Susan  Chat on " Plight of lesser animals" will start at 8PM(IST). 

rAJa  hi all 

Susan  Hi Raja.  Are you a wildlife enthusiast?

rAJa  yes

Susan  Since no one else is there why do'nt you introduce yourself? 

rAJa  i am from coimbatore tamil nad 

rAJa  where are you from 

Susan  I stay in Gurgaon, Haryana.  

rAJa  have u visited corbett 

Susan  Yes, many times. Even made a short video"To Corbett With Love" 

rAJa  great 

Susan  Tell us about the national parks you have visited. 

rAJa  here i have visited mudumalai NP bandipur NP nagarhole NP mukurthi NP silent valley NP 

sachdr  Hi Susan 

rAJa  abt ur visits

Susan  The list is impressive-Raja. Hi sachdr 

sachdr  hi 

sachdr  this is my first time on this chat forum , so how do we go about it. Do we start a general discussion abt the plight of animals (im skipping lesser)

Susan  Apart from the tiger & elephant which are the rare animals you find in the forests around Mudumalai? 

 Susan  Well our moderator and expert is not here yet, so let us share what we know. 

rAJa  we have "black leopards" that r very rarely found and of course panthers 

Susan  Do you have a picture of black leopard which we can put on the site? May be you can send in a small write up about it too/ I have never seen a black leopard

rAJa  no man i saw from the list of animals listed over there i have seen just elephants,,gaurs,boar,sambhar,chital ,peacock  

 sachdr  Please correct me if I am wrong, Susan/Raja , could you give me some inputs about what the group has as it goals or say major focus points?  or am I getting too serious? 

Susan  Hi Sachdr, the group focuses on creating awareness among adults about our vanishing wildlife, about environmental problems  leveraging the internet to spread awareness. 

rAJa  i have been in many parks yet desperate to c a tiger 

Susan  Hi Parthi 

sachdr  http://www.scs.abelgratis.co.uk/bigcats2/html/body_black_leopard.html  the site has some info on black leopard 

Susan  Sure place to see a tiger is Ranthambhore. 

parthi  hi susan   

rAJa  susan parthi is my frend we both go for parks  

 Susan  Sorry no tiger talk in today's chat. 

sachdr  hey Raja, did u see the recently covered documentary on Sunder Bans (tigers) on ANimal Planet  they waited to have a look at one for 3 mths......without any luck 

Susan  I will be happy to get your suggestions on what other features we can introduce apart from quiz & ezine. 

 sachdr  oh great...i had a few of them :)... 

sachdr  maybe we can have a online space for sharing snaps that we think r worth sharing and mentioning some points about the stiuation when we took them  + i think we should start something like, having an action item for the month 

Susan  Go ahead sachdr 

sachdr  one example would be "the Bombay Zoo" , seriously..there cant be any greater torture for the poor animals...maybe we can collectively contact someone who can do something abt it 

parthi  this is the first time i hav entered this chat room 

sachdr  it may seem a farfetched idea, i dont know..but its worth a try 

rAJa  can we fgo for for some park visits 

sachdr  i hope we can try something like that..something on similar lines 

parthi  how abt u all?  i would say the best way to start is let's introduce ourselves first 

Susan  Parthi , any suggestions to make our site more interactive? 

sachdr  park visits would be a great idea 

sachdr  its my first time too 

rAJa  susan, i ll think over the development of our site and send to u thro groups 

sachdr  lets have a topic for the month similar to this chat forum, but the response can be sent throughout the month ( a message board of sorts). This will give those ppl who cant come on the chat to give in their inputs as well 

Susan  I have been wondering if we can start a diary for say, Mumbai, Delhi, Madras& other places 

rAJa  what abt giving info abt IFS examinations 

parthi  have to think abt ideas to make the site more interactive.let me put my ideas during next chat 

sachdr  yes, the diary thing is a good idea 

Susan  Mr.Vyas called up He is logging in soon 

parthi  you are right.everyone of us shall mail to the group about the parks and sanctuaries they have been to 

Susan  If you click on "Green jobs" IFS exam info is there. 

rAJa  susan what do u think of the control of an IFS officer over the power of polticians in a district? 

Susan  I will leave the question to Mr. Vyas who is coming in soon. 

rAJa  i think indian wildlife need a star representative like sachin to reach to the masses? what do u think? 

rAJa  sorry susan i am far away from todays topic! 

Sarit  is the chat still on 

sachdr  we have had ppl like saurav and dravid (i think) propogating the "save the tiger" thing 

Susan  Hi Sarit welcome. 

Sarit  Good evening everybody 

rAJa  good evening sarit! and to my knowledge after indira gandhi no influential politician has taken conservation serious (except for maneka) like PMS,CMS and Ministers 

Susan  I personally do not believe in celebrity endorsement of wildlife. 

Sarit  i'm sorry for being late 

Susan  The time has come for the common man to take wildlife seriously. 

rAJa  leave the ppl who know abt wildlife ! but the common man needs an awkening 

sachdr  I agree with u Susan, but how do we reach the masses. We cannot do it just through our website. There has to be something more. 

rAJa  of course as ur view, celebrities can take that to the fullest. but we can get a start to the lay man thro celebriries. just for the thought process to be initiated 

Vyas  Hi! Soory to join in late. 

Susan  Welcome Mr.Vyas 

Sarit  Well i do agree with raja and Sachdr that its very important to make aware the common man

Sarit  Good evening MR.Vyas 

rAJa  hello sir welcome 

parthi  We cannot reach the masses in a very short time.we must first create awareness among the ppl around us. 

