Dr HS Pabla, Additional PCCF, Protection, in a recently-published paper advocates hunting for sport as a panacea to the problems ailing India's wildlife conservation policy.

Most of his peers and conservationists view this approach with a fair degree of scepticism, but there are some who feel that a conservation policy based on a resource approach merits a debate.

Mr PB Gangopadhyay, PCCF (Wildlife) says, "an approach based on sustainable development is the only way forward and is being followed all over the world. However, a change in mindset is required, which will take time."

In a paper presented during the International Seminar on Man Animal Co-existence during the centenary celebrations at the Kaziranga National Park, Dr HS Pabla advocated the need to abandon the present approach to wildlife conservation.

"Unless wildlife is treated as a resource, it stands the risk of being wiped out. This does not mean that wildlife does not have to be preserved, but the way to do it will have to change. The conservation policy being followed now was relevant when it was brought in, but just as the economic policy was changed to suit the times, the approach to conservation needs to be changed too," said Dr Pabla.

Dr Pabla says that man and wildlife can co-exist only if the latter is treated as a natural resource and managed as such.

"Wildlife is endangered whenever it is treated as a moral responsibility and humanity is suffering at the cost of wildlife. Wherever wildlife is nurtured and harvested, both man and wildlife are prospering. More and more countries are rediscovering the virtues of scientific wildlife management and are using this resource for the welfare of the people, particularly those who are adversely affected because of their location."

"Madhya Pradesh alone has 451,000 families living in 5,500 villages which are affected by the conservation policy of the Government. Between 1998 and 2003, 166 human deaths and 3,131 injuries were reported. A total of 8,79,450 hectares of cultivable land is also affected by the conservation policy where damage to crops is immense but has not been assessed," he says.

Dr Pabla suggests that the best ways of optimizing the returns from conservation are through hunting for sport.

"The concept is misunderstood in India but if put into practice, it could accrue huge sums of money, perhaps sufficient to finance the budget of the Forest Department," he says. "A single Canadian Bighorn sheep hunt was auctioned for US $ 405,000. The best part is that the hunter could not shoot the animal within the stipulated 17 days! At present animals are being killed by poachers."

A study by Ulhas Karanth and Madhusudan Kutty on poaching around the Kudremukh National Park suggests that poachers earn about Rs 600 crore per annum.

Dr Pabla says that India and Kenya are the only countries in the world where wildlife is not treated as a resource.

When asked about the ethics involved in killing, Dr Pabla retorts: "If killing is wrong, eating fish, chicken and mutton should be banned too. In any case, a majority of the population in the country is non-vegetarian."

How are his peers receiving his views?

Dr Pabla says that the present lot of Forest Officers are often taken aback by his views.

"Most of them are the architects of the present conservation policy, so they are not very favourably disposed," he says.

When contacted, Mr Valmik Thapar, Conservationist and Member of the State Wildlife Board said: "I am against any form of hunting. It is wrong to view wildlife from a commercial angle, though there are countries where that is being done."