Who is really wild? Man or Animal
By Dr PC Kotwal & Jagdish Chandra
If our sense of right and wrong had not become blunt, we would recognize that animals had right, no less than men. This education of the heart is the proper function of humanitarian leagues. I know that the lower creation groans under the arrogant lordship of man. He counts no cruelty too repulsive when he wants to satisfy his appetite, whether lawful or unlawful. If the beasts had intelligent speech at their command, they would state a case against man that would stagger humanity. I can understand the shooting of wild beasts who come to annoy us. But have fund no cogent reasons advanced for wasting money upon organizing parties for satisfying man’s thirst for blood. I do believe that all God’s creatures have right to live as much as we have. Instead of prescribing the killing of the so called injurious fellow creatures of ours as a duty, if men of knowledge had devoted their gift in discovering ways of dealing with them otherwise, than killing, we would be living in a world befitting our status as men animals endowed with reason and the power of choosing between good and evil, right and wrong, violence and non-violence, truth and untruth. I prefer to be called a coward or a fool or worse, to deny, for the sake of being considered a wise man, what I believe to be a fundamental truth of life. 1 am not opposed to the progress of science as such, on the contrary, the scientific spirit of the west commands my admiration and if that admiration is qualified, it is because the scientist of the west takes no note of God’s lower creation. I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. I detest the unpardonable slaughter of innocent life in the name of science and humanity and all the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence. If the circulation of blood theory could not have been discovered without vivisection, the humankind could have done without it and I see the day clearly drawing near when the honest scientist of the West will put limitations upon the present method of pursuing knowledge. It is an arrogant assumption to say that human beings are lords and masters of the lower creation. On the contrary, being endowed with greater things in life, they are trustees of the lower animal kingdom.
“Wildlife” is the product of land
All forms of plants and animals living in natural forest areas are termed as wildlife. If we give thoughtful closer look at these living creatures in nature, we will find that structurally and functionally these are quite organized and systematic. Their comparison with present human society; may perhaps reveal the wildlife to be more civil. Man, using his power of expression has termed the living creatures of nature as ‘wildlife’ which are not so wild as the man himself or his society. It is really intemperate to pile over the term ‘wildlife’ to these living innocent creatures which are not wild in true sense.
The Civil Animals
These animals live in harmony with nature. They never destroy the habitat on which they live. Their spatio temporal activities are also quite systematic and punctual and as per the circadian system of the universe. the animals do not move haphazardly in the forest. Their movements are well motivated and regulated. They graze in time, rest in time, breed in time and co exist with individuals of same species and with those of other species. In this regard, it is worthwhile to mention the common association of Chital and langur in the Tropical forest. The langur while feeding on the tree also drops considerable forage which is eagerly consumed by chital grazing on the ground. The alarm call of chital and langur signaling the presence of predator nearby is well understood by each other and they waste no time in moving to safer place. Even a top predator like tiger is very gentle in behavior. If a man is alone in the forest and a tiger is seen coming from a distance, it will move away avoiding the man. But, instead of tiger if two persons are seen coming towards the lonely Tiger in the forest, then there might be many doubts about them. All the animals in nature including the dreaded carnivores and the venomous snakes, consider man as alien. The animals may harm to man in a bit to escape, when they feel that they are troubled. The aberrant animals harm to man and his property but if we go deep into the casual factors, we may find direct or indirect role of man in making them aberrant. This may be because of hurting them, destructing their habitat (shelter, water, feeding material etc.) or damaging the prey animals. A lot of other structural, functional and behavioral parameters of animals can be discussed which would find them more civil and systematic than man and his society.
