5^th March 2010. One of the most unforgettable days of my life. When I was on a holiday to the Marvel called Kerala. On this particular day, I had been to Wayanad Sanctuary which is bestowed with lush green forests and rich wildlife. It houses some of the rare and endangered species of flora and fauna. It has been a great experience being in the arms of Mother Nature with serene beauty all around. It was an informative tour with a number of unknown facts about our siblings of Darwinian dynasty; the King Cobra, Chital, Hornbill and some endemic varieties of dragon flies. This triggered my curiosity levels as to what exactly is happening with the other life forms around me. In this journey, I happened to meet a person working selflessly for these voiceless creatures that cannot express.

If there is a loss of treasure, people would get in a tizz but who really cares for the rich treasure chest of the world being looted by its own inhabitants? Selfishness and desire of human is the main cause of animal losing the habitat and it may make them lose the ability to survive as a result of lack of food and water. Agriculture, Housing, Roads, Industrial development and so on are the human activities that caused habitat loss of animals and the International Union for Conservation of Nature Resources (IUCN) estimated that 85% of animal extinction is caused by human activity. Natural phenomenon such as climate change, rise of sea level, fire, flood and so on will also lead to habitat loss. In addition, illegal hunting by human will also lead to extinction of animals. As quoted by Derrick Jensen, "No matter what we call it, poison is still poison, death is still death, and industrial civilization is still causing the greatest mass extinction in the history of the planet." Thus, it means that the main reason of the animal extinction is due to human beings themselves.

How many of us would really give a tinker’s cuss to a hurt animal lying around us or an earth mate being treated cruelly? In this fast-paced life, when we are burying our own friends and family, animal lovers are a special breed of humans, generous of spirit, full of empathy, perhaps a little prone to sentimentality and with hearts as big as cloudless sky. A paradigm to the above phrase is Mahesh Agarwal who works for the well-being of animals. He has moved out of his job as a news reporter and has devoted his life for extending the circle of compassion to all the living beings. He says he has faced a lot of opposition from the society in the form of life threats as well, but nothing could ever seize his mission filled with empathy. He holds a number of posts in this particular field - President of Telangana Goshala Federation, President of Andhra Pradesh Goshala Federation, Special Police Officer(PCA Act) Govt. of AP and many more. He started the Sahayog Organisation with a set of likeminded people. It mainly focuses on preserving the wildlife which is the rich heritage of India. He says, “When we initiated this, we could recover rare species from every nook and corner of the city. But presently there are hardly any of them left in and around Hyderabad. The numbers have fallen off drastically.” The illegal activities like hunting and poaching have led to these ramifications. Also that some of the religious practices involve animal sacrifices which have become common in practice.

“We carried out a noble campaign to create awareness among people by spreading pamphlets and also encouraged them to replace the practice of shedding animal blood with donating their blood for the needy. I’m proud to say that the response has been great and we were successful in bringing a change.”

Many a times people tend to take care of cows but abandon the oxen. On encountering this difficulty very often, he opened a shelter house for bulls and oxen where presently we have a huge number of these animals being taken care of. The beliefs of people and also their unthoughtful fun-filled celebrations lead to the departure of these species from the globe. The religious practices during Nag Panchami cause unrestorable damage to the snakes. During the season of Pongal, when the city is engrossed in the joyous shrieks of flying kites, a number of tiny birds take their last flight of death. Not to forget the Festival of lights- Diwali brings happiness and lusture into your life takes away the lives of tender creatures into tenebrosity.

We, Homo Sapiens have arrived and marked out territory well. Bulge-headed paragons of organic revolution, industrious bipedal apes with opposable thumbs, we are chipping away the miracles around us. Being distracted and self-absorbed, as is our nature, we have not fully understood what we are doing, but future generations, with endless time to reflect, will understand it all, and in painful detail. There will be thousands of endemic species to think about in the centuries and millennia to come.
The only solution to this could be the change in the mindset of people. From these scattered unconnected facts and elusive emotions that break through the surface of the subconscious mind, let us take a step forward to donate a life to our fellow beings. Not just Mahesh but every individual can play his part to make our planet a Happy Home.