“Save the tiger” seems to be the major buzz now. You turn on the TV and you have some celebrity appealing to save the tiger. You turn on the radio and you have another celebrity or well known figure pledging their support for the tiger. Many organizations have come out in support for saving the tiger.
Here are some of the quotes by celebrities on why they feel the tiger should be saved:
“The tiger is our treasure and we should do everything in our power to save it”
“We should ensure that the tiger is around for us and our children”
“The tiger is our most noble citizen and we should save the tiger”
“The tiger is the most beautiful creature to see in the wild”
These are the common statements made. The one which says that we should save the tiger for ourselves and our children is probably the most common reaction, “if the tiger goes, we all miss an opportunity of seeing something very pretty”.
Now is there a problem with this view?
I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to attend a workshop conducted by Dr. Anish Andheria on the situation of wildlife in India. He is the Director of Sanctuary Asia Magazine (do take a look sometime, excellent material) and Wildlife Trust of India. It was mostly a non-structured but detailed presentation where he spoke of his personal experience with Project Tiger and explained exactly why the project was so crucial. On the surface it appears to be a project to protect the tiger but for a conservationist who understands connections between various species and the significance of forest conservation for survival, this project is of critical importance.
From my little experience, I feel that conservationists are the most passionate people. This is probably because wildlife conservation is the most difficult field to work in, and people take who take up this job really want to do it for the love of it. For those who don’t agree with me, I’d suggest spending a weekend at a sanctuary with a conservationist working for a non-profit. There are few experiences that come close to that.
At this juncture, I’d like to define the term wildlife – it refers to all creature, plants and animals, living in their natural habitat without human care/intervention. The important point is that wildlife is not just the big animals.
For Dr. Anish, the fight to save tigers is nothing but a fight to save ourselves. He showed the connections between deforestation, loss of biodiversity and climate change as phenomena where every susceptible species will suffer. Through Project Tiger, several forests in India and therefore several species in those forests are protected. What would happen if tigers were to vanish from those forests?
This discussion reminds me of an Australian aboriginal saying. This was told by an old aboriginal woman “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you see my struggle as part of your own survival and liberation, then perhaps we can work together”. Probably one of the most beautiful quotes I’ve heard. It sums up the teachings of peace, interdependence and justice.
The tiger should be saved for nothing but the tiger, for the sake of justice. In other words, do it for what is right. I agree I am no authority to state right from wrong. This however, is my opinion on the issue. But are we in a position to feel at one with the tiger? or with any endangered species for that matter? We are and have been obsessed with saving what is physically beautiful. But conservationists have used this as an opportunity to save all the other endangered species too in those forests through habitat conservation.
If we continue to miss seeing the connections between the fates of wildlife with our own, not only do we miss the opportunity to understand and experience life to its fullest, we also spell our own destruction.
