds of years ago or more. We failed miserably. In America it is little better. The West should not criticise the East but it can be talked about. I show videos in which the people of the country in question support my arguments. The common denominator in many cases of wild cats and corruption is the land. Land that we love to own and space that we cherish and which a wildcat would call habitat. And a wild cat's habitat is essential to it for survival. The loss of the wildcat's habitat is the single biggest factor in its demise.
Of course, most of the action takes place behind closed doors and therefore out of the direct gaze of the media. But some of it leaks out like puss from a wound. Here are some examples that I have cobbled together:
Cats and Corruption - The Canadian lynx and the Timber business
I have just done some work on the Canadian lynx, which is why it came to mind first. I am thinking of the alleged corruption of the former Interior Department deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks in the USA, Julie MacDonald. She resigned her post in disgrace afterwards. What allegedly happened is so typical of the kind of business pressure that can take place in political decision making (and all decisions on the question of wild life habitat is ultimately based on a political decision, which in turn is based on business). A decision had to made as to the size and scope of "critical habitat for the lynx" for the threatened (in the USA not in Canada) Canadian lynx. The then deputy assistant decided that 1,841 square miles was adequate. This was to be inside the Glacier National Park in Montana, Voyagers National Park in Minnesota and North Cascades National Park in Washington.
This decision was challenged in the courts and the Interior Department of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that Julie MacDonald had been pressurising the biologists to draw conclusions and write reports that favored the timber business and accordingly jeopardized the welfare of the already threatened lynx. A fresh assessment designated an area much, much larger (39,000 square miles) in Wyoming, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana and Washington. Someone spoke up for the lynx and all of us who care for the wild cats and wild animals are eternally grateful to that person or group of persons.
There is no doubt in my mind that the battle fought out over the lynx habitat in the USA is one of classic battle lines between business (and monetary gain) versus those concerned for the preservation of wildlife and the wild cats. In short it is the battle between two groups of people who have fundamentally different thought processes. On the one side we have people who are motivated by money and "success". These are more likely to be alpha types. They think short term and use and abuse to get what they want with little regard for the legacy they leave for their children and the future of the world. On the other hand, there are those who care less for money and more for quality of life, who earn enough and then seek other more meaningful work or pastimes. As a consequence, they are more likely to think long term, allow sensitivity to others intervene in their decision making and tend to ensure things are sustainable. There is a grey area in between, of course.
Perhaps it is the grey middle area where the corruption part of corruption and cats comes in. People who have choices to make in positions of authority have a tough job avoiding the temptations of financial gain. Even on a day to day, less high-profile way, local authorities are often torn between making the right decision and making money in the short term. I wonder, for example, whether the local authority in Louisiana allow Mr Sandlin to keep his tiger at Tiger Truck Stop, because it brings in more money for the authority?
Cats and Corruption - Pakistan
Pakistan has been described as a "failed state". Not be me but people in a better position to judge. A failed state must be one where systems break down and when the usual governmental systems break down there is little or no chance for the vulnerable wildcat. The following wild cats have been reported as living in Pakistan (src: http://www.wildlifeofpakistan.com):
leopard (76 as at 1997 - a very small and vulnerable number).
snow leopard (62 as at 1997)
cheetah (I believe they are extinct in Pakistan)
Eurasian lynx
caracal
jungle cat
fishing cat
desert cat or wild cat
sand cat
Asian leopard cat
pallas cat
There is little in the way of animal protection laws in Pakistan if any at all and what there might be I am sure is totally unenforced. In the book Wild Cats of the World By Melvin E. Sunquist, Fiona Sunquist, as an example only, the wildcat is rare they say. It is shot and trapped as a pest and is forced to eat poultry (probably sharing land with farmers due to habitat loss). The wildcat's skin is much prized and is traded in north Pakistan. Village dogs are allowed to kill the wild cat and her kittens - enough said I think. There isn't protection of the wild cat so on that basis, in fact, it is probably hard to find cats and corruption because there are no laws or processes upon which to be corrupt but there will be moral and ethical corruption. In the video below, Imran Khan explains the power structure in Pakistan and the corrupt judges who are also power players. The judiciary must be independent and enforce the law. They create the culture of justice and proper behavior according to the law. If that leadership is broken it is more or less anarchy, which is the case - a broken country.
Cats and Corruption - India
I am going to show a video of an interview of Maneka Gandhi. She is the great fighter for animal rights in India. In a part of the interview she says that reserve organisers are killing or allowing the deaths (not sure) of the animals to allow the reserve to be closed or eroded in size for the mining of minerals. Maneka also says that her charity trains the police on Indian animal protection laws!
