Friday, January 30, 2009

Another hard earned lesson about predators

It would appear India hasn't learned a thing from the last lesson that disarmament taught: predators seek out the easiest prey:

KISHANPUR, India — Tigers have killed at least three children and four adults in north India in recent weeks, officials said Friday, forcing frightened villagers to stay indoors while forest rangers search for the wild cats.
The FOX News headline on this piece is titled: Villagers Cower as Tigers Kill at Least 7 in India.

Got that? They "cower," like good little victims.

So what is being done by their government to prevent further attack?

Authorities wielding guns combed villages surrounding the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in the state of Uttar Pradesh, from which seven tigers are believed to have strayed. One of the tigers is believed to have killed at least four people in the last two weeks, including three children between the ages of 8 and 15.
Armed men are looking for the tigers. It's that simple. Humans with rifles can stop tigers; or gunman.

Yes, the Rangers are actively looking for the beasts, and will try to take them with a tranquilizer gun, if they can, but what about Abu the farmer who isn't trying to find a tiger, but just wants to tend his fields without the risk of getting his throat torn out by a fierce animal? Oh, he's not trusted to carry a rifle. Too bad.

Villagers in the area are keeping their children home from school and have stopped tending their fields for fear of the tigers.

"Please help, a tiger has eaten up my nephew and the forest department is doing nothing to protect the villagers," said Lakhan Singh in Tanda village, roughly 95 miles southeast of the state capital of Lucknow.

It sounds to me like it's time for Singh to do what's necessary for he protection of his family. Damn the Indian government for forcing him to make that choice; it's telling that they place the blame at the feet of the people that they claim to represent:

K.K. Singh, a senior forest official, said the conflicts were due to villagers encroaching upon the tigers' land.
It's all their fault.

Their choices? Go outside and get eaten. Stay inside and starve. Carry a rifle so you can safely harvest your crops and not get eaten, and get arrested and jailed by a Ranger - who's carrying a rifle so that he doesn't get eaten. Great logic!

Regime change folks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

From what I have read, most predators will learn to avoid people when they get shot at, or otherwise hurt or killed when they do get close. So the only way people and lions, tigers or whatever can co-exist successfully would probably be that everybody in an area where those animals live goes armed. Otherwise you can have places for humans, or places for predators, but get into trouble when those areas are too close, or overlap.

Anonymous said...

Do the crime, do the time. If they don't like the laws, they can vote. Don't blame the policeman. He doesn't load the gun: he just pulls the trigger. It's not his fault. He's just doing his difficult job of keeping people safe from lawbreakers. Cut him some slack.