The Man and Animals
The behavior of man in meeting and greeting his new fellow colleagues is quite similar with animals in nature. These animals also meet and greet their conspecific in similar way. In animal world, the stronger ones try to be dominant to over others within the norms of nature being more powerful and deserving than others to perform the natural functions. In human beings the under serving ones try to pose more than the real deserving ones which is not natural and lasting. In man the functions are ephemeral and animosity is lasting while in animals the animosity is ephemeral and functions are lasting. Different types of animal species live and complete their life cycle to continue the life processes and at the same time contributing for the benefit of other animals. In this process the habitat is used but not damaged. Thus animals are functionally sustainable while man learned about sustainability much later and only boast. In a good National Park the population of major prey and predators is naturally maintained. Every day several prey animals are predated by predators; the left over carcass is consumed by scavengers; the remaining portion is acted upon by still smaller organisms and microbes. Ultimately everything gets mixed in the soil for further recycling. Thus the resource is efficiently utilized at every stage and nothing is wasted. If these systems do not function in normal way, the National Parks may perhaps become like garbage grounds. They are not only clean and hygienic but also refreshing. Such efficiency of functional utilization is rarely found in human society. Famous ethologists Gerald and Lee Durrell (1987) have analytically compared man and animals on several structural, functional and behavioral parameters in their classic book “ourselves and other animals”. Many technologies used by animals are only recently discovered and used by man. Some of these are air conditioning in termites, radar in bats, heatless luminescence in fireflies. Structurally many animals are better equipped than man like, some insects can see ultraviolet light, the dogs have extraordinary power of smelling the shark is free from cancer. Some animals excel human beings in running, leaping, pulling and other measures of body fitness. The animals also have language of communication, they communicate with most sophisticated means like, calls, sounds, language of tails and ears in canids peculiar movements and body pastures, scent marking in cats, electrical charges in fishes etc. The communication among honeybee is excellent and man is yet to evolve such perfect system.
Man, animal Association
Animals have been associated with man since time immemorial. In Indian mythology several animals are associated with different Gods. The animals have developed perfect systems in course of evolution which is in tune with the surrounds. In fact the world would appear strange & deserted without variety of creatures. In that case man will not only be deprived of their benefits in several ways but also would be suffering with abundance of only man. The animals provide us many direct benefits such as food (fish, chicken, goat etc.), body cover (sheep, rabbit etc.), labor (bullock, horse, elephant etc). Ecologically man and animals are not in the opposite camps of servant and master but in symbiosis in a common environment. As in human beings, the young ones of animals also feel necessity of mother’s emotional love. Probably this is corroborated with some pheromones or vibrations which have been undetectable so far. These, however, play important role in the development of young ones. In some species the parental care is shared by both the sexes. The fishes don’t care for their young ones, where fertilization takes place outside the body of the female. In chimpanzees and langurs the parental care is offered by another female of the group too. Thus, there are different ways and means of rearing the young ones in animals which are as tender as in human babies. As human beings aggregate and congregate for mutual comfort, security and benefits, the animals also act similarly. Each individual in the group is well communicated to have orderly behavior and functions. The system of hierarchy also occurs in animals (e.g. wild dogs) like rank, class, inequality. It is not necessary that in animals everything is ideal and democratic. There are examples of slavery and putting down the dominant male by combined efforts of subordinates (e.g. baboon). This is also prevalent in human society. Acquiring, maintaining and defending a territory is of common occurrence in man and animals. The territory confers to many advantages such as food, shelter, sexual display sites and safe nesting. Like human beings the animals also display elaborate courtship strategies. These comprise of sounds, calls, colors, smells, body actions etc. There is a variety of actions, timings, places etc. in courtship and mating in different animals. Perhaps most of these may be prevalent in man alone. The homosexuality, hermaphrodism, and polygamy also occur in animals. The animals not only choose the right mate but also avoid mating with close relatives (e.g. mouse) which is also practiced in man barring few examples. Cases of female deception for sexual ends are very few in animal world. There are instances of deliberate deception among animals for various purposes. Mimicry in body color, sound call occurs in animals for safety purposes and to locate the predator or conspecific. Thus there are several ways, mechanisms and modifications in animal world for feeding, breeding, living and completing the life cycle in association with conspecifics/other species and the habitat.
