In recent times this unhealthy habit of feeding animals has increased by the day, as visiting tourists and road users feed animals that flock to the roadside in hill areas.
Coimbatore: Wildlife activists have alleged that humans feeding the wild animals is against Nature and it would breed diseases among the wild animals such as monkeys, deer and elephants.
In recent times this unhealthy habit of feeding animals has increased by the day, visiting tourists and road users feed animals that flock to the roadside in hill areas.
Tourists especially those travelling to hilly destinations like Ooty, Valaprai and Munnar, feed the wild animals including monkeys, deer and elephants roaming on the roadside.
The monkeys are fed snacks such as biscuits, murukku, chips, cakes and edibles, which have plenty of preservatives and not good for wild animals.
It is no exaggeration that tourists think that the monkeys are starving and feed them. It is indeed doing a disservice to them. While wild creatures depend on naturally available foods for ages. Now, they are being fed food that is prepared by humans. This would create a serious crisis in their lives.
Wildlife biologist Sathish said “Human-cooked and prepared foods and snacks could not get properly digested by the wildlife, which has relied on food from Nature for thousands of years.
“As a result, they are susceptible to disease attack. The salt that is added to our diet may also cause problems to their bodies” he said and added “They also lose the ability to wander in search of food and may soon lack the knowledge to pass on the foraging habit to the next generation. Some wild animals are thus susceptible to disease transmission from one species to the other.
Attracted by the food given by humans, these wild animals often wait on the roads sides which is a pathetic sight.
They may get hit by passing vehicles on the hill roads such as Valparaiso and Ooty.
While monkeys roam about during the day and deer do it during the night, when the traffic is less. Sometimes the leopards that follow these deer and monkeys also die hit by the vehicles.,
“The natural cycle is very important. While, birds and herbivores eat fruits and propagate seeds through droppings. Those seeds create germination capacity. These creatures, which roam through the forests, will enrich the various places of the forest and will be protected with natural equilibrium” said the wildlife biologist.
While monkeys sit on top of trees and eat the pods, the deer eat the falling pods. The fig tree is formed from the remains of Hornbills, which becomes a habitat for squirrels. Butterflies that suck salt into the elephant's dung fruit help in pollination. So destroying the forest in the name of “Jeevakarunyam” by buying a packet of ten- rupee packet of biscuits and corn starch is bad practice”.
“During corona restrictions, someone bought a cart full of bananas and gave them to monkeys in the forests, which went viral on social media. He was praised by all the media. I don't think we should confuse wildlife conservation with human life. Please don’t give food to wildlife. That would be the greatest serviceman can do the forest ecosystem” the Wildlife biologist warned.
In recent times this unhealthy habit of feeding animals has increased by the day, visiting tourists and road users feed animals that flock to the roadside in hill areas.
Tourists especially those travelling to hilly destinations like Ooty, Valaprai and Munnar, feed the wild animals including monkeys, deer and elephants roaming on the roadside.
The monkeys are fed snacks such as biscuits, murukku, chips, cakes and edibles, which have plenty of preservatives and not good for wild animals.
It is no exaggeration that tourists think that the monkeys are starving and feed them. It is indeed doing a disservice to them. While wild creatures depend on naturally available foods for ages. Now, they are being fed food that is prepared by humans. This would create a serious crisis in their lives.
Wildlife biologist Sathish said “Human-cooked and prepared foods and snacks could not get properly digested by the wildlife, which has relied on food from Nature for thousands of years.
“As a result, they are susceptible to disease attack. The salt that is added to our diet may also cause problems to their bodies” he said and added “They also lose the ability to wander in search of food and may soon lack the knowledge to pass on the foraging habit to the next generation. Some wild animals are thus susceptible to disease transmission from one species to the other.
Attracted by the food given by humans, these wild animals often wait on the roads sides which is a pathetic sight.
They may get hit by passing vehicles on the hill roads such as Valparaiso and Ooty.
While monkeys roam about during the day and deer do it during the night, when the traffic is less. Sometimes the leopards that follow these deer and monkeys also die hit by the vehicles.,
“The natural cycle is very important. While, birds and herbivores eat fruits and propagate seeds through droppings. Those seeds create germination capacity. These creatures, which roam through the forests, will enrich the various places of the forest and will be protected with natural equilibrium” said the wildlife biologist.
While monkeys sit on top of trees and eat the pods, the deer eat the falling pods. The fig tree is formed from the remains of Hornbills, which becomes a habitat for squirrels. Butterflies that suck salt into the elephant's dung fruit help in pollination. So destroying the forest in the name of “Jeevakarunyam” by buying a packet of ten- rupee packet of biscuits and corn starch is bad practice”.
“During corona restrictions, someone bought a cart full of bananas and gave them to monkeys in the forests, which went viral on social media. He was praised by all the media. I don't think we should confuse wildlife conservation with human life. Please don’t give food to wildlife. That would be the greatest serviceman can do the forest ecosystem” the Wildlife biologist warned.