Photographers are a soft target for wannabe conservationists
Before I write a single word, let me say that I have utmost respect for the people who run Conservation India. The passion and drive that Ramki, Shekhar and everyone else behind the platform has for conserving India's wilderness, is inspiring to say the least. However, I see a worrying trend in conservation discussions in India and Conservation India as a platform is guilty of this too. Before I tell you what I think this trend is (though the title of this post is a give away), let me tell you about the content that triggered this post.
So this morning when I logged onto Facebook I saw a post from my friend Sugandhi. It linked to a Conservation India article that's become typical of the times. It's quite common these days for tourists to target other tourists with cameras, to illustrate how they may be harassing animals. The argument usually then goes a step forward to conclude that photographers harass wild animals. Usually these posts or images never explain why the person who shot the image was there in the first place if he or she felt that the animals were under distress. The images also make sweeping assumptions about what is or isn't harassment. In this case, it's quite evident that the vehicles are at a reasonable distance from the animals and yet, the photographer's made up a rather dreary tale of "the evil photographers".
Well known photographer and nature enthusiast Nikhil Devasar made an apt comment on the post, saying:
The jeeps seem a fair distance away and also the elephants are not yet reacting - need to check facts before posting. This seems like a perfectly normal picture.
On the other hand, I'm disappointed with the editorial team of Conservation India for regularly showcasing up such trivial attempts to get famous. For anyone who wants attention on a well known wildlife website, it's the easiest thing to target tourism in India these days. Photographers are an even softer target. Most people who make such posts, will not do anything else for conservation - ever! They also have a rather elitist thought process. Everyone is a disturbance to wildlife - except them. They don't even spare locals who have a natural right to the forest. On a recent visit to Bandhavgarh, I was appalled to see how even forest guides and drivers seem to take a rather belligerent attitude towards locals who try to collect forest produce. While that's a slightly different matter, the attitude that drives this thinking is extremely toxic.
The reality of wildlife tourism in India
The truth of wildlife tourism in India is that it's a very regulated activity. Probably far more than any other country. The wilderness areas that face the most tourism pressure are our tiger parks. Most other wilderness areas have a very small footfall. The reason for this is evident - the tiger is a charismatic animal. And yet, tiger parks are the most difficult to get into. Only 20% of the core area of any tiger park is open to tourism. This tourism impact is also quite small since only a fixed number tourists come into the park and many parks have rather rigid route systems. Yes, there are violations of limits in the parks - for example
VIP vehicles often outnumber regular tourists at Ranthambhore. In a similar manner, I've noticed first hand how forest staff on foot spook the living daylights out of tigers in Bandhavgarh. That being said, let's understand that tourists already have very little to see in our tiger parks.
The beauty of our tiger parks however is that they're home to great bio-diversity. So the tiger isn't the only attraction. Elephants, ungulates, birds, reptiles - you'll find wildlife aplenty in these reserves. This represents a great educational and recreational opportunity for the citizens of this blessed country. Yet, the only people who get entry into these parks are the elite, who can pay a premium for permits. Unfortunately even amongst the elite, there are some people who are so jealous or hungry for publicity that instead of focussing on the natural beauty around them, they seek out sensational photographs to try and outgun fellow travellers and get famous on conservation forums. It's high time we discourage such contributions and focus on real, meaningful conversations about conservation. The editorial teams at forums like Conservation India should probably have a better filter to keep such posts out.
Regulated tourism. Yes, there are vehicles, but there’s also an animal at peace.
The above image from Gir represents what wildlife tourism typically looks like even in the most visited parks of India. The two white vehicles you see belong to the forest department. These vehicles usually ensure that no tourist becomes a nuisance in front of a dangerous animal. Most, if not all people are respectful of animals to allow them a safe distance. As you can see here, no vehicle is on the same side of the road as the lion. In fact any vehicles that wanted to move on, had to go from the other side. Moreover, only the people on this route were privy to the sight of this lion. The rest had to do with whatever they were lucky to find. Yes, there are trackers on the ground and that may look dangerous, but this is business as usual at Gir. Yes, there's a driver standing with his door open and that may look dangerous too, but remember that photographs may not always tell the full story.
So yes, there will be times when some people may get carried away. There will be times when animals will voluntarily get dangerously close to vehicles. There will also be times, when a freeze of a rather long incident will tell a story quite different from the truth (as I suspect is the case with the Conservation India article). Our obsession with targeting tourism or photographers unfairly, is dangerous. I fear a situation where wildlife tourism will be so regulated and restrictive that only foreigners and the super rich of India will be able to enter our parks. We're almost at that point even now. There are far more pressing problems for wildlife in this country - we need to move beyond the easy and sensationalist stories.
Clarification:
My post may have given a few wrong impressions to people. I need to clarify these:
First things first, it may seem from my post that Sugandhi is the author of the post on Conservation India. That isn't true. Hymakar Valluru is the contributor. My angst isn't against Hymakar either. It's against this new trend of one set of tourists (or photographers) to try and outgun another. It almost seems like the standard state of Indian classrooms where one set of children constantly complain about the other.
Second, it may seem that I'm accusing Conservation India of doing this for instant fame. Absolutely not - my accusation is against the cult of photographers who keep submitting such images. I think such articles are only an editorial oversight by the forum. We've done this topic to death and new posts of this nature not only are of little value but are just unnecessarily sensationalist. Ramki responded on Facebook reiterating the need for a common code of ethics. I welcome this. It'll be a definite step forward, and we can move beyond the overdone theme of "evil photographer".