Sahir Doshi is literally the boy who is crying wolf. But only this time, it’s the wolf that needs to be saved!

EVERY so often, wolves (the Indian Black and Himalayan) are sighted carrying away body parts of babies and we classify them as man-eaters. Though it is sad for families to see their babies dying, the wolves are not really at fault.

Predators rarely move out of their territory, unlike prey species that migrate immediately if any encroachment of their area took place. A few months ago, an incident of wolves carrying babies away in an area in UP resulted in a massive wolf hunt.

This area was once the breeding ground of these highly endangered animals. There was enough deer, antelope, hares and even snakes in the region for wolves to prey on.

But with increasing encroachment of the forest, thereby loss of habitat and the indiscriminate killing of animals has resulted in a shortage of food for the wolves. They are left with no choice but to attack babies, sheep or goats on the farms. Lions, tigers, leopards and hyenas would also do such things.

Your Land Is My Land
Due to over population, wastage of area, bad agricultural land management, soil erosion, plain greediness of man and city expansion activities, villagers are increasingly moving into forest land. I hope that all of you readers will spread the simple message in this story and that is to curb population and better manage land resources. Perhaps we also need the parliament to act on this.

There is a wide variety of wolves in India, it will be a pity to lose any of them. From the peaks of the Himalayas, the vast Northern plains and the Thar desert to the Southern grasslands of the Deccan and the Western ghats, the wolves’ habitats need to be protected.

Don’t Let It Be A Dog’s Life
Why should we protect the wolf?
• Wolves are highly endangered species and are already on India and Nepal’s red list.
• They are a vital part of the Himalayan, Thar, Gangetic and Deccan bio-diversity.
• They help control ungulate population therefore resulting in less over-grazing.
• Wolves help control rodent population. Though people don’t think so, wolves help the farmer in return for sheep and goats by eating pests like rodents.

Keep Your World Clean Artistically!
The Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment is inviting children to participate in the ‘It’s My World’ programme and an art contest held in partnership with ‘Tinkle’.
The programme provides information on key issues impacting our city lives like waste disposal and littering. The art contest challenges students between the ages of 9 and 13 to create a poster artwork on the theme

‘Wealth in Waste, Don’t Litter, Recycle it’.
Last date for entries is December 15, 2003. For more information on the programme, the contest and to get your entry form, e-mail: itsmyworld@envis-icpe.com. Or call 022 56351686 or 87 or 22694105 or 06.

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