Letters

Fragile arguments

Apropos of the article "Big Damage" by Anju Sharma (April 15, 1995), I would like to express my views here. In the first place, I feel that in a country like our's most of the natural areas have already been ravaged. Whatever little has been left undisturbed demands total preservation, and so, we can not afford to conduct in these areas any experiment which is likely to degrade these habitats. And especially in the context of the extremely fragile ecosystem of an island, with its dynamics dependent on, and intertwined in a complex manner with, those of the nearby islands and the mainland, this just cannot be permitted.

In this context, I would like to give an example from the same Andaman group of islands which the article talks about. Narcondam Island, which harbours the endangered Hornbill, is being degraded by the feral goats let free by the police camp located there. Would it be wise to propose a wait-and-watch course of action and find out about impact of the goats on the island's ecosystem?

The authors of the report on the "status of feral elephants in the Andamans" (Ajith Kumar and N Sivaganesan) conclude that the elephants introduced on the island gives an opportunity to study the long-term impacts and dynamics of this introduced-species on the island's ecosystem. In defending their conclusion they say that, "this knowledge is of immense value as elephant habitats in many parts of the mainland are becoming fragmented and isolated into virtual islands".

However, they contradict themselves by discussing in the report the conditions where the elephants have a floating population. Here, it is also important to note that the mainland elephant populations were not introduced-species, but residents in their traditional habitat. So, I doubt whether the results of the proposed study can at all be extrapolated to the mainland conditions. Moreover, it is appropriate to conduct such studies in the fragmented parts of mainland itself, which will be realistic, with enough samples and which can be extrapolated. In my opinion this is just a case of drawing a wrong conclusion from the right results of a study.

I take this opportunity to make a general comment on some of the research reports and presentations which I have come across. In some cases, it was evident that the conclusions of the studies could not have been not be arrived at from the methods followed by the study. In other cases, the recommendations are not supported by any data. The forest managers look forward to such research reports for taking crucial management decisions. These incidents imply that they need to be cautious in taking the recommendations of reports at their face value, and it is necessary for them to pursue the methods and results of the study, and make the right inferences....

Half-truths, these

I find your report on ritual hunting in the Simlipal Tiger Reserve (May 15, 1995) biased and without a hint of being based on any serious field investigation. Contrary to the claims made by the park authorities -- which your report quotes extensively -- of having sealed off the entire park till May 31 to prevent the tribals from performing their akhand shikar (nonstop hunting) during April and May, no such action was taken. Instead, the hot spots of akhand shikar, like Bada Khaman, Anantapur, Jaldia Baniabosa, Manada, Kendujuani, Maikput, Udala and other blocks remained without surveillance, open to any form of intrusion.

Interestingly, the Society for Research and Development of Tribal Culture (srdtc), which pretends to be campaigning amongst the tribals against this destructive ritual, is not even located in the fringe area of the park and is plugging news of the forest department's activities. Despite being flushed with money by the Project Tiger Directorate well before the commencement of hunting season, no effort was made to organise any awareness campaign against the ritual, as had been intended. Only now, in the face of voluble criticism they have started organising sporadic meetings, but outside the target area.

Yet, very few people know about the change in tribals' attitude towards their own ritual and how the tribals on their own are trying to modify this practice. The tribals entered the forest only for a day as a symbolic gesture and hunted small games and celebrated in a controlled and disciplined manner....

All in aid

Thanks for the report on Life Saving MEDLARS in your April 30 issue.

We, at the Indian MEDALRS Centre, New Delhi, are servicing medical professionals across the country by accessing over 40 medlar databases of the National Medical Library, USA, via Internet, of which MEDLINE, AIDLINE, AIDSTRIALS and AIDSDRUGS are accesible to anyone free of cost, 24 hours a day....

Letters Letters