Here is a video on police corruption in India. If the police don't know the law and are also corrupt what chance protecting wild cats or any wild or domestic animal?
On a more specific point, at the Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India, it is alleged that the poaching of about 20 rhinos over the past 2 years & the death of 10 tigers in the last 100 days is due to corruption and inefficiency of the forest department of (src: http://www.newstrackindia.com). MC Malakar, chief conservator of forest (wildlife) of Assam, said that some of the tigers died due to poisoning by villagers. Can we believe that? Maybe but it seems very convenient and very careless to me. This is were the reserve is (north east India):
If we go further east to places like China we see some pretty hideous treatment of cats. I have spoken of this before (see Cat Meat Name and Shame for example). There are no animal welfare laws in China as I understand it (wrong please correct me by leaving a comment). On that basis it is a bit like Pakistan; no law, no possibility for a corruption of the law. But there is corruption at many levels. And there is, I say, a dire corruption of values and morality in China in respect of wild cats and wild life, which is amply demonstrated in the trade in tiger parts for Chinese medicine and lots more (I am not saying there is a lack of morality generally please note). Here is another video:
These are just some examples. I am convinced that corruption exists in the Balkans, which threatens the endangered Balkan lynx and other wildlife. More cats and corruption I guess. More to come I am sure but I leave it there for now..................
The ever present expansion of the human population means that human and wild cat are forced together unnaturally. Neither party want it this way. The wild cat tries to avoid humans because we are dangerous to a wild cat. Wild cats, even the large ones, do not naturally attack people as prey. They have their prey but unfortunately their prey and habitat is being depleted by human activity which grows and grows in line with human population growth. we try and avoid the big cats because we are fearful of them. We think they might attack us but if we leave them alone they won't.
This problem is typically encountered in places like India. This clash of two entirely different species, big cat and human (two top predators, the human being the number one predator so he always comes out on top) takes place countless times every year in India and Bangladesh for example. Bangladesh is the most highly populated country in the world so it is not surprising that human and wild cat are forced together in that country (see Bengal tiger facts). But who is at fault? Which population, the big cats or the human's is expanding rapidly and which is shrinking rapidly? Human population growth threatens the world in terms of environment (global warming being classic example) and wild life. We just occupy too much space and big cats in particular need large ranges in which to roam.
What prompted this post was a story from last year of the slaughter of a leopard (the cat was set alight apparently -that caught my eye and made me feel very sad). This leopard had been forced to approach villagers and apparently attacked and killed several. It took place in May of last year in Bilahar village in Lakhimpur Kheri District in Uttar Pradesh:
Hundreds of villagers surrounded the cat that was hiding (and trapped I guess) in an orchard. The cat tried to make a break for it and was overpowered by the combined force of the large crowd. I find this very sad indeed for both species (human and cat).
This forcing together of two species that should, in a more harmonious world love together peacefully, has resulted in the killing of 228 leopards since January 2006 and 68 leopards have been killed in 2007, in India. There were 7,300 leopards in the wild up until 1997 but these statistics are frankly unreliable. The wild cats are very shy of humans, which tells us how desperate this leopard was to attack people. We cannot get a handle on the matter at all and India is one of the centers for the supply of wild cat parts to neighboring China according to Maneka Gandhi, a most reliable source. Human and wild cat are forced together - it must stop before it is too late for the wild cat. Human and Wild Cat are Forced Together to Home Page
Photo of leopard by by ucumari (a fine wild life photographer) published under creative commons license:
I have just noticed that they do have a kind of cat show in India. Actually it is a pet show that included cats, domestic cats, that is. Maybe it was more of a dog show. Dogs are more usually kept as pets in India probably because dogs can "do something" tangible such as be guard dogs. Cats don't seem to do anything but that is incorrect. Their presence is very beneficial to us, it has been proved in scientific research.
The "pet carnival" took place in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. The show always takes place in Tamil Nadu, it seems. That is an extraordinary place, on the face of it, to have a carnival where companion animals are celebrated. This is because, in this state it is reported, and I have reported on this, as has this website: http://www.thaindian.com, where some farmers (a small number, I hope) eat the humble domestic cat (they are in fact, Irulas and Boers of Tamil Nadus Krishnagiri District). I dislike that immensely and I am not talking down to people or anything like that. I am just reporting what I read. These farmers think the domestic cat's blood has medicinal properties and all that kind of stuff. It is a bit like the beliefs of the Hindu swamis who wear rare animal parts, quite disgusting to me. I made a post on Some Indians Eat Cat Meat.
