DALAI LAMA CAMPAIGNS FOR WILDLIFE

[Anonymous]

Dalai Lama campaigns for wildlife

The Dalai Lama has called for an end to illegal wildlife
trafficking between Nepal, Tibet, India and China.

He is appealing to exiled Tibetans, who are increasingly involved in the
bloody trade, to remember their dedication to Buddhist non-violence.

Last year, Tibetan officials intercepted 32 tiger, 579 leopard and 665 otter
skins in one single shipment.

This prompted the Dalai Lama and a pair of wildlife charities to launch an
awareness drive around the Himalayas.

“We Tibetans are basically Buddhists, we preach love and compassion towards
all other living beings on Earth,” said the exiled Tibetan leader. “Therefore,
it is the responsibility of all of us to realise the importance of wildlife
conservation.”

We must realise that because of our follies a large number of our animals are getting killed The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama is working with the charities Care for the Wild
International (CWI), from the UK, and the Wildlife Trust of India, to promote an
understanding of the damage illegal trading can cause.

The team plan to make videos and leaflets which they will take to Tibetan
refugee settlements around India. They also hope to broadcast anti-poaching
messages over the TV and radio.

“Thousands will be reached in this way,” said Barbara Maas of CWI.
“Eventually, we hope to reach every single one – we will go to schools, we will
go to refugee camps, we will go to villages.”

Urgent action

Dr Maas says the project has a sense of urgency because illegal wildlife
trading is set to get worse, thanks to a new train line being constructed
between the old Tibetan capital of Lhasa and Beijing, the capital of China.

This new transport link will make things easier for poachers wishing to shift
animal body parts.

“You can imagine what will happen when the train link opens,” said Dr Maas.
“So we are trying to pour water on the flames as they are at the moment and also
take pre-emptive action.”

Other charities are in strong support of this new initiative.

“Our own investigation has shown that Tibetans are heavily involved in the
organised smuggling of tiger and leopard skins between India and Tibet, and that
Tibet is a major market and distribution point for these skins,” said Debbie
Banks, of the Environmental Investigation Agency.

“We are encouraged that the Dalai Lama is taking action on this
serious issue and hope that his message helps to prevent this disgusting trade
from spiralling further out of control.”

CWI claims that the illegal wildlife trade is devastating populations of
endangered Himalayan and sub-Himalayan wildlife such as tigers, leopards, snow
leopards, otters and bears.

Many of these animal body parts head for China, where they find their way
into the traditional medicine market.

Wildlife organisations have long worried about this sad pilgrimage, but few
have appealed to people’s religious sensibilities to prevent it.

The Dalai Lama carries enormous weight, especially with Tibetans living in
exile, so his voice is likely to be heard.

“It is in the Pali and Sanskrit tradition to show love and compassion for all
living beings,” he said at a press conference in New Delhi, India. “It is a
shame that we kill these poor creatures to satisfy our own aggrandisement.

“We must realise that because of our follies a large number of our animals
are getting killed and we must stop this.”

Loud voice

The CWI is under no illusion about the importance of the Dalai Lama backing
the campaign.

“This campaign starts and ends with him,” said Dr Maas. “If it was just us
saying: ‘Oh please don’t do it’, I’m not sure it would do much good. But His
Holiness will make all the difference.”

Underpinning the whole campaign is the hope that, in the end, people all over
the world will want to save endangered species not because we can benefit from
them financially, but because it is wrong to kill them.

The Dalai Lama said: “Today more than ever before life must be characterised
by a sense of universal responsibility not only nation to nation and human to
human, but also human to other forms of life.”

[Author]

April 15, 2005 at 10:51 AM