By Dr. K. Javeed Nayeem, MD
The humble house sparrow may only be a very tiny speck in our environment but it has remained a very integral part of man’s existence over the years. And, like the faithful dog it may perhaps have moved with man in his evolution from being a forest denizen to becoming a town dweller. But I am sure that you’ll all agree that of late all of us city and town dwellers have been noticing that the once common sparrows have become so scarce that we hardly see them around our homes now. There was a time until not very long ago when sparrows were the commonest birds in and around our houses in every one of our towns and cities. In fact, the sparrow was undoubtedly the first bird pointed out to any crying infant by its mother to distract it from its pain or distress! But today, to see a sparrow you have to step into the distant countryside or into an old fashioned village. This is the scenario not just in our country but almost all over the world. Most of us may feel that there is nothing very great in these tiny creatures missing from our midst but things are not as simple as they seem. Scientists tell us that there is a very close link between all living beings on our planet with their lives being so closely intertwined that the extinction of one species can have very far reaching effects on many others. It has been estimated that the population and diversity of insects like honey bees is steadily dwindling all over the world, perhaps due to the widespread and excessive use of pesticides and chemicals in farming. And, scientists say that honey bees are so necessary for the pollination of farm crops that if just this one agent becomes extinct for some reason, the entire human race will get wiped out from the face of this earth!