So, we have both the celebration of the companion animal, the domestic cat, and the brutal slaughtering of that animal (the cat's throat is cut) taking place in the same region of India. In fact the two events take place about 180 miles apart on my reckoning. Actually now I think about it, it seems like normal human behavior.
Astonishing, the cost of keeping cats in India. What, though, is the price of keeping a cat? It depends where you are and what your expectations are (and the cat's expectations too!). In the UK you can buy a box of 12 sachets of decent cat food at a local supermarket for about £4-50p. It would be cheaper at a big supermarket. It is estimated that with all bills taken into account, it costs about £10,000 over the lifetime of the cat on average in western countries (see Pet Care Costs). But here is the astonishing thing; in India there is a fine upstanding lady who has a husband, 2 children (who might work though), and 15, yes 15 cats, all rescue cats who she adores and she looks after them all including the people (!) on 80 rupees per day, which converts to 1.106275 British pounds or 1.60432 U.S. dollars.
Now lets look at that a bit. Lets say that of that approximate £1 she has, say, 30p left over after providing for the people in her family. 30p to feed 15 cats. 30p might buy one sachet of cheap cat food in the UK or a cheap can of cat food. My Timmy a stray boy cat consumes about 4-5 sachets a day (I need a mortgage to feed him) alone. You can see the enormous difference.
In short this tells of the huge divide in India and the UK, for example. But what is also stark is that there are still people in the United States and other countries (but I cite the US as a relatively rich society) who abandon their cats on the pretext that they cannot afford them because of financial constraints brought about because of the credit crunch (see cats as a disposable item). Surely it is a question of priorities. Budgets can manage to include the cat if people want them to. But when people think of cutting costs in the household budget the cat comes into the equation when it positively should not. Cats are taken on for their lifetime. These people are not committed to their cats and commitment is required. Caveat: there will, of course, be genuine cases so I must not generalize but I make my point nonetheless.
The price of keeping a cat is, most often, not the reason for giving up a cat. It is more about the psychology of keeping a cat. Incidentally, the woman concerned, mentioned above lives in Gujarat’s Porbandar city, which is here:
And in the video above we can see the Sandali mosque cats being treated in a way that is not seen throughout India. Quite the contrary, in fact. What is astonishing (actually it's normal human behavior) is that we can see Hindu mendicants, swamis in India who flout animal welfare by decorating themselves with animal parts including domestic cat skulls etc. Then there is the gradual destruction of he tiger in India. The complete range of peoples' treatment of animals from abuse to worship is seen in relation to cats. Not forgetting the worship of cats in ancient Egypt (see Egyptian cat art). But in worshiping the cat goddess Bastet, pilgrims would come from afar and purchase recently killed feral cats that had been mummified as an offering to the goddess. People were and still are cruel and kind at the same time; typically bizarre human behavior.
The cats of the Sandali mosque are treated well, fed etc. as a kind of appeasement, an offering as in ancient Egypt to help make the prayers of worshipers come true. In one way it is nice and in another it is terribly sad. It shows a confused state of mind and a desperation. In the end, the bottom line, it is all about survival. People will do what they need to do to survive and the cat even in this instance is being used for that purpose. Cats, Mosques and Temples are a fairly common combination.
For me Maneka Ganghi is India's greatest woman. She is totally awesome. She is fighting the greatest of battles for the animals of India including, of course, cats both wild and domestic. Here she is being interviewed about wildlife conservation including the conservation of the tiger in India.
And, you know, it is shocking to hear and see this video and Maneka Ganghi is so wise, enlightened, intelligent and above all right in what she says. India should be at the forefront of animal welfare, teaming as it is (or was) with wildlife. It is a country made for wildlife species. Unfortunately humans also inhabit the country and most of them want to use and abuse animals for financial gain in a short term way. Better long term planning on how to live with our fellow creatures would bring far greater reward in the long term. And what good is CITES and the IUCN Red List for Indian wildlife? When you listen to Maneka Gandhi in the video it seems that there is open trade in animal parts. CITES is meant to stop that. The Indian government is just not doing the right things. It is far to passive in conservation and probably worse, active in doing the opposite in the name of short term, short sighted financial gain.
