Source : Google photo of noble animals
Synopsis : Humans have mistreated animals since a very long time
and sadly it continues even today so they kill the beautiful animals in many
parts of the world for their teeth, fur or skin. Torture of captive animals
also continues but it has to stop now. As people become more aware of the right
of animals to exist ,this practice may one day come to an end.
There was a wild life photographer in Africa who was looking through the long lens of his camera and kept a lazy eye on some hippos playing in the water while taking a few photos of them cavorting. All of a sudden a huge crocodile leapt out of water and grabbed a fawn that was drinking timidly because she was obviously nervous.
https://youtu.be/JnJ476GyNSM
Source : U tube video of hippo
saving the fawn
When one of the hippos saw it, she
charged the crocodile and literally grabbed the fawn out of the mouth of the
croc so the croc left out of fear. Hippos are feared by most carnivorous
animals because of their size and fierce nature that can cut in half a
crocodile in a swift motion. You will see baby hippos stepping on the tails of
large crocodiles playfully but they simply slide away so as not to risk the
wrath of the mama hippo watching nearby.
The huge hippo carried the fawn in
her huge mouth and gently dropped it on the higher ground where the fawn
recovered in a while and rejoined her mother. The scene was captured on film by
the quick minded photographer and was published in the wild life magazines but
this sort of thing happens all the time in the wilderness showing that animals
have compassion for the young and weak animals of other species.
Source : U tube video of animals saving other species in Africa
A lioness cuddles a fawn and licks
her face and tries to feed her scraps of meat not knowing that the fawn does
not eat meat. Her maternal instinct protects the fawn. A dog feeds several
tiger cubs although she knows that they are not her puppies but feeds them
anyway. There are numerous example of animals feeding and taking care of animals
of different species that prove that they are noble and have compassion for
others.
I call them noble because animals do
not have vengeance like us humans and do not bear grudge. An elephant who was
abused by her captor for over fifty years keeping her in chains was released
through the intervention of the animal rights group in India but she only shed
tears of joy and relief. She knew her tormentor but did not seek vengeance
showing her gentle nature of forgiveness and nobility. ( Read my blog called Cruelty to animals here )
Similarly the black bears in India
who are abused in captivity by the nomads kiss the people who rescue them out
of gratitude but never do they attack their captors while we burn with rage if
someone abuses us like that and seek retribution when we regain our freedom.
Dolphins come to the rescue of a drowning dog and carry it on their back to the
shore and there are stories of a bird carrying an injured squirrel on its back
and flies it to safety. The story of Tarzan raised by the wild animals in the
forest is not a myth. There are many stories of babies being raised by the
monkeys in Uganda or a baby that was raised by a wolf in India. He walked on
his four limbs and howled like a wolf when he was captured. He ate only raw
meat.
There is a story told by a diver who
was taking photos of fish and corals when he saw a tiger seal with a penguin in
his mouth so he took some photos but was scared because the tiger seal known
for its aggressive nature kept coming at him. Then the strangest thing
happened. The seal dropped the penguin near him as a gift and waited for quite
some time to see if he will accept it. Such wonderful and compassionate gesture
from wild animals towards humans is not unheard of that goes to show their
noble nature.
Large carnivorous animals like
lions, bears or tigers often show love and great compassion for human babies
and show their protective maternal instinct. Wolves protecting an injured man
or a small baby by keeping them warm with their bodies is not unheard of
either.
Source : Google photo of Chimpanzee feeding the tiger cub
One thing that amazes me most is the
fact that the wild animals are often seen protecting other animals of different
species and even feeding them. Wild monkeys eating fruits high up in trees in
the forest drop the fruits for the deers and antelopes feeding below and
will raise the alarm when a jaguar or cheetah approaches giving the deers ample
time to escape.
https://youtu.be/2xCfmB8rvYI
Source : U tube video of gorilla
saving a human kid
There is another story where a small boy fell into the moat in a zoo in the USA and was injured and unconscious. A huge gorilla that lived in the enclosure came to the rescue of the boy and cuddled him while protecting him from other curious gorillas that came to investigate. Eventually the boy was given over to the zoo keepers so there are numerous examples of how wild animals show their compassionate nature.
Source : Google photo of Jatayu who tried to save Sita ( Ramayana)
There is the story of a vulture that
tried to attack Ravan who had kidnapped Sita but Ravan killed the vulture
called Jatayu (story from Ramayana) so now there is a huge statue honoring the
vulture in Kerala, India who tried to protect Sita and gave his life for it.
In another story a vulture spread
its wings to shade the new born baby in the forest who was abandoned by her
prostitute mother so the baby was named Shakuntala meaning one who was saved by
the vulture.
