World Wildlife Conservation Day

 

December 4th is celebrated every year as World Wildlife Conservation Day. The day is being marked as an important step towards conserving and protecting the decreasing numbers of wildlife species across the globe. Wildlife plays an important role in balancing the environment. This practice of conserving wildlife species along with their natural habitats is called Wildlife Conservation.

Why the need for this day arose?

Every year, innumerable wildlife species are being slaughtered or killed for fulfilling human greed. They are traded illegally to several locations and are kept in unhealthy conditions. Animal products like ivory, skin, horns, nails, etc. fetch enormous profit in the black market. Indiscriminate cutting of forests and clearing of lands causes habitat loss of wildlife species.

The day came into force from the sincere efforts of the then US secretary of state, Ms. Hillary Clinton on 8th November 2012 at ‘The Wildlife Trafficking and Conservation’ event. She quoted, “Wildlife cannot be manufactured. And once it’s gone, it cannot be replenished. Those who profit from it illegally are not just undermining our borders and our economies; they are truly stealing from the next generation”. The main organizations behind the establishment of this day are the US state department and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

International Cheetah Day

 

Every year on December 4th, International Cheetah Day encourages people worldwide to help this animal win the race against extinction.

The cheetah is well-known as the fastest animal on earth. This amazing animal can reach a top speed of 70 mph in just three seconds! At top speed, their stride spans 21 feet. The cheetah is a big, slender cat with long legs. Its short fur is yellowish-tan and covered in thousands of black spots. Most cheetahs have between 2,000 and 3,000 spots, which helps to camouflage themselves. The animal's name comes from the Hindi word, “chita,” which means “spotted one.” These big cats weigh anywhere from 46 to 158 pounds.

 

Abolition of Sati in 1829

On 4 December 1829, In the face of fierce local opposition, British Governor-General Lord William Bentinck issued a regulation declaring that anyone who abets sati in Bengal is guilty of culpable homicide.

Sati is a Hindu practice, now largely historical, in which a widow sacrifices herself by sitting atop her deceased husband's funeral pyre.

During the early-modern Mughal period of 1526–1857, it was notably associated with elite Hindu Rajput clans in western India, marking one of the points of divergence between Hindu Rajputs and the Muslim Mughals, who banned the practice. In the early 19th century, the British East India Company, in the process of extending its rule to most of India, initially tolerated the practice; William Carey, a British Christian evangelist, noted 438 incidents within a 30-mile (48-km) radius of the capital, Calcutta, in 1803, despite its ban within Calcutta. Between 1815 and 1818 the number of incidents of sati in Bengal doubled from 378 to 839. Opposition to the practice of sati by evangelists like Carey, and by Hindu reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, ultimately led the British Governor-General of India Lord William Bentinck to enact the Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, declaring the practice of burning or burying alive of Hindu widows to be punishable by the criminal courts.

Navy Day (India)

Navy Day in India is celebrated on 4 December every year to recognize the achievements and role of the Indian Navy to the country. 4 December was chosen as on that day in 1971, during Operation Trident, the Indian Navy sank four Pakistani vessels including PNS Khaibar, killing hundreds of Pakistani Navy personnel.