Britain extirpated all large wild life in the Britain hundred of years ago so I am aware that people in the west, Europe and USA, have no right to criticize other countries and I am not criticizing, just commenting, Update: Maneka makes a very good point in the video. As wild animals become rarer due to humankind's activities, people kill them even faster. This is due to a short term mentality, which plagues mankind. We only think of getting it now and fail to see the long term consequences. A long term approach brings greater rewards but we as a world are highly disorganised and not coordinated enough to manage a long term approach. The world is changing. The Brits killed off most of its large animal wildlife hundreds of years ago. Maneka is at the leading edge in India of animal conservation and welfare but will the world change enough and quickly enough for the wildlife species of India to be preserved in the wild?
Apparently the first cat shelter in India is being built or has been built (probably the former). The website www.thaindian.com says that a Bollywood actress, Hema Malini and a MP have "allotted funds" for the shelter. I am not sure what that means. I don't know how it is being funded. Shelters are normally funded privately through donations from the public. It is unusual to, I would have thought, to actually build a cat shelter rather than simply convert an existing building, but that many in fact be the case. The shelter is to be constructed in the West Bengal capital. That on my reckoning is Kolkata, which is here:
Hema Malini says that the numbers of stray cats is increasing daily and I guess she is behind this shelter, which is fantastic. For any Indians that might bump into this posting, I have been to India and I like India. And I didn't go to there as a tourist. I went there in a bus (I drove the bus) and stayed for several weeks, driving through the middle of India to Hyderabad. India is a great country but I would like to see more done for the domestic cat in the way of animal welfare protection (See Cats and the Law). There seems to be a large divide between those people in India who, for example, abuse animals and trade in animal parts (and thereby reduce wild animal species in India to 20 % of what they were) or, for example, Hindu mendicants, swamis who flout animal welfare by decorating themselves with animal parts including domestic cat skulls and an endless array of other parts from rare wild animals, and those people who are more enlightened. (src: http://forum.peopleforanimalsindia.org)
From an outsiders standpoint, India seems like a country that is developing fast, becoming a force in the world economy but there does seem to be a vast body of people in India who live in the past. The same can be said of China. The first cat shelter is a welcome development in the right direction. But there is a very long way to go. Personally, I have little hope that wildlife in India will ever be left alone to live in the wild in parallel with people. The history of places like the UK bear that out. The British destroyed almost all large native wildlife many hundreds of years ago. What is left are rare species such as the Scottish wild cat, which has only just survived in very small numbers only because western Scotland is remote.
There are a number of dog rescue shelters in India (see video below for one of them). Dogs seem to have been given preference over cats perhaps because dogs are seen as more useful (working and protection roles). Cats though are also useful in more subtle ways such as psychological benefits and Cats Calm Me.
What a shame that Vidya Balan is scared of cats. Vidya is a an award winning actress and star of Bollywood films and films are very big business in India. She made her debut in the film Bengali film, Bhalo Theko (2003). Yes, we like her and her acting but she doesn't like cats and it doesn't matter if they are big, small or inbetween.
This must be due to some sort of experience she had when she was young, perhaps very young - I don't know. There is no reason to be frightened of cats, except they do have strong jaws, sharp teeth and claws but then people can cause lots more damage. Apparently she has to have a cat chased out when she is working as she becomes petrified. I find this hard to believe but understandable.
Cats and companion animals have been proven to provide great psychological benefit so perhaps one day she will overcome her fear and enjoy all those benefits.
It is time that the cat lovers of India got together and formed a group. They would be the first cat fancy group in India, as I see it. I think it is time to do this, as according to Alexa, a web information company owned by Amazon, about 9% of the people who visit my website, www.pictures-of-cats.org live in India.
Fantastic, and yet it seems that proportionally very few people live with domestic cats. Why then start a cat fancy association. It might be called "Cat Association of India" (CAI) by the way. The reasons are these.
I bumped into a the Blue Cross of India website. A distinguished Indian women, Dr. Nanditha Krishna, has written an article that is posted on the site, called, "Are We Civilized?" It is an article on animal welfare in India or the lack of it. Well, not the lack of it exactly, but the need to improve it substantially. Through this article I discover that Dr. Nanditha Krishna is Honorary Director of the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation and the C P R Environmental Education Centre. I visited the C P Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation website and discover that they are concerned with the promotion of the community and India culture; both wide and excellent objectives. These goals are to be achieved through education.
It is the element of education that I would like to be brought to bear on the matter of animal welfare. I couldn't see anything on the Foundations website that was concerned with the promotion of animal (and therefore cat, my area of interest) welfare. Cat and animal welfare can be improved in India through education. And what better medium to disseminate information about an animal, a companion animal, the cat, than through a cat association formed by the cat lovers of India?