The Primitive Natural Man
During the course of evolution, sever-al species of bacteria, plants and animals have evolved, disappeared and new one evolved as incessant process of evolution to reach the stage when eventually the man made his appearance on the earth in the Cretaceous era of geological time period. Before emergence of man, several species of plants and animals had already evolved and made this earth suitable for emergence and living of man, making available the life supporting requirements of food, shelter, water and others. Think of the earth’s environment during that period with preponderance of varied life forms existed in serene natural forests, mountains, rivers with tingling water, minus man. After emergence of man, the process of so called development started, initially at slow pace, gradually speeding to present day galloping pace to spoil the natural balance of the environment that was evolved after long natural processes. This is threatening not only all the forms of life on the earth but also the human race. The man had lived natural life in the remote past before the onset of the civi-lization. The civilization is said to have started about 10,000 years ago when man started covering his body, made stone tools and gradually started cultivating the plants and domesticating some animals. The tribal life in the remote rural ar-eas still reflect the natural ways of living. In some areas they are still not treated at par with the so called civil society. The condition of animals is still worst. In our country only 5% geographical area has been allocated for all forms of natural flora and fauna in the form of Protected Areas. Remaining 95% area is utilized by only one species of nature’s creation i.e., man. The target of 5% is nearly achieved. Whatever area put under Protected Area is also utilized for the benefit, education, and enjoyment of man.
The present un-civilized man:
The man is quite uncivilized and irregular in many of its actions not only towards animals but also towards the human society itself. Most of the bad characters can be attributed in man like selfish, dishonest, corrupt, terrorist. Man is quite irregular in his daily activities of eating, resting, breeding. At international level the organized warfares and diplomacies are only known in the human society. Needless to say, that these wars destroy considerable human, animal life and prosperity. The forests and non human life have been also decimated by man. The Almighty has bestowed man with highly developed body and brain. He has used considerable part of these capabilities for developments which are also associated with nature and natural systems like forests, wildlife, land, water and air. The whole gamut of environment is altered because of which healthy survival of human beings is questionable. This is something like weapon in the hands of a fool who while using it also damages him self. Man has been damaging the nature to quench his greed rather than to meet the genuine needs. As Mahatma Gandhi has said that “there is enough to meet the needs of all but not enough to meet the greed of few”. Sometimes man becomes very cruel to these innocent creatures of nature to satisfy his psychological needs. The use of tiger bones in making spurious medicines has reversed the rising trend of tiger population. This illicit trade has lead to killing of several tigers from the forests and even protected areas of the country. U.S. based Earth Island Institute has reported that a live tiger is auctioned off piece by piece in Taiwan and then the organs are removed from the tiger’s body and given to the auctioneer. One bowel of tiger penis soup used to be sold for $320 in Taiwan. Similarly use of rhino horn for its alleged aphrodisiac properties has seriously affected the rhino population. The civetine (base for best perfume in the world) is obtained from civet cat by brutally beating the live animal, as secretion of the hair root glands is due to severe pain and tremendous fear of the innocent animal. The man wishfully uses the perfume of animals to suppress the body smell. The elephants are poached for the ivory which is used in making beautiful bangles, ornaments and other decorative. Use of skins of different animal species in various ways is still in vogue, although the trend has been on the low ebb. One skin of Panda may sell for $ 1,00,000 in the black market. Several other instances can be narrated of man’s cruelty against animals. This has led to form “Society for prevention of cruelty against animals” by a group of ethical people.
The standards of civilization:
If the standards of civilization as postulated in most of the religions of the world are tested on human and non human life, perhaps, the later will win on most of the points. The Vedas, the Kuran, the Bible and others suggest illumined human life full of truth, non-violence, self control, good to others in thought, words and deeds, and so many other good things for the well being of not only human society but also for the non human creatures, nature and the environment on which human survival is dependant. But the present day man in particular is acting without bothering for the ethics. The ill effects of man’s inhuman actions are visible these days in the form of pollution in land, water, air, seasonal distortions, floods, droughts, diseases, earthquakes etc. The human population is suffering from several diseases born due to unbalanced environment.
Spread of Corona Viruses:
When this disease spread from one species to another it is known as a “spillover event.” Although not yet confirmed, preliminary evidence suggests that the virus that causes COVID-19, the 2019 corona virus disease, may have originated in horseshoe bats in China. It may have spread to another species which in turn infected humans at Wuhan live animal market, or “wet market. One quarter of mammal species overall are bats. And in tropical systems, bats make up 50 percent of the mammalian diversity. Most bats feed on insects or fruit, but there’s a huge range of bat behaviors. There are bats that eat other bats, bats that eat fish and bats that drink blood. And each of these myriad bat species carries a suite of different pathogens. Bats are able to host different viruses without getting sick. So bats, and the pathogens that bats carry, are numerous. And bats and humans are both mammals. This relatedness means we’re more likely to get a pathogen from a bat than from a cricket, for instance.
