Living in a cage

Encroachers shack up in a deer's enclosure at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park for four months. What's worse, they endanger the animal's life by feeding it dal-rice and fried snacks

Encroachers shack up in a deer's enclosure at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park for four months. What's worse, they endanger the animal's life by feeding it dal-rice and fried snacks

FIRST, humans drove animals out of forests. Now, some of them are taking over their cages too. And not just for a PETA campaign. Sunday MiD DAY saw the horrifying proximity that exists between an already beleaguered wildlife and encroachers, at Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivli.

The deer has human company. Women go about their daily rituals in front of their houses

Over 40 such encroachers have made a thousand square metre cage their home. The original inhabitant of the cage, a deer, goes about doing what deers do while the encroachers live here cook, wash their clothes and feed the deer fried snacks and other things. Before you think that this is cute, it is a complete violation of forest laws and endangers wildlife that is already under threat.

This is only the last of a long list of troubles faced by the park, which has seen years of exploitation by illegal encroachment, poaching, illicit distilling stills and quarry owners. These have dried up the densely forested hills, which were referred to as the lungs of Mumbai and responsible for the majority of fresh water supplied to the city.

Home for four months
Posing as a tourist, this journalist struck up conversation with a person inside the cage, who identified himself as Bapu. He revealed that his family and he had been living inside the cage for over four months.

When asked about the deer, darting about nearby, Bapu said the animal was initially wary but has now become comfortable.

"We are banjaras (gypsies), who roam from place to place. We found this settlement safe and secure and decided to make it our home. We do not plan to leave it any time soon," said Bapu.

Dal rice for deer
He added that the deer was normally fed by forest officials, on a staple diet of carrots and other leafy vegetables, but now looked forward to sharing their dal-rice preparations, which were cooked by them inside the enclosure.

Bapu invited this journalist inside the enclosure for a closer inspection of the animal. He called out to a young kid playing nearby to fetch the deer.

The kid pulled out a packet of fried snacks from a plastic packet and fed the animal, barely a few feet away from the camera lens.

Eager to join the conversation, Rajendra, another occupant, who claimed to be an adivasi (ethnic tribe), claimed that the low cost accommodation was working fine for him and the family. "I do some odd jobs like selling snacks and carrots, which are usually fed to the animals, so there is no reason for me to complain".

'Labourers doing work'
Spotting this journalist clicking photos, Rajendra's wife yelled out, warning him not to speak to strangers. The commotion caused by her attracted the attention of a person wearing a forest officials cap, who was also sitting in the enclosure close to a parked motorbike, chatting with friends.

He immediately swung into action and asked this journalist to leave. When asked about the people in the cage, he shrugged it off saying they were labourers, doing some construction work inside the park and being provided accommodation here.

He refused to comment, when asked how they were allowed to stay with a wild animal. "Tumala kay karayecha? (what do you have to do with this?)," he questioned.

'Feeding fried snacks ridiculous'
Environmentalist Dr Subhalakshmi, director, BNHS Center, Goregaon (Bombay Natural History Society) stated that the proximity of humans to animals, whether in the wild or in controlled environments like open enclosures have to be avoided.

"I am not aware of this particular case, but it is astonishing that a group of people have been allowed to live inside a cage along with a deer, which is a reclusive animal by nature. I have heard of tourist feeding animals in zoos, but an insider feeding dal rice and fried snacks to a wild animal is ridiculous," she said.

Infect the animal?
Supriya Jhunjhunwala, who heads the Wildlife Cell for the Centre for Environment Education, an international society which works in the field of wild life conservation in India, commented that most zoos and wildlife sanctuaries are strictly forbidden from encouraging feeding animals by visitors and direct visitor interaction, as close proximity is risky for both the wild animal and humans.

"An animal that typically feeds on raw vegetable matter both in the wild and captivity will find it difficult to digest processed food such as popcorn. Making a deer eat dal-roti can be compared to taking a human child and feeding it raw meat or grass and leaves. Nutritional deficiencies could also arise from such a diet," she said.
Jhunjhunwala added that if handled by untrained people, the animal could be infected by diseases from humans and in turn infect others in the herd.