Wildlife and Nature Conservation - Centre for Ecological Sciences

9.11 Ex-situ ConservationThe priority of conservation must overwhelmingly be upon in-situ conservation, asthereby protection is accorded not only to species as naturally evolved in bioticcommunities, but in the process, habitats, ecosystems, biodiversity and wilderness itselfare also protected. Nonetheless, with the threat of extinction facing so many species offlora and fauna, especially micro fauna, ex-situ conservation assumes increasingimportance.The guiding principle should be that no living species however insignificant or useless itmay appear to be, should be allowed to go extinct. There are two methods of insuring thisas a safeguard against extinction in the wild.a) Propagation in captivity, andb) Gene bank preservation of genetic material/ and cloning/resurrection of the speciesthat may have gone extinct.As regards (a) above, India has a large number of zoos and safari parks, some owned bythe government, others by municipal and other bodies. Almost universally the upkeep andmanagement is well below acceptable standards. Furthermore, instead of complementingin-situ conservation, zoos and safari parks are a drain upon it. Capture of wild specimensfor zoos has now luckily stopped, but unhygienic conditions prevalent in zoos result inalmost universal infestation of animal diseases like TB, which precludes the possibility ofcaptive animals being released into the wild for the danger of contagion to wildpopulations. Besides, to give one example, the Chatbir Zoo of Haryana consumed over80% of the State’s outlay on wildlife, thereby eating into the capital that could well haveserved the fund-starved PAs and other in-situ conservation efforts in the State, and in theprocess they had over 40 tigers which were of no conservation use and over 80 lions ofmixed Afro-Indian strain, which were worse than useless from the wildlife standpoint.Zoos must also serve as centres for arousing empathy for animate beings and a love forand interest in the nation’s fauna, and not just places for recreation. Our zoos have failedon this account as well. Happily, with the establishment of the Central Zoo Authority ofthe Government of India, things are improving.In the context of (b), it may be appropriate to mention the case of the Indian or Asiaticcheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus), which is the only large Indian mammal that hasgone extinct in the last hundred years. Project Tiger has proved that under the aegis of amega species like the tiger, its prey species and diverse habitats can also be saved. Thereintroduction of the cheetah – through cloning of the Asiatic race with genetic materialderived from Iran – would arouse great interest and pride. This project is vital not onlyfor this superb animal, but for its endangered prey species and its arid and semiaridhabitats, which are fast depleting. If genetic propagation of the Asiatic race poses toomany problems, introduction of the African cheetah from Namibia is also a possibility.Biotechnology as a science has perhaps the greatest potential for providing health,sustenance and well being to mankind, in the face of exponential population increase.Genetics play a major role in this science and, from the economic standpoint, the mostvaluable gene pools of all are the wild counterparts of species domesticated and133