[Points: Introduction—different wild lives in their natural surroundings—necessity of wild life, national parks in India and in other parts of the world—conclusion.]
Most countries have their own peculiar brand of animals or birds. Australians have kangaroo and emu, the New Zealanders have kiwi birds, the Middle East is synonynous with camel, the ship of the desert. India is famous for her Royal Bengal Tigers, lions, elephants and beau tiful peacocks-our national bird. We cannot dream of Africa without zebras, zirraffes, leopards, rhinos, hippos, wild elephants and host of other wild animals. Where on earth can we expect to find white bear except in Siberia? Thus each country has enough wild life and is synonymous with that animal.
For a long time, we had been totally indifferent to these creatures around us. However, it is gratifying that of late people as a whole has become conscious and interested about the wild lives scattered in different parts. They have become conscious of the necessities to preserve wild life to keep a natural balance in the animal world. They have also become conscious of the fact that preservation of wild life is necessary to keep a natural and ecological balance. Because of these reasons, preservation of wild life has become an official pro gramme in many countries.
Our country is rich in wild life. We have the majestic Royal Bengal Tigers roaming in the Terai and in the Sundarbans. We have wild elephants in the Terai and in Karnataka state. In the Gir forest, we still have a few dozen of lions. Single horned Rhionos are given shelter in Kazirangha National Park, Assam. Nowhere else in the world this type of animals can be seen. To give wild animals safe habitat forests have been earmakred as National Parks or Reserve Forests. Thus have grown National Parks at Simlipal, Orissa; Jim Corbet, U.P.; Cunha, M.P. and Gir, Rajasthan. Even the crocodiles are not forgotten They are reared up in their natural surroundings in the Sundarbans and in Orissa. The largest bird sanctuary in India is at Bharatpur, Rajasthan. Strict laws are enforced to protect their interests.
The largest National Park of the world is at Tanganyka. This park can boast of animals like lion, zebra, ziraffe, rhino, hippo, antilope, bison, elephant, etc. Thousands of tourists come to this Safari Park to have a look at them in their natural surroundings. They also shot them with their cameras.
Similar National Parks have come up in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and in many other countries of the world. In countries like Canada and England where there is not much of wild life, local authorities have imported animals from different parts of the world to establish Safari Parks. The animals move about freely in these parks and the visitors can have a close look at them from a hand shaking distance.
Still, there are some people who have no love for wild life. They poach and kill these animals illegally not for self defence but for money. This is really an unhealthy sign. However, people are getting more conscious of the necessity to work for the preservation of wild life. They have at last realised the importance of preserving these immensely valuable creations of God.
