Anti-Poaching Lesson for CTA Officials
Dharamshala 9 May 2005: “As Buddhists, Tibetans can practically play a great role in the protection of animals and creating awareness about it,” said Dr. Barbara Maas, Chief Executive Officer, Care for the Wild International (CWI).
officials listen to Maas |
Maas was speaking yesterday to the representatives and welfares officers of the various Tibetan settlements and other officials of the Central Tibetan Administration on ‘the Role of the Tibetans: International Endangered Species Protection’. Organised jointly by the Environment and Development Desk of the Department of Information and International Relations and Tesi Environmental Awareness Movement (TEAM), a non-governmental organisation based in Dharamshala, the talk was aimed at creating awareness about the importance of protecting animals from cruelty.
She said that there are alternatives to those medicines which require killing animals and that humans should go for those treatments which do not require animal organs.
Emphasising her point by citing example she said that the Tibetans can live without wearing hats made from wolf skin but the wolves can not do so without their skin.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama was invited recently at a function in New Delhi by CWI and the Wildlife Trust of India to launch a campaign against poaching and killing of animals.
“Through ignorance, greed and lack of respect for the earth, the world’s growing human population has already rendered many of the earth’s natural resources incapable of sustaining Nature’s rich diversity,” His Holiness said.
His Holiness said that 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.
Maas believes that wild animals cannot protect themselves against violent interference of humans, but whether human beings exploit their defencelessness is their choice.
“It is my sincere hope that this will save and improve many lives, which lie in the hands of the Tibetan people who are known around the world for their commitment to non-violence and compassion.”