In the last week, the floods in Assam have caused the Brahmaputra river to inundate over 80 percent of the 481-square-kilometre Kaziranga National Park, killing over 140 animals on site. As of August 10, it is reported that seven rhinos, 122 swamp deer, two elephants, three wild boars, two hog deer, three sambhar deer, one buffalo and one porcupine died, as said by KNP Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Rohini Ballav Saikia. The Economic Times has gone on to report that “Intensified water patrolling was on by KNP guards, task force, protection force along with those from NGOs, Wildlife Trust of India and forest department employees for rescuing, recovering and making assessment of species trapped or dead in the KNP, Sakia said.”
This begs us to ask, what could the Indian government have done to prevent this death toll from reaching such high numbers? While floods are a natural phenomenon and little can be done to prevent them from occurring, resources could be used to bring the animals to safety faster, employ more people to aid in the rescue efforts (6 Rhinos drowned to death), and help curb the damage done to the sanctuary to protect the remaining animals from death.With INR 148 crores being allocated into systematically IDing the number of cows, there has never been a more appropriate time to quote George Orwell – “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”
Gau-pyaar is no longer a joke and has been effectively directing many of the country’s decisions and priorities, where this nationalist campaign had encountered another, possibly counterproductive, development: a suggestion for the cow to be India’s new national animal. According to a Times Of India report, Judge Mahesh Chandra Sharma from Rajasthan’s High Court recommended that the cow be declared the national animal of India, in addition to a lifetime imprisonment for the slaughter of cows. Incidentally, he also happens to be the same person who said Peacocks are celibate and pious beings to draw an analogy between the pious nature of cows and peacocks but we’ll let that one slide for now. The legal status that these cows will receive from becoming a national symbol doesn’t correlate with the their current need for such a degree of immunity and protection; it’s not like the widespread bovine population across the country is nearing extinction.
So why don’t we quickly go over the stats: the Hingonia Gaushalam in Rajasthan has over 8,000 cows which are supervised and take care of by a team of 24 livestock assistants, 14 vets, and 200 other staff members. And these are the numbers from a single cow-shed in the country, a minuscule fraction amongst the 88 million and growing cows that have been each been identified under the Aadhar card system. Suggesting such a decision that circles one specific (and very prolific) species, when there are several others, including India’s very own national animal, the tiger, whose numbers are dwindling on the verge of extinction.
The Bengal Tiger is a species that has seen dramatic loss in numbers over the years due to loss of habitat, climate change and excessive rates of poaching. With nearly 2,500 tigers left in the world, the animal that is supposed to be an emblem of this country will possibly be a thing of legend and myth for our children a few years from now. The entire wildlife budget for 2017 is Rs. 522.50 crores which seems like a lot until you realise that an equivalent quarter of this amount is being used to label cows alone. If anything at all, it should be suggested that tracking procedures, tiger-rakshas and greater legal identification of the Bengal Tiger be reinforced, to make sure that these creatures aren’t wiped off the face of the earth. In the question of animal rights and environmental conservation, the current tangent of fiscal allocation of animal preservation and rights just doesn’t seem to be adding up or even at the least considering species that can tremendously benefit from such plans.
When a country that prides itself in its diversity (of people and wildlife) constantly pushes for projects and decisions that stress on safeguarding and the deification of a singular (and need we re-emphasise, abundant) species, you can’t help but think that the government is doing everything they can to make sure that their nationalistic agendas are protected. With ecologically vulnerable areas suffering enormous impact, endangered animals on the brink of extinction, and relentless damage still to come, we can mourn in the fact that any efforts to have preserved them is now comfortably sitting in numerous cow-sheds across the country.
If you liked this story, we recommend you read: