Gujarat Ke Gadhey!

Netaas May Call These Animals ‘Gadheda’ (Donkey), but for Me, They Are ‘Ghudkhar’ (Wild Ass), Says a Guard at the Wild Ass Sanctuary in Surendranagar. 
 

- Maharaaj K. Koul

In the third week of February, during the Uttar Pradesh electioneering, the Indian Wild Ass of Gujarat found itself at the centre of a political fight far away from its home in the Little Rann of Kutch. Tipu Akhilesh Yadav poked fun saying: “There’s an add on TV which shows donkeys. I appeal to the century’s biggest star (Amitabh Bachchan) ….. please stop endorsing donkeys of Gujarat.” He told people present in his rally to be wary of the donkey’s exaggerated abilities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned the jibe around later at another rally at Bahraich, saying he “worked for the people day and night” like the inspiring donkey. Seeing the outcome of the UP Assembly elections, it seems the donkey has the last laugh!

The royal beast (Asiatic lion) and the beast of burden (Asiatic wild ass) are among the very few unique gifts of Nature that India can still boast of. Coincidentally, both of them are found in Gujarat only. And, though there is no threat of extinction for the king of the jungle as yet, the Asiatic wild ass is an endangered species. It has been, however, a tragedy that the beasts never were in the limelight and, whenever the focus was on Gujarat’s wildlife, the lions of Gir Wildlife sanctuary hogged it all, never giving an inch to the wild ass.

The Gujarat government, through a notification in 1972, declared a 4,953.70sq km area in the Little Rann of Kutch a sanctuary with a view to protect the wild ass. The Rann of Kutch is a unique ecosystem in the world and the only place where wild asses are found. And, there are only about 3,000 of these animals remaining as per the last official census. Here is a definite possibility of these unique animals getting extinct in the next decade if the present rate of decline in their number continues unchecked. Besides wild ass, the animal population in the sanctuary includes caracal, wolf and chinkara.