Coronavirus lockdown: Would've loved to study the impact of ‘no traffic’ on wildlife in tiger reserves, says Sanjay Gubbi

By Sanjay Gubbi

It’s difficult for me to gloat that I have started spending time on house chores during the lockdown, as it has always been part of my life. Whoever has taken this opportunity and started this good practice should continue doing this (at least on a lesser scale) even after the lockdown. It helps in several ways including recognising the importance of those who make our lives so much easier and to be grateful for everything that we have.

Besides being grateful, can we learn to utilise and share resources, time and skills at least during the times of crisis? And can we do it without the left hand knowing what the right hand is doing? Can we serve with humility, help with grace and lead with generosity and go beyond lighting candles, flash mobile torches and banging plates?

After this battle is won over by us, can we show the same level of patriotism by following traffic rules, saying no to corruption, compulsorily exercising our electoral rights, supporting local vegetable vendors and grocers, doing our bit to protect our environment, and go beyond light-and-show gestures?

Recent generations have never seen a crisis that directly impacted everyone like our earlier generations saw during the times of partition, the post-independent wars and so on. Neither have we experienced a Pearl Harbor moment, and very few of us experienced a Bhopal disaster. So did we drift away too far with the comforts by not valuing the good things, and the good times. I hope that the direness of this global health crisis that has touched our collective psyche will
awaken us.

On a personal front, this is perhaps the second time, freshest in my memory, that I haven’t (literally) stepped out of my house for such a long period. The first was when I was recovering from injuries by a leopard.

For us, workspace and desk are mostly in the forests which is completely contrasting to what I am doing now. I miss that part of my work.

However, boredom is certainly not a great concern during the lockdown. The lockdown has helped me analyse our research data, write up scientific papers and expedite the work on my new book on leopards. But more importantly, it has provided an opportunity to reduce our footprint on the planet, though at a colossal cost.

Since writing is also a big part of my work and passion, I am trying to use this time to improve my authoring skills by listening to online lectures and reading books. With the help of my conservation friends, I started an online awareness campaign about the impacts of a new railway track that’s been proposed in the Western Ghats of Karnataka. But, I would have loved to scientifically estimate the impacts of ‘no traffic’ on wildlife in Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves.

In particular, during the lockdown, I haven’t done anything much different than my wildlife conservation work. Perhaps it’s difficult to take wildlife out of a conservationist!

However, two factors worry me during the lockdown.

The plight of daily wage earners already bathed with murderous poverty. We cannot even fathom what they are perhaps going through.

My wife is a doctor and every morning it feels like bidding farewell to someone going to a warzone, and waiting for her to return safely.

(Sanjay Gubbi is a wildlife conservationist)