Eye on the tiger: Poachers targeting national parks
By Express News Service - MYSORE
Published: 04th November 2013 10:36 AM
The
arrest of four poachers hailing from Orissa in the Palar range on the
Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border and one from Bandipur National Park
recently has put the Forest Department and wildlife activists on alert.
Snare traps, which the poachers planned to lay in the dense jungle to
trap the big cats, were seized from them.
The threat against
wildlife has increased in recent years as Karnataka has a population of
about 300 tigers, of which 200 are in Bandipur and Nagarhole national
parks alone. There are more than 38 tigers in Biligiri Ranaganathaswamy
Wildlife Sanctuary apart from 4,000 elephants, chital, sambhars,
chousinghas, gaurs, wild pigs, leopards and dhole in a 1,500 sqkm area.
The
Male Mahadeshwara forest range across the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border
was brought under the Cauvery Wild Life Sanctuary and it has since
become a target for poachers as all the four assailants were arrested
from Palar.
Four other poachers managed to escape, which poses a major challenge to the forest departments in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
According
to sources, the four Shobhapura villagers, from Orissa, had entered and
surveyed M M Hills forest range after which they had laid a series of
snares in Nale Gadde, 30 metres from the banks of the Cauvery near
Palar. Forest Department officials are in touch with officials of the
wildlife crime control bureau records, to know the history of some of
the arrested people and the cases against them in other States.
The
accused had also dug a small pit, kept food and covered it with foliage
to trap animals. Forest officials, acting on a tip, seized salt and
turmeric powder from the poachers. These items would be used to
preserve the skin of the animals after poaching.
Sources said
investigative agencies are also looking into the possibility of local
brick factory owners employing them and giving them the additional
assignment of poaching.
Members of the Tamil Nadu Wildlife Board visited the spot and took stock of the situation.
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