CBI to probe rising rhino poaching cases in Assam

The Hindu , Sunday, May 04, 2008
Correspondent : Aarti Dhar and Sushanta Talukdar
WWF says enforcement efforts are no longer a sufficient deterrent

Altogether 76 rhinos killed by poachers since 2001

Poaching cartels have become more organised

NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI: Even as the World Wide Fund for Nature-India expressed concern over recent incidents of rhino poaching in Assam and Nepal, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday announced the State’s decision to entrust cases relating to such recent instances at the Kaziranga National Park and elsewhere in the State to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Five rhinos were killed by poachers in Assam and one was killed in Nepal over the past week. Three of the five cases were at the Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park, and two at the KNP.

In Kaziranga, as per official records, 16 rhinos were lost in 2007 to poachers and another four this year till February 2008, according to WWF-India. In Nepal, five were lost since January.

The recent incidents suggest that poachers are taking advantage of the gaps in enforcement at the field level, becoming bolder and shooting animals in the vicinity of park camps and villages. WWF concludes from the pattern that enforcement efforts are no longer a sufficient deterrent and that the profits from the illegal trade are high enough to risk such an approach.

Reports confirm that poachers are coming from outside Assam. The intelligence network available with Protected Area managers to pre-empt poaching is now either non-existent or seems to have a hit a wall largely due to the inter-State and international nature of the trade. At the same time, poaching cartels have closed ranks and have become more organised to form an international syndicate. The WWF has urged the Assam government to check the organised gangs by strengthening the intelligence network to pre-empt poaching.

The Forest Department’ infrastructure must be augmented and additional forest guards recruited. Until that is done, the ground forces should be augmented by the deployment of additional Special Armed Police personnel and paramilitary forces. They should work under the unified command of the Protected Area Directors, the WWF said.

The support of the local community is critical to ensure conservation efforts, the WWF added.

Assam’s decision

In Guwahati, Mr. Gogoi said the decision to hand over the investigation of the cases to the CBI was taken in view of the frequency of the killing. The government viewed the recent poaching incidents at the KNP and other places seriously, said an official release.

The State government put the number of rhinos killed by poachers since January in the KNP at six. The Forest Department recovered on Monday the carcass of a full-grown female and its calf in the Agartaloi range of the KNP, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The rhino had a bullet mark; forest officials said a tiger killed the calf. The poachers had removed the horn.

During the preceding week, poachers killed two rhinos in Orang. The latest round of poaching prompted the State government to transfer KNP Divisional Forest Officer Bankim Sarma and constitute a nine-member committee to suggest measures to check poaching.

Altogether 76 rhinos were killed by poachers in the State since 2001, with the KNP accounting for 55 of them. During this period, 143 poachers were arrested and 20 were killed in encounters with Forest Guards.

Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain, who had requested the Chief Minister to hand over the matter of rhino poaching to the CBI, welcomed the decision.

The demand for a CBI probe was raised by the All-Assam Students’ Union. The student body, which put the blame for the rise in cases of rhino poaching on the State Forest Minister, has called for an agitation to protest against the alleged failure of the Minister and the Forest Department to protect rhinos.

 
SOURCE : The Hindu, Sunday, May 04, 2008
 


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