It is our collective experience that if things are allowed to function in a balanced state, we can minimise the damaging aspect of any relationship. Now take the example of interaction between humans and wild life. It is an age old phenomenon, and human have put different wild animals to varied use. At the same time the two have lived in independent spheres without encroaching into each others’ space.
There was hardly a chance of wild animals walking into human habitats. But now everything has changed so immensely. The extension of human populations into areas that were purely considered wild changed it all. And when we have disturbed the scheme we are now paying the price with our life. In J&K we frequently come across the news that a bear or a leopard walked into some village and caused panic in the locality.
Some times the wild animals stealthy invade into a compound of a house damaging life. Given the modern day sensitivity towards animal rights the clash between humans and wild animals attracts media attention, and we see people trying not to harm the animal as that might invite some legal action. This also has created its own set of problems.
The most glaring example of this is how we are so defenseless against the wrath of street dogs. Summing it up, we have lost many lives to human-wild conflict, and that is a concern. In past some months we have seen many occasions where human lives were lost to wild animal attacks. Though the frequency of such instances might have made this a stale subject, but the loss of life must concern us all.
It is time to do some serious reflection and ask ourselves why such a conflict happens in the first place, and why we fail to save human lives. One thing we know for sure; humans have disturbed the wild habitat and that is what makes these animals to walk into human populations.
This means that we should have a comprehensive policy to ensure there is no encroachment on forest areas, and the wild life is allowed to flourish in a natural state.