By Salam Rajesh
Celebrating Manipur’s Wildlife
The 72nd Wildlife Week observation kicked off in earnest on Friday (02 October) last week with much fanfare in the State, with a special focus on Manipur’s treasured wildlife gem – the Sangai (Manipur Brow-antlered Deer, Rucervus Eldii Eldii McClelland, 1842).
In these past years since its ‘extinction’ status in 1950 and its ‘re-discovery’ in the mid 1950s, this cervid sub-species has been much in focus globally as a highly threatened mammal that could probably disappear from the face of the Earth if specific attention is not paid to its conservation, both in-situ and ex-situ.
Habitat fragmentation and the deteriorating condition of its last refuge – the Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) under Bishnupur District in Manipur – is at the core of the concern on losing this rare deer subspecies.
That is the reason why the Sangai finds a spot amongst the highly threatened mammals around the world in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)’s Red Data (Critically Endangered) list. This listing specifies animals and plants that could possibly disappear altogether if care is not taken.
The misnomer
Ironically, the Sangai is too often incorrectly projected as the ‘Dancing Deer of Manipur’, or as a deer that dances upon the phumdi, in many of the promotional literature on tourism, including misrepresentation on YouTube.
This writer had on several occasions argued that this literature interpretation does not do justice to the deer, considering the ground-rooted evidence that the deer is actually struggling to survive within the sagging environment of its only remaining home at KLNP.
The basic argument is how can one dance and frolic around when your home is steadily sinking, breaking up, and the biomass (phumdi) can no longer bear your weight. In fact, there are several incidence of the death of the deer by drowning within the core zone of KLNP.
This writer had studied the Sangai habitat within KLNP core zone and had seen for himself how the deer hesitates when leaping from one phumdi patch to another, making certain that the patches are thick enough to bear their weight, or otherwise it might get entangled in the thin phumdi patch.
Ecology and wildlife in distress
It is at this crucial point of deliberation that the much-talked of man-made structure Ithai Barrage comes into focus. The barrage is a core component of the 105 megawatt capacity Loktak Hydroelectric Power Project.
Former Wetlands International-South Asia (WISA) director C.L. Trisal and Loktak Development Authority (LDA) project director Th. Manihar in a summary (2004) noted that the serious implication of Ithai Barrage had led to changes in the hydrological regime of Loktak Lake thereby affecting the ecological process and function of the wetland complex, and leading to the decrease in the thickness of phumdi biomass in Keibul Lamjao National Park, thereto threatening the habitat of the endangered Manipur Brow-antlered Deer (Loktak: The Atlas of Loktak/WISA & LDA).
Wetlands International in its publication, ‘State of the World’s Waterbirds (2010)’, specifically points out that habitat loss and degradation driven by infrastructure development, water regulation, agricultural intensification and human disturbances are among the most frequent threats to key wetlands (and their wildlife populations).
The international organization further warned that ‘wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests’ (Wetlands International/ We need Wetlands: The urgent case for global wetland targets, 2022). This concern also bears heavily on wetlands as good carbon sinks in terms of climate change implications.
So, all said and done, this one man-made structure over the Manipur River (Imphal Turel) at its confluence with Khuga River near Ithai Khunou village in Bishnupur District, has indeed been the nemesis for myriad problems faced by humans and the wildlife within the Loktak wetland complex in all of these years since its commissioning in June 1983.
Out of the total 40 square kilometers of the wildlife habitat encompassed as a wildlife sanctuary (KLNP), the wildlife population here are struggling to exist within a mere 14 sq km of biomass spread, the rest is open water body.
The Sangai has to compete for shelter and food in this limited space with the other wildlife in the national park including Hog deer and wild boar, both of which are fast-breeding with big litter. There are stories of the Sangai locked in battle with wild boars in the core zone. The competition for space, food and shelter within KLNP is all too real.
The path ahead
So, what is the urgency today? The situation on ground absolutely calls for rapid assessment of the current status of the Loktak wetland complex, with particular reference to the human interferences, ecological degradation, biodiversity loss and species decline, and in tune with the Ramsar site of international importance status.
At the same time, there is an urgent need to formulate strategic action plans to monitor, evaluate and manage efficiently and effectively the physical and ecological health of the wetland complex.
As a main feature of the wildlife week observation currently, the State administration needs to adopt (announce) a specific policy for the Sangai as a flagship species defining the singular importance of the Loktak Ramsar site, and the KLNP as the ‘only’ floating national park in the world.
It indeed would be ironic that Manipur has no specific plans, and budgetary provision, to fight for its symbolic State Animal, given its status as one among several species (plants and animals) in the world that face possible extinction in this century.
And finally, it is time to stop labeling the Sangai as the ‘deer that dances merrily’ upon the phumdi, and realize that the deer is struggling to survive in a home that is breaking apart, slowly and steadily.
When the deer lifts its left leg and hits the ground repeatedly, it means it senses danger and is warning people to keep off. Manipur cannot afford to lose this gem, give or take the myth and legend, and folklore, revolving around it, and its symbolic representation of species the world is seeing now but which could be part of history in the very near future.
