protests; seven people were killed in the firing that followed, but the ban was enforced. This intervention led to a totally unexpected outcome. It tummed out that buffalos were keeping under check a water loving grass Paspalum distichum. When grazing stopped this grass along with water hyacinth grew unchecked rendering the wetland a far worse habitat for waterfowl, the prime objective of the National Park management. The numbers of visiting Siberian cranes have also been declining. Residents of the village Aghapur adjoining the National Park have an intriguing suggestion in this regard. They believe that Siberian cranes earlier had better access to underground corms and tubers, their major food, because the soil used to be loosened while digging for khus roots. Since this collection was stopped on declaration of National Park, the soil has been compacted reducing their access to this food. This is a plausible hypothesis worth exploring further; however, it remains untested since the National Park Authorities have no interest in science. BNHS studied these adverse consequences and submitted a report to US Fish & Wildlife Service but never published this vital information in any scientific journal, as was clearly their responsibility.
Wildlife Protection Act (WLPA)
WLPA, promoted by Salim Ali, his Bnitish tea/coffee estate owning friends and Maharajas has brought the whole of India in Forest Department’s tyrannical grip.* The hunting that this act criminalizes is a part and parcel of humanity’s heritage. Humans emerged 300,000 years
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