Wildbuzz: Don’t shed peacock tears!

A retired biology teacher was once so moved by the plight of a pigeon that he “rescued” the bird from the clutches of a “cruel hawk.” This act served neither his wisdom nor his pursuit of “biology” throughout his career. I wonder what kind of “biology” he taught to his students. Be that as it may, his unnecessary intervention caused a kind of “peacock tears”, a kind of false, sanctimonious attitude that exposed ignorance and insensitivity to the laws of nature.

On the other hand, a retired English professor and also a nature lover was so disturbed by the screams of a jungle babbler caught in the claws of a Shikra female in his garden that he chased away the hapless hunter as if it were a monkey. robbing his garden. Having calmed down, he later wrote poetically about the dilemma of saving the chatterbox and leaving the hawk hungry, when in fact there should have been no “pickle in the mind” to begin with!

The other day I was wandering through the jungle beyond Sukhna Lake when a Shikra (hawk) attacked a common pigeon or rock pigeon in front of me and injured its wing with a piercing talon. The dove fell to the ground and hid in the grass. Shikra was unable to complete the hunt. After some time, I approached the pigeon and was touched by its condition and the innocent, helpless look in its eyes. The dove let me very close, and its eyes seemed to beg me to save the bird from certain death.

With a heavy heart, I turned to the wounded bird. Nature intended a wounded pigeon as “easy game” or practically a “freebie” for a natural predator. The shikra failed, but the grasses and shrubs were known to harbor rock pythons and golden jackals, and I left the poor pigeon in the care of another pair of hungry, merciless jaws. It was a difficult decision, but it was a sign of respect for nature, which has red teeth and claws. Instead of playing God, I left it to the “Nature Gods” to decide the fate of the dove in this quiet jungle.

When should we provide salvation? Let’s look at two examples of VVIP.

The peacock, with its legs bound and its main feathers torn out, somehow escaped the clutches of its tormentors and made it to the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi. Security personnel called the SOS wildlife emergency hotline. The national bird was professionally rescued and treated by an SOS wildlife veterinarian with injections and medications and taken to the NGO transit center for further treatment and rehabilitation.

Security officials recently spotted a four-foot spectacled cobra on the premises of Rashtrapati Bhawan. The snake, spotted near Gate No. 30, was seen by security personnel repeatedly entering and exiting a one-way opening in the boundary wall. Vigilant staff refrained from interfering (or criticizing) and contacted Wildlife SOS. A trained rescuer was dispatched to assess the situation and wait patiently for the snake to emerge from its hole. After an hour-long wait, the cobra was carefully removed and secured to a vehicle to be moved to a more natural habitat.

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