Tourists took a picture of the scene, then approached an NGO asking it to ensure that the forest dept takes action
The picture shot by the tourists
A group of tourists who visited the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), recently was shocked to see spotted deer feeding at a small garbage dump, where plastic was also thrown. There are strict restrictions on plastic inside SGNP, but some tourists still take plastic bottles etc. Wildlife experts feel that management of garbage needs to be done in a proper way, so that plastic doesn't pose a threat to wild animals.
The tourists who saw the deer feed on garbage took some pictures of the same and wanted to bring it to the notice of authorities. On the Internet, they came across NGO RAWW which has been helping the forest department in rescuing wild animals, and highlighting issues related to wildlife. The tourists informed RAWW about what they had seen, gave its officials the photographs and requested them to see that the FD takes immediate action to stop such incidents.
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Another visitor to the park took up the issue on social media expressing his anger towards it.
This is not the first time that someone has seen the spotted deer feeding on garbage. mid-day had reported on this on May 18, 2018, 'Deer spotted eating garbage from plastic bags dumped at SGNP'.
'Visitors must understand'
Pawan Sharma from NGO RAWW said, “The SGNP authorities were informed about the issue and necessary action will be taken. Garbage is a serious issue for the whole city including SGNP. At the same time, it is also the responsibility of visitors to take back their waste with them, and not dump it there.”
Sharma has also appealed to people saying SGNP is a PA - Protected Area and not just a regular park. Activities by visitors like dumping garbage, feeding or disturbing wildlife must be absolutely avoided.
“Keeping vigil on thousands of visitors with limited ground staff is a challenging task for SGNP and regular visitors must help as volunteers in such tasks. They must educate other visitors and report wrong activities,” added Sharma.
Also Read: Sanjay Gandhi National Park's man-eaters may find home in Aarey's zoo
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