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ಕೃಷ್ಣ ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಿ - Krishna Shastry
ಪ್ರಾಣಿ ಹಕ್ಕುಗಳು, ಶುದ್ಧ ಸಸ್ಯಾಹಾರ, ಪರಿಸರ, ಆರೋಗ್ಯ ಇವೆಲ್ಲವನ್ನೂ ಒಳಗೊಂಡ ವೀಗನಿಸಂ ಎಂಬ ತತ್ವದಲ್ಲಿ ನಂಬಿಕೆ ಇಟ್ಟಿರುವ ಒಬ್ಬ ಸರಳ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗ ನಾನು.
ನನ್ನ ಇತರ ಆಸಕ್ತಿಗಳೆಂದರೆ ನೀತಿಶಾಸ್ತ್ರ, ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ನೀತಿಸಂಹಿತೆಗಳು, ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಆರೋಗ್ಯ, ಆವಿಷ್ಕಾರಗಳು, ವಿಜ್ಞಾನ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ, ಭಾಷಾನೀತಿಗಳು ಇತ್ಯಾದಿ.

I am a simple Kannadiga following veganism, that cares about animal rights, pure vegetarianism, environment and health.
My other interest include ethics, public healthcare, public policies, innovation, science & technology, Kannada language and linguistic policies.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Torture on Brahminy Kites


This is a horrifying story of Brahminy Kites from Ullala-Kotepura beach; this place is around 15km from Mangaluru city.

Problem in nutshell

Local fishermen use around half km stretch on this beach and dry fish, and sell them later. This process however is not a quiet one; many birds (around 5 varieties) that eat fish are attracted towards this place. To protect their fish, these fishermen mercilessly install traps and kill hundreds of birds.

Extreme torture on Brahminy Kites

Worst torture is faced by Brahminy Kites – they don’t get straightway killed, but instead their legs are tied and fishermen throw them on sand. The logic of local fishermen is that the scream of such kites will drive away rest of the birds. Typically the sand gets super heated under bright sun and constant screaming of already injured kites before they eventually die are truly heartbreaking.

Not just this, their story of misery continues; it is also observed that the local fishermen play ringtones using their mobile phones in order to confuse/annoy the injured/tied up birds and make them scream harder.

Pictures explain it all

Birds attracted towards fish

 
Fisherman tying up an injured Brahminy Kite


Fisherman annoying Kites using mobile phone


Fisherman annoying Kites using mobile phone


Brahminy Kites hopelessly left on hot sand




Need to protect endangered species against illegal human activity

Brahminy Kites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahminy_Kite) are magnificent birds that belong to eagle family. Though the ‘Conservation Status’ of these birds is ‘Least Concern’ in IUCN Red List*, local expert Jayaprakash Bhandary (Currently Director in Pilikula Nisargadhama and Retired Deputy Forest Conservation Officer in Forest Department) confirms that they are fast moving towards extinction and it is high time that we try and conserve these.

* IUCN stands for “International Union for Conservation of Nature”. More details on IUCN Red List can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IUCN_Red_List

As per the Wild Life Protection Act, killing these birds is an offense that can attract 5 years of imprisonment and Rs.5000/- fine.

Stray Dogs tortured too?

Apparently stray dogs also get attracted towards these fish and get a taste of extreme cruel treatment by these local fishermen. These dogs get stabbed by sharp objects and get severely injured, and return back bleeding and limping.


Unhealthy conditions to dry fish?

Some say that the place is quite unhygienic overall and hence not at all suitable to dry fish that is later sold for edible purposes.

Ray of Hope

Dakshina Kannada district collector Dr. N. S. Channappa Gowda has expressed that he was not aware of the situation and also promised that he will take suitable actions against this cruel practice of killing and torturing birds.

What can you do to help?

If you visit the place, and observe that this practice is still continuing, please write to local news papers as well as concerned authorities. Please also try and take some pictures/videos if possible and make your case stronger.

Human vs. rest of the species – let us ponder on this once again

The local fishermen are pictured as absolute villains in the story so far. However, we need to understand that they are also trying to survive, using their own traditional knowledge and life skills. Hence, no solution would be perfect if we are unable to empathize with them.

How much right human being ethically has on rest of the species and environment – this is a constantly debated item. However, I think most learned people agree that unnecessary cruelty should be avoided, wherever possible.

Also, I request you to think about root cause of the problem. It is not attitude of the fishermen or the choices they make to carry out their business; it is the demand for their products among general public. Yes, that is right – if people are able to overcome their temptation and mental blocks towards animal based products in their diet and adopt a plant based diet, automatically this kind of torture will be stopped. Even fish will be spared of their ‘breathtaking’ death, not just the birds highlighted above.

I would like to end this with a philosophical note: Being super intelligent species, can we not find alternative ways to fulfill our needs and greed? Being species with evolved emotions, can we not show higher level of compassion on other species around?

Source: Kannada Daily “Hosadigantha” 12-Feb-2012; additional pictures are from Pramod Pailoor.

Disclaimer: This blog article is written based on the above mentioned trustworthy sources and I haven’t got a chance to personally visit this place yet.

16 comments:

ವಿ.ರಾ.ಹೆ. said...

disgusting :(

vijay said...

save them from humans.....

Ashwini said...

I was not aware of this! Humans can go to any extent to safeguard their interests.

Ashwini said...

I was not aware of this. Humans can go to any extremes to safeguard their interests

Veganosaurus said...

Well written article, Krishna. You are right, the main culprits here are the consumers of animal based products like meat, fish, eggs, milk, honey, silk etc... If everyone switches to a vegan lifestyle then such cruelties would automatically disappear.

As for the fishermen and their livelihood, if there is no demand for their skill, they will have to find alternate ways to live. If the government gets involved in rehabilitating them, like in the successful case of the dancing bears people, it can end happily for everyone.

Arun said...

So sad to read this :-(

Anonymous said...

Truly horrifying - as also the the state of the fish - why is no one speaking of the fish these people are killing in the first place?

Anonymous said...

Hope this horrible practice comes to an end soon... This is just plain cruel... cant believe that Human Beings can be so heartless...

Nanda said...

Well written report but quite appalling to read. Can't scare-crow like structures, maybe a little more sophisticated than those used in fields, help in this case to keep the birds away without all the horror?

Anonymous said...

IMHO , we can neither force ppl's crave for animal based food , nor stop fishermen from fishing. A more balanced solution "COULD" be , to go there and educate / FINANCE the fisherman not to practice cruel solutions in controlling their problems of birds being attracted to their dry fish bussiness , but perhaps use different techniques to do their fishing and drying in a safer manner so birds are not a hinderence for them. ( perhaps use large NETS ?) or any other drying methodolgy that academics could think of.

sujatha said...

truly despicable, cannot believe humans can get down to these levels.

Rajpal Navalkar said...

I cannot believe!!We need to identify the location,chalk out a programme that involves the forest dept. the police,ngo's in that area and use a method that is educate,scare,intimidate and deter!!
This is the only way they understand.
rgds

Anonymous said...

Hi krishnan.. well written.. I feel very sad for the animals.. I am planning to share this link in my social networking and make others aware of this cruel torture.

Regards

Anonymous said...

OMG !!!! Very Very sad !!! from where did they ever get such an idea.... have scarecrows vanished :(

Sreya Dutta said...

oh God! horrific!

satchitananda said...

This is pathetic. They are such magnificent looking birds. No other species other than humans can go down to the level of torturing other creatures so meaninglessly. Shame!

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