Wildlife Dept on high alert

The Pioneer , Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Correspondent : Rajendra S Markuna | Haldwani

The State wildlife department is on high alert following apprehension that there would be an increase in poaching, particularly endangered species like tigers, during the monsoon season. For this the department would launch ‘Operation Monsoon’ from July 1 to October 30.

With the neighbouring China celebrating 'tiger year' this year (in which products of tiger are reportedly used), possibilities of poaching of the endangered species have grown manifold.

Moreover the ongoing rainy season has made the highly guarded CTR more vulnerable to endangered species, said park sources.

“Though there is no specific threat from any quarter, we won’t wish to lower our guard while repositioning our patrolling network,” UC Tiwari, SDO, CTR, told The Pioneer.

As China is celebrating ‘tiger year’ it is likely that poaching bids may go up even in this part of the world as products made of tiger parts are used in this celebration. So we are not taking any chance, he said.

At the same time Tiwari added that since during monsoon season things would turn out to be unfavorable to us due to adverse weather conditions, it becomes more challenging and an arduous job for us to ensure proper vigil at all the sensitive locations of the CTR.

Since movements inside the protected areas remain restricted we have to redesign our protection campaign by employing minimum external interventions. So apart from mobilising our existing manpower, ie, about 400 foresters, we would also hire the services of seven elephants owned by the department to reach out to inaccessible areas of the park. Use of giant animals like elephant comes in handy for the foresters, particularly when they have to reach very inaccessible and tough terrains in the thick forests. Besides, we may have nearly three dozen foresters engaged in border patrolling, Tiwari said.

Apart from use of traditional means of patrolling, the CTR would also use modern gadgets in maintaining high vigil. “Our entire patrolling campaign would be global positioning system based. The use of GPS, though not knew us as we have been using it for some years, comes as a very valuable means of surveillance. It not only helps in ensuring proper deployment of the limited resources inside the park but also to find out any suspected movements,” Tiwari added.

 
SOURCE : http://www.dailypioneer.com/266244/Wildlife-Dept-on-high-alert.html
 


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