GANDHINAGAR: The two successive incidents of poaching inside the Gir wildlife sanctuary, which left five lions and a cub dead, point towards the use of pesticide for the act.
"Lion skins recovered after the poaching on March 3 did not have any marks. Forensic analysis of other body parts also show that the animals were poisoned with some form of insecticide," said a CID official.
How were these lions killed? Forensic investigators say that it was a painful and horrifying death for the big cats. "The poachers are most likely to have fed the lions with meat injected with some insecticide. In the past too, such cases have been detected," said sources.
Consumption of meat laced with insecticide kills an animal slowly and painfully - often taking six to seven hours. It makes the animals thirsty and sets them wandering on a hunt for the nearest source of water.
In the poaching that took place on March 3, the culprits had waited for the animals to collapse at different places and then rounded them up with help of their vehicle.
"The poachers had a free run inside the sanctuary for more than seven hours which raises doubts on the security arrangements," said a police official.
But even that could not prevent the second poaching, barely seven kms from the earlier scene of crime. "During a search operation conducted jointly by the CID, police and forest department on March 29, some bones and body parts of lions were recovered near Jhakhiya village of Babariya range in west Gir," said inspector general of police, Junagadh range, Mohan Jha.
Once again, investigators believe poisoning as the cause of death. They added that there is definitely a local hand in the poaching. "Involvement of some forest officials entrusted with the security of the sanctuary also cannot be ruled out," they said.
These two cases of poison-poaching are only a few of many. In 2005, five Asiatic lions were found dead inside the sanctuary, of which at least three were suspected to have died of poisoning.
Following an enquiry, three persons were arrested from the Dalkhania range. Forest officials had instead cited it an act of vengeance by local residents who had poisoned the lions because of frequent attacks on their cattle.