Vyas  Good evening everbody. 

parthi  good evening sir 

sachdr  The best way to go about it, i think is...take up a small project, complete it. Make sure that it is something which will be covered by some form of media. Getting news published in Newspapers is not so very difficult, this will give ppl a chance to read and know....and to make it clear, I am not telling this so that our group comes in the media, no..its just a channel which i think we should try and make use of to spread awareness 

 rAJa  sir, what do you think of influence of an IFS officer over the current politicians? 

Vyas  I believe that we must try to get genuine support from all and most of all from celebreties but not just lip service. 

Vyas  Raja - I think it is the other way round - how the politicians are influencing the forest officers-, for that matter the entire adminstration whether for good or worse and not the other way round. 

rAJa  yes sir i meant the other sorry 

Sarit  I'm a management student and you will be surprised to know that people here to in my campus have very little knowledge about conservation of wildlife 

rAJa  some people tell me " if u want to conserve, become a serious conservationist! not an IFS " wat do u think sir 

parthi  even the educated are not that much aware of the wildlife.so, we can even think abt conducting seminars if some of us are still in colleges 

sachdr  That means we would be targetting Television media, which is a little more difficult to get coverage on. 

sachdr  so the question is, do we need to make ppl aware of"wildlife" or "conservation of wildlife" 

sachdr  maybe we can go to institutions and give a seminar or something abt wildlife conservation

Vyas  There are many credible NGO's doing excellent wildlife conservation work so it is not necessary to beocme a forest officer - and yes there is no harm in joining the forest service and do your bit.

parthi  only by making the ppl aware of wildlife,we can think of conservation... 

sachdr  in addition we would need some posters to be put up in the colleges because having been thru college life, i know how inclined students r to attend seminars (we need to reach those who are not interested yet) 

Vyas  Sarit - it is not just the common person who is ignorant about Wl issues- even those who are managing the forests and wildlife need to be properly oriented. 

parthi  the importance of wildlife should be stressed right from the primary education 

rAJa  i think we need some interesting demos in TV abt conservation 

sachdr  couldnt agree more parthi 

Vyas  The best way is to have periodic short workshop on specific issues involving people who matter. I also feel that if we can't educate or create awarness among a billion people,  at least do so with people who matter atleast. 

Sarit  well thats very neccesary 

sachdr  I agree. 

rAJa  likesome facts abt some animals or indian wildlife 

Sarit  So what about lesser animals 

sachdr  Maybe that is the right approach ...approach ppl who come in contact (direct indirect) with the animals first 

Vyas  Another view is how does it make any difference if a pan wallah or veg. vendor knows or does not know about these issues but it is absolutely critical for the admisntrators, policy maker, the law maker and the law enforcer to understand these issues in proper perspective than to waste resources in educating all and sundry who have no contriubiton whatsoever in preserving and protecting forests and wildlife and environment in general. 

parthi  trips to parks and sanctuaries should be encouraged at the students level.so,we should contact ppl we know at the nature clubs in colleges... 

rAJa  yes sir as ur view first the ppl in charge must be educated. if possible the more interested ppl should b handed over the charge 

Vyas  The mega species i.e. the Tiger,elephant, leopard, rhino etc. are the flag ship species but we must not forget lesser animals such as the tortoise, lesser cats, birds, reptiles etc. 

parthi  i agree with you sir.i think the best way to reach anyone is when they are students.it is they who are going to become future officers 

rAJa  if all IFS are enthusiasts or at they r least well educated abt forests that would be great 

Vyas  There is nothing wrong in joining IFS because we need good commiited people joining the IFS but even outside much can be done. 

Vyas  Don't jsut depend on TV programs as those may well be seen only by couch potatoes who will not have the inclination to get up and act. 

parthi  How far do you think the conservation of our wildlife hav been in near past ...may be in the last decade 

Vyas  Yes - I have had wonderful experience of running nature clubs with students and many from there became first rate conservationsts and are well known today. 

Susan  Love for wildlife & nature is essential to conserve them - the why & how of conservation can be then left to educators & implementors 

Susan  Tv programs arouse interest which needs to be followed up 

Vyas  I used to organise camps in national parks and sanctuaries and all those who had partcipated as students even today show remarkable understanding and committment towards conservation - well after as many as 25 years. 

rAJa  ok sir! we have projects for tiger, elephants and rhinos . what is being done for the lesser animasl?

Vyas  Parthi- The decade of eighties was of great conservation works and creativitiy - various acts, National Forest Policy etc. were created. The decade of the nineties has been the decade of destruction as the econmic liberisation and "development " became the buzz word forest protection and wildlife took the back seat. The decade of 2000 I pray and hope may not turn out to be the decade of total decimation as is being seen from the recent prounouncements of the Minsitry of Envrionment and Forests. 

Vyas  Habitat protection and species conservation by strictly enforcing the existing laws will be enough to protect hem. 

Vyas  May I now leave??

 parthi  recently they say "project tiger"has been successful in conserving tiger...how abt protection for other endangered species... 

Susan  Thank you very much Mr. Vyas. I know you have left more imp. engagements to be with us today. 

Vyas  If you properly protect the habitat of the Tiger or big animals such as elephant - the other animals and birds found in that forest will automatically get protected. No seperate effort needs to be put in for them. 

rAJa  thank you sir 

parthi  thank you sir for all the info 

Susan  Thank you all esply for the suggestions about the website. 

rAJa  sure mam we ll mail regarding website 

Susan  Hope to see you all next month same day same time. 

parthi  let us hope many more will be there with us during our next chat 

rAJa  ok mam it was a good that u made ppl like vyas to be here with us thank you 

Susan  Any suggestions for next month's chat. You can mail me with the suggestions too. 

Susan  For the moment I am afraid I have to shut the chat room.