Are we humans as civilised as we thought we were?
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The dividing line between man and beast is blurry at best. Despite the fact that we humans tend to think of ourselves as separate, and above, animals, frequent incidents serve to remind us that we are no better, and often worse.
Humankind, since its modern evolution, has been the cause of countless animal extinctions, mostly through habitat encroachment but also through blatant hunting and killing for food and sport. Still more species are on the verge of disappearing, with forests and jungles being decimated and the oceans massively polluted and overfished. The few that we are trying to save end up in fenced-off sanctuaries and national parks, or worse, in zoos.
Wild animals aside, the state of domestic animals, especially in Kathmandu, is not much better. Stray dogs and cats roam the city streets in the thousands. When they get sick or contract rabies, they are mercilessly beaten to death, as one YouTube video attests to, or left to die a slow, ponderous death.
Last Wednesday morning, a leopard that had been tormenting locals in the Pashupati area with attacks on them and their livestock, was cornered by a mob of people. Officials from the Forest Ministry and the Central Zoo attempted to tranquilise the cat, but the leopard, concealed in a bamboo thicket, managed to neatly avoid all tranquiliser darts. Vindictive locals then began to openly taunt and throw things at the hiding leopard. Now enraged, the leopard leapt out, sending people scattering in a cloud of dust.
But this fight, like any between man and animal, was never fair. Confronted with more than 100 humans armed with sharpened sticks, bamboo poles and various agricultural implements, the leopard was no match. Trapped in the morning, it was late afternoon by the time it was brutally bludgeoned to death.
The images of the leopard being beaten are heartbreaking. The savage glee with which countless youth take part in the slow, horrific slaying of the animal makes a big dent in the concept of humans as “civilised”. Locals were understandably angry at the beast for attacking them and their livestock, but anger is no excuse for such a barbaric beating.
Tranquilisers, trained professionals and animal control officials are needed to take such wild animals into control. The leopard is a critically endangered species. With rapid urbanisation and settlement, its habitat is being wiped out and its natural prey is becoming increasingly more difficult to find.
The Kathmandu Valley, with its surrounding forests, sees such leopard visits periodically, as they wander into human settlements not out of choice but necessity and confusion. The leopard in its natural habitat is a beautiful animal – long, lithe and graceful. Amid concrete buildings, humans and vehicles, it is a confused animal at a loss where to turn. As possessors of a greater intellect, we must remember that we do not own this planet but share it with our animal brethren.