The cat associations in the West are really only concerned with promoting the purebred cats or non-purebred show cats. They do this by holding information on cat pedigrees, providing judges at cat shows and endorsing and supporting cat shows. There is little work on the ground to do with the feral cat problem. The concept of show cats at shows and feral cats being euthanized at shelters don't sit comfortably together. Indians can improve on the concept of the cat association and create a first.
So why cannot the cat lovers of India create a cat association in India that not only promotes the cat but also tackles cat cruelty and animal cruelty through education? The purebred cat spearheading the welfare of the lowly feral cat is a very democratic concept and it would provide masses of credibility to the formation of a cat association, one that would not only provide pleasure to the better off and their purebred cats but also help their poorer cousins - covering the full spectrum. This could only have a beneficial spin off for all animals domestic and wild in India.
If the people of India are better informed I believe that they can and will become animal lovers or at least they will better respect animals and thereby drastically reduce incidences of cruelty to them. The cat lovers of India can help and promote this cause.
I cannot complete this post without mentioning Captain Sundaram, the Founder of the Blue Cross of India. He was a wonderful man ably supported by his wife who must also be highly commended as well.
I am not sure but is the Indian National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) in breach of statutory duty? I believe that this body or organization was set up under the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 and the Wild Life Protection (Amendment) Act 2002.
Under these Acts the central government of India was obliged to constitute the National Board for Wild Life within 6 months of the Wild Life Protection (Amendment) Act 2002 coming into force (pursuant to section 6 of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972). Under section 7 of the Wild Life Protection Act 1972, the Board shall meet twice per year.
The first meeting of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) was in January 2002. The second meeting as on 18th March 2004. Thatappears to a breach of statutory duty. If I am correct there was another. In 2007 there was only one meeting on the 10th September 2008.
Does this indicate a lack of will and commitment to protect wild life in India and is it why endangered wild species are gradually becoming extinct in the wild in India?
Am I completely wrong? - tell me - leave a comment please.
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Update: the first meeting may have been 24th Dec. 2003. That would mean only one breach during the year of 2007. There have been years when there has been three meeting as well. Perhaps I am being too harsh?
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Is the Indian National Board for Wild Life (NBWL) in breach of statutory duty? - Source:
http://envfor.nic.in/divisions/wild.html (for dates of meetings)
Animal Laws of India by By India, Maneka Gandhi, Ozair Husain, Raj Panjwani
Cat Lovers in India are a little scarce it seems but growing in numbers (I hope - am I wrong?). While I am building the Pictures of cats.org website and this website (a Blogger subdomain), it has become increasingly apparent that the cat fancy (cat breeders and cat lovers) is confined to certain countries and I would dearly love it to be much wider.
India is a growing country and a world force economically and becoming increasingly westernized. Yet as far as I can see the vast majority of Indians see the cat as a bad luck omen and a link to witchcraft. Am I misinformed. A person left a comment to say that I was.
It also seems that another reason why the cat is not that popular is that people in India seem to prefer companion animals that are utilitarian. The companion animal needs to perform a service of some sort and dogs being bigger and stronger can at least protect people (note though that cats are great for keeping the rodent population down so they do have a use). You can tell that Cat Lovers in India are few and far between because you can't even buy cat food in India, never mind other cat products (this is incorrect apparently as cat food is currently - at 2009 - available but I feel far from the same level as in the USA for example).
There would seem to be a long way to go before India has a cat fancy by which I mean a cat association or associations and cat shows etc. (wrong? - please correct me). I'd have to guess and say that there are no cat clubs in India. I'd bet that you could count the number of purebred cats in India on one hand (this seems to be incorrect but purebred cats are much scarcer it seems).
The slight lack of interest in the domestic cat extends to their wild cousins, the Bengal tiger. This seems to be an undervalued yet beautiful wildcat that is gradually becoming extinct in the wild in India despite the much heralded Project Tiger and million pound funded project to save the tiger that is simply failing.
When you do a search of the major newspapers of India for stories on the domestic cat, nothing comes up except stories about the domestic cat in North America!
So, Cat Lovers in India, both of domestic and wild cats, are fairly scarce as far as I can see. I think that there needs to be an awakening and an awareness. The domestic cat is a great companion. Your cat companion will change your life and you'll start a trend that will benefit the domestic cat in India and the people.
One last point. Please neuter all domestic cats. You don't want a feral cat problem (have you already got one?!). But don't, don't be cruel to them, please. When we are cruel to animals we damage ourselves and the world. The world becomes a worse place.
Picture: by sallylondon -- feral cat in India surviving against the odds. Published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License
