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The forests of today are very much the same as those that developed soon after the appearance of flowering plants millions of years ago. Then, as now, jungles existed in Asia, rain forests in Africa and South America and cool verdant woods in Europe. Herbs and ferns spread across the ground wherever there was light. Trees rose extending their branches into many tiers. Leaves sprouted, season after season, century after century. They offered an ever-renewing supply of food to any animal or bird able to digest it. In India, the variation of vegetation governs the distribution of animals. There are amazing examples. Tigers have lived for centuries in mangrove forests of the Sundarbans; an archipelago. If you look away from the Sundarbans, tigers are also found in Central India's forests and scrubland; we see them in Bihar; in scrub, Elephant grass and forests of Assam, in Sal and Teak forests in Bengal onto Buxa Duars; and in somewhat arid conditions of Ranthambore.
There is more in terms of distribution; Tigers also thrive in South India's Mudumalai forests, covering an area of 3,000 sq km. If we focus our kaleidoscope just beyond India, tigers also thrive in Siberia, living in snow. India's tiger population is an estimated 1,500. Valmik Thapar is prominent as a tiger conservationist. His recent book, The Last Tiger articulates the urgency of conserving our national animal. In fact, the title of his book itself is frighteningly stark. Forest wealth
Let us take a look at different forests. Our alpine forests up in the environs of the Himalayas are different from the forests we see. Conifers of these regions protect their trunks by producing a resin. The more liquid portion of resin is turpentine that evaporates forming a lump and covering the wound. This solution also forms a trap for an unwary insect. In a different time and era, some of the world's forests gave way to formation of grasslands, or to some extent, the mixed scrubland we see today. Grasslands and scrub are often tall enough, like elephant grass, to even conceal a tiger or elephant. Grass may look simple and almost primitive. On the contrary, it is highly advanced. It bears tiny unobtrusive flowers which rely not on insects to distribute its pollen, but the wind that blows freely across the spaces where it grows. Grass leaves grow not from the tip, as those of bushes and trees, but from the base. This is of enormous benefit to herbivorous animals. Even though they have chewed off those grass leaves, grass will quickly produce fresh leaves of grass for another meal. Pyramid of life
There are diverse conditions that support leopards. These animals are located in the plains and are also comfortable in the hills. They have lived and still do, in deodar (Himalayan cedar) and pine forests of Himachal,Garhwal, Nainital or Darjeeling, where I have sighted them at 6,500ft. The leopard's relative, the snow leopard, lives close to the Himalayan chain. Their territory extends to Tibet. They have been observed at 13,000 ft and follow their prey to higher reaches in summer. The distribution of vegetation and animals emphasises a fragile precipice the pyramid of life is balancing on. Tigers and leopards depend on a herbivorous animal for food, which in turn depends on vegetation which depends on healthy soil. Soil depends on humus and worms like earthworms, to recycle it. The pyramid of life cannot be disrupted. Where will the birds nest? Most birds depend on trees. Any change in the availability of trees can cause a chaotic imbalance. HN Mathur had submitted an interesting report to the BNHS of a situation that occurred in Jalandhar, in 1977. Mynas nest in trees and even vertical earthbanks. All of a sudden, they exploited a different nesting site. They began pulling off a few wisps of hay from a wheat hay stack. They created a cavity to nest in. There was a reason for this change. The planting of eucalyptus trees had increased. Many birds do not find these trees "friendly". Fortunately, those mynas found a substitute. This has accentuated the need to grow a mixture of tree species. In India, we see several kinds of parakeets. The largest being the Alexandrine parakeet. A photograph taken by MK Krishnan, included with this narrative, shows parakeet fledglings being reared in a nest inside the bole of a peepal tree. This has emphasised the role of a tree in a bird's life. MK Krishnan wrote, "We have no parrots In India, only parakeets". Of insects Apart from Caterpillars the season of the monsoon brings about a variety of insects. The shrill screaming of cicadas from trees, the humming drone of the dragonfly that alights on a puddle of water are only some of them. David Attenborough, a zoologist, informs us of insects that have retained their pre-historic characteristics. "…….The ancient winged insects, cockroaches, cicadas, crickets, and dragonflies. They do not change shape as they grow. They merely moult as they increase in size." We cannot deny that we have a special position in the natural world. If we do deny that, we could be evading our responsibilities. The fact is that no one, except mankind, has total control over everything on earth. Whether we accept this or not, it lays a monumental responsibility upon us.
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