Three bear the brunt for loving wildlife

By DN Singh

It has become a usual feature of the wildlife wing of Orissa to get off their state of inertness once the damage is done. A similar kind of amateur action threw three lives off balance. But thanks to the intervention of media and judiciary, the damage was undone.Earlier, a speechless animal is within the concrete confines of a zoo, trying hard to recover from the trauma after the sudden shift of habitat. One was put behind bars for taking its care. And third: a three-year-old child was made victim of a senseless and knee-jerk decision. With least regard to the ground realities, the top brass in the Wildlife Department still frown at the jailed tribal, supposedly the villain of the entire episode. And the lonely inmate in the zoo, an eighteen-month year old sloth bear brought from Keonjhar portrays a tale of tragic separation, shock, trauma and of a shattered symbiotic bond. About 18 months back a tribal, Ram Singh Munda, from Ruplisila village in Keonjhar district, stumbled upon a bear cub battling with illness in a ditch inside the jungle, perhaps after being separated from its mother. Unable to locate the mother anywhere around, Ram brought it home. The sick bear cub slowly recovered from her illness and the love and care of the man breathed a new lease of life into the little soul. Within months the cub not only became a part of the family but a real darling of the household; more so, the sweetheart of Ram`s three-year-old motherless daughter. A bond that can be best described as an example of symbiosis. Named Rani, the cub grew in absolute freedom, moving around, playing with the daughter and other kids of the village and even sleeping near Ram or his daughter. As she grew, Ram grew a little worried about her safety and once even informed the forest authorities. However, despite his meager family income, Ram never allowed Rani to be treated differently from his own daughter. This exemplary bond between man and animal could not escape media attention. A few days back it hogged the headlines and after that the forest department of Keonjhar suddenly came out its state of stupor and acted in a very amateurish manner. Dubbing his action as a gross violation of the Wildlife Act 1972, they dragged Ram out of his house and put him behind the bars and literally lifted Rani out of her home and dumped her in a concrete enclosure at the Nandankaanan zoo. Two souls were shattered with shock. Ram was left to languish in jail and Rani was abandoned in the confines of the zoo in absolute trauma. Almost for three days, the bear refused to touch food and water. And this became a cause for the soaring worries of the zoo keepers and the safety of Rani is still under a question mark. Can she survive the sudden alienation from her habitat and the love of Ram and her daughter? "The forest officials have in a knee jerk reaction seized the sloth bear " says Biswajit Mohanty, an ardent wildlife activist adding that " they have, in their zeal, forgotten to keep the interest of the bear in mind- which might die of loneliness after being abruptly detached from its keeper." An eighteen-month-old fairy tale has hit the block of an absolutely mindless decision taken by the babus in the Forest Department of Orissa who, of course, enjoy the unenviable reputation of being incapable in such exigencies. When this reporter contacted the state`s Principal Chief Conservator of Wildlife about the department`s wisdom behind detaching Rani from Ram and imprisoning the latter, the officer`s reaction could startle any one. "The action taken in this case was taken by the officers who belong to the Territorial wing, so I can not comment much on that.` That comes from an officer who heads the wildlife wing. Ironically, in this whole episode, the PFA played a catalyst’s role behind the bear cub`s immediate release from Ram Singh`s clutches and was found baying for the tribal`s blood for violation of the Wildlife Act ` 72. But, interestingly, in a press release in Bhubaneswar, the PFA Secretary had urged the state government not to arrest Ram Singh as the latter had never made any commercial gain out of Rani nor had tortured her! And the worst that has happened is that, after Ram Singh`s arrest, back in his home, his three year old daughter has been left to her fate. The child is in total trauma and there is nobody to take care of her. A reality that has not struck the minds of either the forest or the district authorities. As an after thought the local authorities have decided to offer alms to the child in the shape of food, twice a day. Nothing could be more appalling than this; an innocent child who is already sinking in a brooding gloom of separation, her fate has been entrusted to a few officials. On Monday, the tribal was granted bail by the local court, as its attention was drawn to the child`s fate. Now that Ram is out on a bail from the court, philanthropy is in the air. The state that earlier appeared anything but just, now, thanks to media and the judiciary, has thought of supporting Ram`s daughter in her studies and food etc.. Even the local unit of PFA also has gone a step forward. It has not only volunteered to take total care of Ram’s daughter, but it has also suddenly found a hidden virtue in Ram Singh’s behaviour and expressed its willingness to employ him. For them, it appears, Ram can be a real animal caretaker.