Roaring to survive

Tigers are now an endangered species and unless immediate steps were taken to protect their habitat and curb poaching they could go the way of the dodo. Tigers are found in the wild only in Asia and they are now said to number around 3,500. However, farmed tigers are said to number over 10,000. The experts are of the view that farming of tigers is not the way to go about saving the tiger population. In fact, they argue that would threaten the tiger population in the wild as the poachers would be after them leaving them vulnerable. Apart from this, the farmed tigers would lose their natural instinct and become incapable of

hunting for their prey should they be relocated in the wild. The best, thus, would be to conserve and promote the habitat of tigers and also prevent their poaching so as to increase the dwindling tiger population. In the campaign to preserve and increase the tiger population Nepal has done commendably, although it could do more and has to. Now Nepal is said to possess around 121 tigers in the wild and national parks. The target has been set to increase their number to 240 by the year 2020. This is a lofty goal and pledges have been made to increase the coverage of Bardia National Park from 968 Sq. Km to 1,800 Sq.Km. Incidentally, a significant number of tigers are found in the park and by enlarging their habit the tiger population could see a healthy increase.

Meanwhile, delegates from 13 of the 14 tiger range countries have come together in a Global Tiger Workshop in Kathmandu in a bid to conserve the tiger population. China, one of the countries, with a significant number of tiger population was opposed to declaring the year as the year of the tiger as according to their calendar 2010 is the year of the tiger. Because of the Chinese cultural sensitivity it was decided to celebrate 2010 as the Year of Tiger and, although this came short of a declaration since the delegates were mostly technical teams and it would be more appropriate to make the decision at the political level, it was decided that the Year of Tiger would be celebrated in a big way by generating awareness of these magnificent beasts. This is said to be a landmark decision in the annals of tiger conservation as tigers would be accorded the topmost priority that they rightly deserve.

The meeting of the tiger range countries can be taken as a major achievement for through a common forum they would be attracting global donors too. However, the meeting was unable to convince China to draw back from tiger farming despite the harm it would do to the tiger population in the wild. Tigers are farmed in a big scale particularly in America and China. The major achievement of Global Tiger Workshop was to garner commitment for the cause of tiger protection. As the natural habit of the tigers is being threatened in most of these countries, among the major task would be to protect them. The pressure of man made activities has made it increasingly difficult to do so. But were priority to their preservation be made then headway could be made in protecting the already scarce habitat dwindling further alarmingly.

Sheer mockery

Pneumonia might sound quite familiar, yet the global toll, as reported by WHO, from the disease stands at 4 million, with around half being children under five years of age. As for Nepal, it is not very far behind with about 19 per cent of the deaths attributed to pneumonia. This presents a very stark picture of the health scenario in the country. In fact, the child mortality rate from certain strains of the disease could be checked if proper precautions receive the priority. Lack of awareness, illiteracy and poverty seem to have conspired for untimely deaths, particularly of children, from diseases that could have been effectively prevented. A factor that stands in the way is the access to health service outlets.

The number of deaths from pneumonia might be shocking, yet it is but a case in point. There are many other afflictions like diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid, etc. that take a heavy toll which could be prevented with safe drinking water, nutritious food and hygiene (individual, family and the community). It is the drive that must receive input from all, including the government, I/NGOs, social workers, local bodies and by the stakeholders themselves.