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Ranthambore
National Park, Rajasthan is perhaps the most popular
tourist destination to watch tigers in the wild. But
despite the tourist dollars, the Park’s main attraction,
the Bengal Tiger is in danger of getting decimated here,
as it has already happened in Sariska. Is it time we
looked outside the park for the reasons, at the humanity
which is living outside, their lives still connected
to the Park- the people who are living with the Park?
This
short film from WildBytes.tv, is a look at the popular
tiger reserve as an integrated universe comprising
its animals and people in the adjoining areas. The
forest connects the two and neither one can flourish
without the other. So is the policy of segregating
the park as a preserve for animals alienating the people
who lived in harmony with the park for decades, helping
the Park? There are no quick answers. The camera shows
people around the Park voicing their pride in and reservations
about the Park. Is the Park management listening? For
in the interest of preservation it seems foolish to
ignore the distilled wisdom of people whose lives are in tune with nature.
The
questions the film raises are:
1) Can we integrate life outside the Park with efforts at preservation?
2) Do the people living around the Park have a stake in protecting
the Park and its animals?
3) Given a stake in the health of the park, a role in running it,
will they develop a sense of pride and protect the animals inside?
4) Can conservationists help people living with the Park, see the
linkage of the Park with their own well-being?
5) Will these people who have lived in harmony with the Park for
many years, then develop a stake and pride in the Park and its
animals?
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