A Monkey Family Destabilised by a Discarded Plastic Bag Dumped in Forest Territory
A True Story
Based on a video bite in the beautiful Amrabad Forest Ghat Road
#intothewildwithrufus
It was a beautiful morning in the serene Amravad forest - the sylvan playground for a lovely family of rhesus monkeys, playing happily early in the morning, after the fresh spell of rains that had given a glow and shine to their animal kingdom.
Raju was the youngest of them all – very playful with such boundless energy on him.
His day was spent leaping happily through the trees and the shrubs - their sprawling and beautiful abode – their natural home.
The air was pleasantly humming with the symphony of the jungle – and here was playful little Raju, busy chasing his older brother, Jai, across the road, when, Little Raju stopped on his tracks! Something green and glistening arrested his attention.
It was a discarded green plastic bag thrown by a passing tourist into the forest.
Both Raju and Jai tried to explore this discarded plastic bag, and in an impulsive moment, Raju grabbed it, and along with Jai, started playing with it, running up and down the road that was crisscrossing its way through their abode – the forest!
Raju’s father and mother were quite puzzled by the plastic bag that had attracted their little one.
Raju for his part, was endlessly curious about this discarded plastic bag. It smelled quite odd, salty and sweet, unlike any fruit or leaf that he had ever tasted in all his life.
He kept poking it, then started experimenting with it, delighted by its light, glistening sheen.
Soon, all of Raju’s playmates joined in the fun as well - all those lovely creatures of the natural world - quite curious about this alien invader.
Suddenly, the youngest one started ingesting the plastic bag, mistaking it for nourishment. Slowly, his playmates also, for their part, started chewing off pieces from the plastic bag one after the other.
Very soon, before they
could realise the harmful effects of the discarded plastic bag on them, their
movements became weak, their eyes became clouded, and their stomachs became
bloated.
The lovely rhesus monkey family was shattered. They couldn’t bear to see their little ones being decimated right in front of their eyes.
The shimmering plastic bag thrown into the forest road, so carelessly by a human being, is a testament to the devastating impact of human indifference and carelessness.
It is a silent plea for their forest, their dwelling place, to be respected – not choked by the discarded waste and garbage of human indifference and apathy.
A heartbreaking reminder of our loyal forest guardians – the rhesus monkeys - losing their lives in large numbers and their happiness as well, to a sea of human waste.
Well, although the governments are taking the best possible efforts to collect garbage and plastic wastes from the forest roads, we too as responsible citizens of our country, have a great role to play!
“If you litter, the future will be bitter,” goes the adage.
Let’s together take a resolve to avoid plastics, especially when we are in the forests - the only remaining territory of the animal kingdom!
And the Video -
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