Big cats are a beauty to behold!

And, with today's human lifestyle, there is very little they can do to keep away from us.

Is confining them to small reserves the solution? They were free roaming cats and they might move beyond the reserve fences which you have built.

Cheetahs live in open grasslands which many at times serve as grazing land for livestock. The farmers tend to shoot or kill them in any other manner, when they are found to be attacking the livestock. The Cheetah Conservation Fund, works for a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between these farmers and the cheetahs who share the same environment. CCF started its work in Namibia and has now started to extend to other parts of Africa too. They try to educate, and also provide feasible simple solutions to the farmers to try, such that they do not have to resolve to kill the cheetahs in case they are seen to trespass on private property.

Panthera is another organization which was set up with an aim to protect and enable symbiotic relationships between large cats across the world and the people who live near their habitat. Lions are the least affected amongst the cats, maybe because they are not seen to be of any great aesthetic value to the homes of the rich and famous. Good for them, they were spared.

In India too, I believe we need to understand the concerns of the villagers who live in and around the reserves. There has to be a reason why they do not care of the jungle and the animals that live in them, and I think a reason more than money should exist for it. At their position, money can be only a driving factor to an extend, I think there has to be a low understanding of how these animals are useful to them, and how they being in the jungle will serve to be more monetarily beneficial in the long run. 

I would not suggest that the monetary aspect alone be highlighted, but this can be a factor to create an urge within the villagers to protect the animals from poachers. I have seen in Kenya that there are many Masai villages just outside the reserve, and they charge a fee and take the tourists around their village and explain their way of life. This ensures an income for the villagers, but the tourists come in the first place all because of the wildlife in the Masai region. I am sure that every Indian village has abundant information to offer to tourists. Ours is  a country with varying practices across the states, and many of these draw their roots in practices in villages, which would be an interesting aspect for a traveller. These need to be cashed in on for the sake of the villagers and also the cats which live around these villages.

Animal Foster care

Working with and for pets are something which I have forever dreamed of. I wondered how one could manage something like this when they are working and most of them do not have time for a full time pet. I read a blog regarding foster care for children without homes or who are waiting for their parents to turn around before returning to their home. This led me to a search online for foster facilities for stray animals and abandoned pets. They are mostly at the shelter and for them, this is a very different environment from what they are used to. Many have been abused and are scared of humans due to bad experiences at bad homes or the brutality of being a stray cat/dog.

I came across the Animals Friends Rescue Project and PAWS; they need foster home volunteers so that they can save more animals from shelters and mainly the sick, old or helpless animals. These animals stand to be euthanized (humanely, they say) first as compared to the better looking and younger ones. Hence most foster homes will see animals recovering from trauma, illness or maltreatment. That in a way I think is what we can offer to these animals for their love and affection.

I think this is also a very great way to teach children about tolerance for animals and also to teach them that being good to your pets is not the only important thing. Even if it’s a stray animal, you do not hurt them for no reason, and in most (not all) cases I am sure the cases of kids hurting stray animals and stray animals hurting children also have some linkage to how children are taught to interact with animals.

I checked with CUPA at Bangalore, whether they had any Animal Fostering program, which they did not. They have facilities in conjunction with the vet hospital, and as they have a huge campus they say they do not require foster care for the animals. I have visited the facility, and I think if they do start a foster care program, they would be able to give some more time to the needy animals and leave the generic feeding and caring to be done in a more homely environment by a foster care provider.

I am sure I would be keen on fostering animals for a few months prior to their adoption. I think its the perfect solution for those who live alone, who travel abroad and would not want a full time pet, but nevertheless love to offer any help possible to animals.

Would you?

A fight to live

It is very disheartening to see that there are so many instances where we are trying to save nature and animals, help them proliferate. But here is an instance where the marine biologists are unable to do anything to help this orphaned starving calf. Why can not this calf be taken to a center where it can be taken care of? Is it too small?

On the contrary here we have a situation where the old are being given a better chance at life. They have the option which the whale calf doesn't have.

I do not say that its wrong to preserve life, but then this calf also has the wish to live. We take care of infants orphaned at birth. Why don't we have some mechanism through which such orphans can also be taken care of?