An old family album has a photograph of mine seated atop a yak in picturesque Kufri in Himachal Pradesh. I cringe seeing it now.
Three decades after the photo, I realise that the animal had not taken any fancy to me, but was forced into submission by intimidation, harsh conditioning and even drugs — common practices in most popular tourist destinations in India and elsewhere.
Glossy travel brochures and blogs are full of fascinating pictures and videos of tamed and trained animals. Social media is inundated with snapshots of tourists bottle-feeding cuddly tiger cubs or petting a fully grown lion; taking elephant or camel rides; wrapping a massive python around themselves; clapping to the synchronised manoeuvres of dolphins; swimming with sharks and whales confined to a metal cage... The list goes on.
The tourism industry is just one among the many fields where such animal abuse is rampant. Religion and its associated areas (especially in India), mediums of entertainment such as television, cinema, circus, zoos and street performances, superstitious beliefs, all exploit animals in different ways, each more ruthless than the other. We, as tourists or patrons, unwittingly become party to the crime.
Such seemingly innocuous happenings, earlier passed off as routine travel, recreational or religious practices, have now started raising eyebrows and are often found to initiate a debate on the need for a more humane man-animal interaction. A report of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) of the University of Oxford says animals used in promoting tourism or any form of entertainment are held captive, often fettered, in very unhealthy cramped spaces. They are deliberately kept undernourished and are mercilessly beaten and broken, both physically and psychologically, to enforce obedience and compliance. This often leads to disease, grievous injury, lifelong deformity, excruciating pain and chronic depression. Does one ever see a healthy wild elephant or a bear dancing rhythmically on one leg in thick forests? Or a majestic tiger casually strutting alongside a human, posing for that Insta-perfect selfie? Look beneath the veneer of salubrious enclosures and compassionate nurture and more often than not, you shall find telltale signs of torture, abuse, agony and a sordid saga of bondage.
There is worldwide outrage and protest when human rights are violated, and rightfully so. But why are we so averse to lending our voices to support the basic survival rights of these hapless creatures?
True, we cannot change the whole world, but as individuals, we can modify our own choices and orientation. We will lose nothing if we forgo that elephant ride or a grand elephant ritual at a festival.
The Internet will not crash if we don’t post pictures of us feeding a tiger cub or a chimp. Our destiny will not be reshaped by the mindless sacrifice of an owl, kite or slender loris at the altar of irrationality and false belief.
In recent years, fortunately, a huge worldwide movement has started gaining momentum, to stand united against animal abuse and make animal rights and protection laws more stringent.
We have a long way to go and the journey ahead is fraught with road blocks due to public apathy and callousness, loopholes in the law, lack of awareness, insufficient funds and limited facilities to house injured, sick, old and rescued animals.
urmichakravorty@gmail.com
