In the wild

Updated on: Monday, November 30, 2009

WILDLIFE conservation is a subject that has been debated in India both within the intellectual and popular social circles. But for 34 year old Bahar Dutt, it goes beyond the challenge of ensuring safety to endangered species. In her words, “People have to be sensitised to the fact that we need to conserve wildlife not just for their sake but for our sake as well. Unfortunately, this has not happened sufficiently in India. Hence we have conservation policies that are short-sighted and fail to address relevant issues."

Armed with a degree in social work from Delhi University, Dutt pursued an MSc in wildlife conservation from the University of Kent, UK. Talking about the importance of an academic degree, she says, “Wildlife conservation is a fairly technical subject that requires scientific precision. Hence, a formal degree is important. But for one to have an informed focus, one should have an understanding of the multiple disciplines within the ambit of social sciences. Most importantly, one should be committed to the cause." Interdisciplinarity is characterising education today.

Explaining its relevance to wildlife conservation, Dutt reveals, “Conservation has to address multiple social, political, legal and economic dimensions. So conservation courses should, ideally, prepare one to be able to figure the connections between seemingly different domains."

According to Dutt, for any conservation drive to be successful , the support and participation of local communities is indispensable. Citing her contribution in this respect, she says, “I spent seven years working with and rehabilitating the Bahelias, a community of snake charmers in North India. This phase gave me interesting insights in terms of tackling two very different yet parallel problems. On the one hand, there was the challenge of conserving snakes and on the other hand there was the challenge of preserving the identity and livelihood of snake charmers. I discovered that these charmers adopt a scientific approach while dealing with snakes. They are well versed in snake behaviour which led me to develop the concept of snake educators. At present, these charmers are working in the domain of animal welfare, spreading awareness among people as to how snakes and humans can coexist. They also render community service by engaging in snake rescue operations that — among other things — entail getting snakes out of people’s dwellings." Dutt has also been instrumental in organising stage shows in India and abroad with the objective of popularising the musical heritage of these charmers.

Dutt believes that wildlife conservation cannot be divorced from heritage preservation. She points out that in India, animals like elephants, lions, tigers and snakes have had an intrinsic association with humans since ancient times.
Indian mythologies and folktales are full of such accounts. As is the case with snake charmers, there are many more ethnic tribes whose identity and livelihood cannot be divorced from animals.

But today, along with many of our traditions, these associations (between man and animal) are fast eroding. Talking in terms of a solution, Dutt continues, “As a nation, we need to realign our approach when we talk about preserving our heritage. There has to be a paradigm shift from preserving mere facets of our traditional fabric to reintegrating forgotten traditions, customs and habits within the contours of a modern life. If this is achieved, we shall move towards a more sustainable framework in terms of wildlife conservation."

Timesofindia

In the wild

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