Destruction of life by wild animals and venomous snakes in India / by Sir J. Fayrer.

  • Joseph Fayrer
Date:
[1878]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Destruction of life by wild animals and venomous snakes in India / by Sir J. Fayrer. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/18 page 8
    12 months. I am of opinion that two tigers are at work. In three cases the villagers turned out at once, in each case the tiger killed several men within 12 hours. There appear to be very few cattle killed. I am, therefore, led to believe that the tiger or tigers live habitually on human flesh. Seventeen deaths have been reported since the 1st of November of last year; probably double this number would be nearer the correct thing. I have made out four deaths since our arrival here, which had not been reported.” Captain Caulfield says, “tigers which take to killing people, are notoriously cunning, and generally range over a beat of some 30 square miles. They have, in most cases, certain places which may be called their head-quarters. With two or three Europeans systematically at work during the next cold season, I think the district might be cleared of man-eating tigers.” The Government again approve of Captain Caulfield’s proceedings, sanction his requests, and empower the Medical Department to meet demands for drugs required in the fever districts in which the operations are carried on. The system of poisoning by strychnine, though to a certain extent successful, was not altogether satisfactory, and aconite was suggested by the Surgeon-General, it being said to have succeeded in the Himalayas. Captain Caulfield’s appointment does not seem to have terminated on the 31st of December, 1873, as I find several reports from him in 1874, but I do not know exactly what he is doing now. It | is not necessary to multiply details, the above is quite sufficient to show how the Indian Govern- ment have dealt with this great evil, and that they have evinced no want of appreciation of its magnitude and importance. I have selected these details from the Madras reports because they forcibly illustrate what has been suffered, and what has been done in one part of India. But I find that in Bombay, Bengal, the North-West and Central Provinces, and Native States, the Government and political agents have all shown themselves alive to, and interested in, the subject, and all or nearly all have expressed their opinions, concurring that the evil is great, and needs remedy. A variety of rewards are offered in different localities, full price for adult animals, half or less for cubs. Some think that rewards should be continued; some that they should be given up, or only given in special cases; some, again, think the rewards too high, others too low. A variety of opinions as to the measures for their destruction exists, but all alike recognise the evil. This much is certain that the subject has attracted attention all over India, even in independent native States, and that the chiefs, notably those of Jeypore and the Nizam, have proclaimed rewards for the destruc- tion of noxious animals. It cannot be said, therefore, that Government is indifferent or mis- informed, or that it has omitted to consider the existence of the evil. What is wanted, in my opinion, is a system to be laid down on general principles for the entire country, and worked out in detail according to the needs or peculiarities of each district. There should, in short, be a de- partment, or a branch of a department, with a responsible chief and subordinate agents, for whom certain rules should be laid down, to be carried out steadily and without hindrance throughout the country, leaving much as to detail to the discretion of local authorities. I would insist on the im- portance of carrying it out on broad principles everywhere. When such orders are made imperative, and when a department is got into working order, then, I believe, noxious animals will decrease and prosperity will increase. It is not necessary here to go into details, ample means exist, if sought, for such a scheme in India, and if the matter were entrusted to an officer, such as he who controls the Thuggie and Dacoitee departments, we may feel certain that -the result would be as good (in a few years) in the case of noxious animals as it has been in that of noxious men, Thugs and Dacoits. The Gazette of India, of 31st | March, 1877, in alluding to the net results of the measures now in force in the different provinces towards extermi- nating wild animals and venomous snakes in the year 1875, tells us that upwards of 21,000 persons and 48,000 head of catttle were destroyed by wild animals and venomous snakes during the year, that 22,357 wild animals and 270,185 venomous snakes have been killed, and that 1,20,016 Us. have been expended in rewards, and remarks'that these figures deserve the careful consideration of local governments and administrations, in view to such measures being adopted in each province as seems best calculated to diminish this loss of life and property. Endeavour to estimate the value of life and property destroyed, a very rough calculation will give some idea how great it is. The value of 48,000 head of cattle, however, is not the money worth alone, but represents that J of food lost and tillage prevented, and who can estimate the money value—albeit life has never been set very high in India—of 21,000 human beings so lost ? But one may imagine the desolation and horror of the survivors, the depressing and dete- riorating effect it must have on cultivation and development of industrial energies of the villages and communities exposed to such losses, and how it must paralyse all efforts towards progress, com- fort, and prosperity. Such results, indeed, are graphically illustrated in some of the reports I have read to you. And can nothing more be done to mitigate this evil ? From what I have already said, you see that a scale of rewards has, at various times, been offered for the destruction of wild animals, differing in different localities, and varying according to the urgency of particular cases, that the people have been encouraged also to rid themselves of their enemies, and that special arrangements, in some cases, have been made for assisting them to do so. The following is a scale of the rewards offered in different parts of India, at different times, for wild beasts and snakes:— Tigers. Rupees. Bengal 12£ to 50 Berar 10 — 20 Bombay 6 — 60 Burmah 5 — 20 Central Provinces 10 — 100 Hyderabad 20 Madras 50 — 500
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image
    No text description is available for this image