Human insensitiveness has wiped out species in city: Wildlife expert

'Species of crows, sparrows, reptiles and insects have been pushed into extinction'

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Man is the only species on the face of this planet known to be the most selfish; man’s greed has heavily fractured the whole balance of coexistence which was once regarded as a practice for being wise.

Due to concrete and smart projects gearing up in the city of Bengaluru, urban wildlife feels threatened in the last decade. This change has wiped many species off the grid and the surviving ones have grown either too powerful or too weak to sustain a balanced ecology. News Trail wishes to highlight this alarming decline in natural prosperity on the occasion of World Wildlife Day.

“The last decade for urban wildlife has been bad, we are losing it. It will take us 100 rounds of replenishment to get to the point of normalcy with nature. The city of Bengaluru has become a living nightmare not only for the citizens but also for the urban wildlife that previously resided comfortably before the forces of monetary developments came into play,” said Joseph Hoover, wildlife activist and the trustee of the United Conservation Movement (UCM).

“With 70 percent of the city’s trees cut down, levels of air pollution and soil pollution have increased many folds, this has driven species of crows, sparrows, reptiles and insects into extinction, what used to be a common sight is now a rarity,” Hoover added.

As per Interpol's estimation, the global illegal wildlife trade comes close to 220 billion USD which puts it at number two below narcotics. It was also found that Karnataka is becoming a popular ground for wildlife-related crimes. As of 15th January this year, the forest department has reported and registered seven cases under the Karnataka Forest Act of 1963.

“Humans only think about themselves, their family, their finances, their education, and many other personal interests. If much thought was given to the collapsing environmental state, then this problem would have been one of the least established affairs,” Hoover said.

“Political inferences, business plans, and basic cruelty are in the hearts and minds of the people who have caused this imbalance and now the measures of conservation have to really support and stand with the notion of saving urban diversity. We can only become wise when we can live and function alongside the various species that share the planet with us. People need to come together and solve this issue as a whole,” Hoover observed.