We live in a world today that thinks nothing of decimating all of nature. I grew up in the India of the 1930s and early 40s. Dense forests covered 80 percent of the country. It teemed with wildlife of every kind, rivaling better known Africa’s.

When the Mogul emperors ruled India until 1857, unrestricted hunting almost made India’s wildlife extinct. Then, in 1920, a new Indian Forest Service under England’s guiding hand, introduced strict game laws to protect wildlife and natural habitat.

Game of all kinds increased. That continued to the point where strictly limited hunting licenses could be sold, to help pay for Forest Service personnel.

A vital ingredient in the mix of wildlife, human, and habitat interaction was the need to restrict cutting trees and clearing protective underbrush to build villages for jungle dwelling tribesmen. Control of space where man could live, and game hunted, under strict hunting laws, provided a healthy mix for all life in India. Superbly so.

Today, only some 10% of the original forests remain. Wildlife has mostly disappeared, except in game parks. A haven, not so much for wildlife but for poachers. Revenues that paid for protecting wildlife and natural habitat? Gone.

When we hunted, the laws were enforced. The number and species of game animals shot under license was strictly limited. Balance between hoofed game and predators was maintained by Divisional Forest Officers, Range Officers, Forest Guards. All of which has nearly disappeared.

We now live mostly in a false artificial world. Wildlife and natural habitat have increasingly become the forgotten victims of drastic change and war. I tried very hard to help save India’s wildlife. The odds were heavily stacked against me. I also tried to help—in a smaller way—Iran’s wildlife. I put my life on the line, working for peace, after serving close to five years in World War II in the Indian (not British) Army. I happen to be English.

What has WNY Mind done for peace and the preservation of wildlife?

This is about as sad as the guys in GA who killed Bigfoot and stuck him in a freezer.