The saddest song of wildlife in Nagaland Abokali Jimomi Dimapur | April 20 It is perhaps too late to even talk of wildlife conservation in Nagaland. Saving a species cannot substitute the destruction of a region’s rich wildlife ecosystem. Naga folktales are full of wildlife characters; these animals now appear only in stories, like magical creatures in fairytales, or skulls, skin and feathery remains adorning houses, like reconstructed T-Rex skeleton and stuffed Dodo standing lifeless in a Natural History Museum. Are bears, tigers, Sambar Deer, monkeys, leopard cats, otters, snakes, Hornbills, and all types of birds abundantly and freely roaming about in our forests anymore? “Shhh! Keep quiet, get the gun, a big bird just landed on that tree… I’ll show you how it’s killed,” the bird is shot, and people around scream with joy; the shooter feels brave and talented. If ‘Hope’ is what keeps us going when everything seems lost, the only hope left for our annihilated wildlife is of seeing them in the afterlife. One could compose a eulogy for lives gone – perhaps as soulfully sad as Pablo Neruda’s lament for a love lost: “I can write the saddest poem of all tonight. What does it matter that my love couldn’t keep her. … and this may be the last poem I write for her.” “We buy chemicals, pour on flowers up those trees… birds instantaneously fall off when they feed on them… we sell at Supermarket,” said a young, unemployed father in Dimapur. No matter how much we publicize conservation efforts, these are not enough as the killing is not stopping; the tragedy being that the dying out will not wait. Our ignorance barricades us from understanding why exterminating wildlife is uncool and disastrous for us. We seem to be living in Prehistoric times with a hunter-gatherer mindset despite our ‘Modernity’ camouflage of high-tech gadgets, fashionable clothes and houses. Nowadays, even weddings are occasions to show off what exotic bird dishes can be whipped up. “Usually around this season, we know it’s breeding time,” said an elder, as excited people discuss how a deer and a wild boar were both found pregnant after their bellies were sliced open, killed in April 2014 by hunters. “A long time ago, we killed a tiger… it stole our piglets and chickens, and people were not safe too,” narrated a retired village chief. When asked if there were possibilities that the tiger had no prey, or perhaps its natural habitat was burnt down and was, therefore, desperately hungry… the chief smiled and said it was certainly a ‘Were-Tiger’, those devious devil-incarnates. “God created them for us to eat, He will provide, why are you so bothered? They will re-populate…wild meat is medicinal. Try this smoked bird, it’s killed anyway,” said a person. It is little wonder why sighting a squirrel in Nagaland now is as rare as sighting a UFO. “Hah! Today seven of my sins are atoned for!” exclaimed a man, quickly jumping down the vehicle after running over a small snake crossing the road, satisfactorily crushing its head with a rock, a woman too jumped out searching for a rock. It is beyond comprehension how killing a snake can compensate for sins like siphoning off public funds. Such misunderstood creatures: Snakes. “Nowadays everybody keeps at least an air-gun, it is easy to kill compared to using spears. Our forefathers never ate snakes… taboo to touch many types of wild meat, but young people have become very experimental,” said an 84-year old man. A young government official said, “Even if Village Administration restricts, people hunt: a ‘Time-Pass’ activity for many with guns, and administrators are also individuals habituated to consuming wild game… but strict orders by village heads can actually prevent insensible killing.” Unfortunately, only an epitaph such as “Here lie the chewed bones—remains of wildlife in Nagaland; may we meet in heaven so that we can guillotine them for fun again,” is all there is to say. What is Earth Day? Earth Day is an annual event most commonly celebrated on April 22. Earth Day is a day on which people around the world gather to participate in activities and demonstrations aimed at raising public awareness about a variety of environmental issues including air pollution, water pollution, habitat destruction, sustainable energy, climate change, species losses, and environmental policies. The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970 and marks the start of the modern environmental movement. Today, Earth Day is celebrated all over the world through various activities like community meetings on preserving wildlife, large-scale light bulb changes, workplace renewable energy retrofits, or many other ideas that can be found on the Earth Day Network’s website. Perhaps it is never too late!
Posted on: Tue, 22 Apr 2014 04:46:11 +0000
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