AVIJIT SINHA
April 28
Jalpaiguri: Ratul lost his family to
a flood, his instinct to the forest department’s affection
and his “partner” and
freedom to the department’s folly. Just when he seemed to have
reconciled to the chain of events, comes the next whammy.
The two-ton “pet
rhino” at Gorumara Wildlife Sanctuary
will be translocated to Calcutta’s Alipore zoo. The decision
was taken at the Wildlife Advisory Board meeting held at Chapramari
last month.
Forest minister Jogesh Burman said
the zoo authorities have already given the nod. The reason for
the relocation remains
the same:
to enhance the gene pool in the zoo.
Ratul was rescued and raised
by forest department officials of Kaziranga National Park after
being swept away by a flood. He was
brought to
Gorumara National Park in the nineties as part of a failed breeding
programme to enhance the gene pool of the captive population in
the north Bengal reserve. Ratul’s “friend” Madhu,
another male, was also made part of the programme and sent to Jaldapara.
“
Ratul could never get over the separation,” said a forest
guard at Gorumara. “The decision to let tame rhinos fend
for themselves in the wild was a mistake. But no official will
ever accept it?”
Survival strategies eroded by years
of human care, Ratul and Madhu found the going tough in the wild.
Bullied
by the wild cousins
in the forest, Ratul and his mate sustained serious injuries in
the
battle for dominance. With a failed project staring them in the
eye, the forest department shifted priorities from breeding to
saving
their lives.
While Madhu was taken to Jaldapara
and kept within the confines of an electric fence, Ratul languished
in a similar
enclosure in
Gorumara.
Ratul staged a slow recovery, Madhu succumbed to injuries some
months ago.
Though authorities look at the latest
step as a positive move that ensures the safety of the animal,
environmental groups
and many
in the lower rungs of the forest department do not share the same
enthusiasm.
“
Ratul’s life is one never-ending nightmare. He was a misfit
in the wild and was snatched from his keepers for a breeding programme
that never took off. His mate died and Ratul has spent most of his
life behind a fence. Why are the authorities sending him to a lime
and mortar world?” asked Animesh Bose, a member of the Himalayan
Nature and Adventure Foundation.
“
We had protested the department’s decision to bring the two
beasts but they went unheard. Again it will be the same story. The
least the officials could have done was save him the trauma of relocation
at this age.”
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