As per the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which keeps records of tigers and leopards, there have been 141 cases of poaching, while 84 seizures have been made between 2012 and 2018, Prakash
The tiger cannot be preserved if we ignore the incentives to kill it
GURGAON/NEW DELHI: A complete tiger skeleton was recovered from a residential premises at Surat Nagar in Gurgaon on Monday afternoon following a combined raid by the Gurgaon police and officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau. A senior official of the Bureau said: "The raid was carried out following a tip-off from a non-government organisation working in the field of wildlife conservation. We raided the residence and found a complete tiger skeleton and traps used by poachers to capture wild animals in the forest. The skeleton weighs over 10 kg.'
July 7: In a joint operation between Haryana police and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, about 20 kg of suspected tiger bones have been seized in Suratnagar village near Pataudi in Haryana. Sources in the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau said the chances of these bones being of tigers is 99 per cent and they are fresh, which were preserved in salt. Officials also seized iron traps which are used to catch tigers by the poachers.
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), set up at the behest of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, is grappling with an acute shortage of staff with around 70 per cent of total posts yet to be filled. The Bureau, which set up last year by Environment Ministry, aimed to develop infrastructure and capacity building for scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes and assist State Governments to ensure success in prosecutions related to wildlife crime.
Efforts of Corbett National Park officials and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) have helped save lives of at least three tigers of the Corbett National Park. According to officials of ministry of environment and forest, the park authorities received some information about dubious movements of a person from Bawariya tribe in a particular area following which they informed the WCCB. The particular area is home to three tigers of the park, officials said, adding that the person had been detained and was now in the judicial custody.
If you thought Chandigarh was all about greens, here's a peek into its "wild, red' side.
Besides poaching, loss of habitat, toxins cause deaths It is not just India's national animal tiger which is in danger at the hands of poachers in the country. Officials figures suggest that the future of other animals in the wild - elephants, rhinos and critically-endangered gharials - is also not so safe despite efforts being put in by the Centre and state governments. Between December 2007 and February 2008, as many as 105 gharials have been reported dead. However, the reason for the decline in their numbers is attributed to possibility of nephro-toxin entering the food chain and loss of habitat due to illegal sand mining. Official records reveal that in the past three years, the number of poaching cases related to elephants has been steadily rising. During 2004-05, 18 elephants were poached, during 2005-06, the number of dead tuskers was 16 and in 2006-07, it increased up to 23. The 2007 Census said there are 18,663 elephants in the country, minus the Northeastern states. Similar has been the case with rhinos. As per the information released by the Assam Government, 18 rhinos were poached in 2007 and four rhinos have already fallen prey to the poachers' greed till date in 2008 in the Kaziranga National Park and adjacent areas in Assam. Regarding the critically endangered gharials, the MoEF said that as per the last Census in 2007, the number of gharials in National Chambal Sanctuary is 1457, Son Gharial Sanctuary 106, Ken Gharial Sanctuary 12 and Katerniaghat Sanctuary 70 to 80. About 105 gharials have been reported dead between December 2007 and February 2008. While no particular reason can be attributed to their mortality, the possibility of nephro-toxin entering via the food-chain cannot be ruled out, officials say, adding that another reason has been the loss of habitat due to illegal sand mining. The Central Government has taken several initiatives, including constitution of multidisciplinary Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau) comprising officers from the police, forest, customs and other enforcement agencies to effectively control illegal trade in wildlife. The government is also providing financial and technical assistance to state governments under the various Centrally sponsored schemes - Development of National Parks and Sanctuaries, Project Tiger and Project Elephant. State governments too claim to be taking measures, including increase in patrolling and coordination with other law enforcing agencies, which clearly are not enough. And it is not just poaching that wild animals are at risk with. As per information available, four tigers and 21 elephants were killed due to train and road accidents during the past three years in the 514 wildlife sanctuaries in the country.
The World Wildlife Fund today warned that Sikkim might become the next hub of international illegal wildlife through Nathu La border trade. Nathu La trade route is the shortest route to Tibet region of China, which has wooed the wildlife traders, WWF programme officer Dwaipayan Banerjee said highlighting on measures to check such trade through Indo-Nepal and Indo-China border. "If we don't act soon, Sikkim may be listed as the next hotspot of trans-border trade after Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal,' Banerjee said while addressing a gathering of forest officials, tour operators, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and eco-tourism societies here. "We need to realize that wildlife crime is slowly creeping in and take immediate steps to curb it,' State forest department Chief Wildlife Warden N T Bhutia said, adding that there was a need to tighten security near Nathu La border. Sikkim with a geographical area of only 0.2 per cent has 27 per cent of the nation's biodiversity and is listed in the ten most critical centres for bio-diversity and endemism as it shares border with Nepal, Bhutan and Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) of China.Nathu La border, where trade between Sikkim and TAR had started since 2006, is only 64 km away from here. Dongqingang, the nearest mart in TAR was mere half-an-hour distance from the international border. Conservator of Forests C Lanchungpa informed that medicinal plants of the state were being smuggled across the border in small volumes. "A big consignment of red sandalwood, meant for TAR, had been seized by Sikkim police on November 30 last year,' he said, adding that the State possesses almost 50 per cent of the butterfly species of the whole subcontinent with some being rare and endangered. He further said three French students were caught red-handed on July last year by state wildlife officers while they were catching butterflies and moths from a reserve forest in West Sikkim. "Various enforcement agencies and tour operators along with the locals need to come together to check the menace,' he added.
Karnataka might soon have a wildlife crime bureau on the lines of the National Wildlife Crime Bureau, which was set up on the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force. The threat to wildlife in the State is more from indigenous tribes than from outsiders. "We are convinced that the Hakki Pikki tribe is involved in the inter-state poaching racket in Karnataka forests. They have nexus with tribes in other states like the Bahelias in Madhya Pradesh and Pardis in Gujarat,' said Inspector General of Police (CID, Forest Cell) KSN Chikkerur.
