tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post112741714983709402..comments2023-10-31T05:37:45.410-07:00Comments on Hungry Hyaena: The Contemporary Conservationist's ConundrumHungry Hyaenahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06354349850246750046noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-1127854974437366292005-09-27T14:02:00.000-07:002005-09-27T14:02:00.000-07:00Too many people, too much habitat loss. It's a fa...Too many people, too much habitat loss. It's a familiar refrain and the scars are that much more deep each year.Hungry Hyaenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06354349850246750046noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-1127725411501520032005-09-26T02:03:00.000-07:002005-09-26T02:03:00.000-07:00India is having similar elephant problems. Just no...India is having similar elephant problems. Just north of Lucknow several elephants were killed by villagers recently. For several years these elephants had been trampling their crops and the villagers had gone through proper government channels to complain, but after three years of no government response, they took matters into their own hands. There have also been sporadic problems with elephants getting drunk on village moonshine and destroying huts and crops. (These elephants, by the way, tend to be young males, so that seems to be a problem that crosses the species barrier).<BR/><BR/>The issue of human needs vs. conservation comes up here quite a bit. Ullas Karnath who's involved with both WCS and Project Tiger has a fairly glum view of things. Interviewed about India's dwindling tiger population he said he saw no way that humans and tigers could coexist in a sustainable way. Both were competing for the same resources - forest land and the prey within it. He saw no way that it could be shared without one speicies losing out. The same can be said for elephants.<BR/><BR/>As sad as the prospect is, I tend to share his view and see little hope here for sustainable development unless major societal changes are inacted. Even then there are probably already too many people and too much habitat loss.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11167350.post-1127503197626548602005-09-23T12:19:00.000-07:002005-09-23T12:19:00.000-07:00Yes, that is a big part of the conundrum. I have ...Yes, that is a big part of the conundrum. I have a hard time not getting rather fatalistic about it all. While I support efforts to make positive change, I wrestle with a deep dread that the only real change will be cataclysmic.Michael McDevitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00775103139297930166noreply@blogger.com