Wet Markets a Source of Spill Over:
Wet markets bring together a really broad range of animal species from different parts of the world. These animals are not eating what they would normally eat in the wild. They are stressed, which lowers their immunity and makes them more susceptible to pathogens. They are kept in cages where they are defecating on one another and, perhaps, through the cages onto other species of animals. They are also being butchered at the markets. Cutting up an animal and getting its blood on you is a good way to get a pathogens. All these factors make wet markets a perfect storm for cross species transmission. Whenever you have novel interactions with a diverse range of species in one place whether that’s in a natural environment like a tropical forest or in an artificially created environment like a wet market we can have a spill over event. The “wet market” (one that sells fresh produce and meat) in Wuhan, thought by the Chinese government to be the starting point of the current COVID-19 pandemic, was known to sell numerous animals, including live wolf pups, salamanders, crocodiles, scorpions, rats, squirrels, foxes, civets and turtles. Equally, urban markets in west and central Africa see monkeys, bats, rats and dozens of species of birds, mammals, insects and rodents slaughtered and sold close to open refuse dumps and with no drainage. The wet market in Lagos is notorious. It’s like a nuclear bomb waiting to happen. These traditional markets provide much of the food for Africa and Asia. These markets are essential sources of food for hundreds of millions of poor people, and getting rid of them is impossible but we seldom come to know that our food habits have become extremely faulty in certain part of the world. COVID-19 has been a very vivid example that how bats on a Chinese table led the whole of the world to suffer. Bats have been recognized as the natural reservoirs of a large variety of viruses. Special attention has been paid to bat corona viruses as the two emerging corona viruses which have caused unexpected human disease outbreaks in the 21st century.
A survey was carried out in the diver-sity of CoVs in multiple host taxa from twenty countries to explore the factors driving viral diversity at a global scale and this identified sequences representing 100 discrete phylogenetic clusters, ninety one of which were found in bats, and used ecological and epidemiologic analysis to show that patterns of CoV diversity cor-relate with those of bat diversity. This cements bats as the major evolutionary reservoirs and ecological drivers of CoV diversity. Cophylogenetic reconciliation analysis was also used to show that host switching has contributed to CoV evolution, and a preliminary analysis suggests that regional variation exists in the dynamics of this process. Overall this study represents a model for exploring global viral diversity and advances our fundamental understanding of CoV biodiversity and the potential risk factors associated with zoonotic emergence (Simon J. Anthony etal 2017).
Gandhiji and Animals:
Mahatma Gandhi loved humans and non humans equally. He said that if our sense of right and wrong had not become blunt, we would recognize that animals had right to live on the earth, no less than men. If the beasts had intelligent speech at their command, they would have state a case against man that would have daggered humanity. He believed that all God’s creatures have the right to live as much as we have. He was not in favor of killing even injurious fellow creatures and said that if men of knowledge had devoted their gift to discovering ways of dealing with them otherwise than by killing them, we would be living in a world befitting our status as prince of God. The animals are endowed with reason and the power of choosing between good and evil, right and wrong, violence and non-violence, truth and untruth. It is an arrogant assumption to say that human beings are lords and masters of lower creation.
On the contrary being endowed with greater things in life, they are trustees of lower animal kingdom. Because of Mahatma Gandhi’s such love to animals, the ‘wildlife’ week is celebrated all over the country every year on his birthday in October. The non human life or natural life: In many ways the animals are superior in performance of natural functions and better disciplined than man. Man is a naked ape with several aberrations in actions behavior and living. The modern man can be called as spoiled form of wildlife. Considering all these parameters it is not worth to call them wild. They should be aptly called as non-human lives or natural lives. Man has learned many things and benefited in several ways from nature and natural lives but unfortunately do not act in harmony with nature. The natural lives act as torch bearers to show path of life to man. They should be given their due place by the human society.