The only animal that I can think of
that is incapable of any such feelings is snake that can never be trusted. It
is known that a so called pet boa will someday kill its owner and swallow him
whole without the slightest hesitation or a black mamba that will strike you
with the intention of killing you. Snakes are not in the business of caring for
others but they do provide an essential service to mankind. They keep the
rodent population in the fields under control and provide venom in snake farms
for medicinal purposes so they have their usefulness. I should add here that
most snakes would rather run away than to attack someone.
But I call untrustworthy people who
are deceitful and cunning are like some snakes who will always let you down and
try to harm you anyway they can although most snakes are harmless.
Wild animals who were saved and
raised in shelters when young and later released into the forest have been
known to show immense gratitude. They do not easily forget their benefactors
and will recognize them years later. The movie Born free was made of a lioness
who was raised by a couple and later released but she always came to visit them
because she never forgot them and showed her love and gratitude this way.
We often show cruelty to our fellow
humans. We try to harm them, deceive them, lie to them, mistreat them in
numerous ways and even show neglect to our own relatives. Women normally do not
care to raise other people’s children or even their step children but animals
do. In India women do not like to adopt children even if they do not have their
own but in other countries people adopt children to raise them as their own so
it depends on their values that vary from country to country a great deal.
This is not the case in the animal
kingdom. Have you ever seen an ostrich that digs a large hole in the sand where
she puts her eggs and soon other ostriches fill the hole with their eggs as
well but the mother ostrich does not mind at all and sits on all the eggs to
incubate them.
Baboons, lemurs and many such
animals raise their off springs collectively while the males and others go to
gather food for them. A baby elephant is cared for by the entire herd that
always protects it and comes to rescue if the baby needs help.
So we have a great deal to learn
from the animals like their compassion for other species, their maternal
instinct to feed them and raise them and protect them from harm. Animals are
known to be full of emotions that they show. We can all learn from them what it
means to be loyal, to be dependable and to be trustworthy. The dogs are the
best example so they are called man’s best friend but many animals show such
remarkable loyalty.
Sadly we mistreat the animals, kill
them just for fun like the game shooters who kill the mother elephant while the
baby nudges his mother and crying for milk. I have seen a huge tiger skin
displayed in someone’s house that their relatives had killed somewhere that had
most likely resulted in the death of the cubs as well but no one cared. The
animal poaching still goes on in many countries decimating the wildlife.
There was mass slaughter of bisons
in America in the past when a train load of shooters stopped the train and shot
hundreds of bison for fun and left them rotting. The Native Americans only
killed bisons for their meat and skin but never more than what they needed so
they could not understand the mass slaughter of these animals only for fun by
some white hunters. Where is the fun in killing a defenseless animal?
The British people shot hundreds of
tigers in India just so that they could brag and brought down the tiger
population drastically but no one cared. For them it was a great hunting trophy
to have because back in England there are no such gorgeous animals to be shot.
Even today they go out on fox hunt with hundreds of hunting dogs in England
where it is a sport for the rich people.
We have always mistreated animals
that have never meant us any harm and sadly we continue to do so in many parts
of the world. I remember the angry lions in cages in El Obeid in Sudan that
some kids poked with sticks through the bars for fun while their parents just
looked on.
It is high time to become aware of
the fact that the animals too have a right to live in the wilderness freely.
They do not ask for anything from us and want us to leave them alone. They add
to the biodiversity and some animals like bats are extremely useful in
spreading seeds of fruits they eat to repopulate the forest trees this way.
They also consume tons of harmful insects that harm crops so helping the
agriculture.
It is time to acknowledge that all
animals have a place in the nature .They are not only beautiful to look at but
they enrich our planet in numerous ways. Sad will be our planet if we
exterminate all the wild life because of our greed for their skins and teeth as
trophies.
Most of all we must stop torturing
them in captivity like what the Chinese do to milk the wild bears there for
their bile or kill beautiful animals for their fur so that some stupid women
can wear their fur coats to brag about it. There are alternatives to bear bile
but the cruel practice continues in China.
Some countries like Kenya, Rwanda
and South Africa are turning their poachers into safari guides so that they can
quit poaching and get a gainful employment. It protects the animals and
provides an alternative to poachers who out of poverty take up poaching. If
India had adopted such an approach to save the Ganga river dolphins long ago,
the dolphins would still be alive. They have started to do it now to save the
remaining few dolphins in Benares.
We can educate our children about
the beauty of all animals and teach them how to protect them, how to treat them
humanely and how to raise awareness about them starting in the kindergarten
schools. Such children who learn to love animals and birds will perhaps someday
teach their children of the next generation how to love animals and protect
them so that they will not learn to be cruel to them.
They should be taught that all
animals are noble and precious.
Note : My blogs are also available
in French, Spanish, German and Japanese languages at the following links as
well as my biography. My blogs can be shared by anyone anytime in any social
media.
La biografía de anil en español.
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