· Organised gangs of small-timers on the prowl

· Resource crunch hits Forest Department

· Many vacancies exist at the field level

MYSORE: The arrest of six persons suspected to be involved in poaching near Nagarahole has strengthened the case for setting up more anti-poaching camps in the Bandipur and Nagarahole national parks.

It also underlines the growing menace of organised gangs of small-time poachers who have raised their head and feel free to roam in the forests after the death of Veerappan last year.

The arrest of six persons comes close on the heels of a series of similar attempts by organised gangs, some of whom had connections with gangs in and around Katni in Madhya Pradesh.

Jaw traps

The use of jaw traps — a Central Indian hunting trait — to maim and kill animals, which was accidentally unearthed while combing the forests a few years ago, has confirmed the worst fears of wildlife activists that the forests of South interior Karnataka has come under the scrutiny of the mafia.

The recent seizure of wildlife derivatives, including skins of exotic animals near Kollegal and the violence at Gundathur near H.D. Kote adjoining Nagarahole in which the Forest Department incurred the wrath of local villagers for confronting a gang suspected to be involved in timber smuggling, are all indicators that the wildlife and forest cover are in danger of being wiped out unless protection measures are reinforced and anti-poaching camps strengthened.

In the wake of the disaster at Sariska where poachers have decimated the entire tiger population, and the growing regularity with which

Police and the Forest Department officials are stumbling across poaching cases in and around the national parks make it imperative to strengthen anti-poaching camps.

It is pertinent to recall that two persons allegedly involved in elephant poaching surrendered before the Forest Department staff in Kollegal Division. The two had reportedly shot dead an adult tusker on September 29, 2005, within the Kallipura village limits.

The elephant was shot using a powerful muzzle-loading gun and the bullet had pierced its right temple when the pachyderm was quenching its thirst at a pond.

Resource crunch

But despite the growing menace and the inherent threat to species such as tigers and elephants in the national parks, the Forest Department is faced with a resource crunch on the one hand and inadequate staff on the other.

As a result, even fuel for patrol vehicles is being bought on long-term credit, and some of the staff members have not received their salaries for the past few months. Officials in the Forest Department told The Hindu that the resource crunch is owing to the procedural delay, and can be offset through fiscal management. But it is impossible to ensure protection of the forests if the staff strength is not increased.

Vacancy

The vacancy at the field level is as high as 50 per cent and even those who are posted for anti-poaching duty are either elderly persons on the verge of retirement or those with frail health and afflicted by old-age disorders, which renders them unfit for the rigours of forest protection work. The average age of forest guards is reckoned to be more than 50 years when youngsters should have been protecting the forests, according to the officials.

Both Bandipur and Nagarahole forests together have 55 anti-poaching camps and are prime habitat for flagship species such as tigers and elephants.

Bandipur was among the first nine national parks brought under Project Tiger in 1973 and is spread over 880 sq.km. Project Tiger was extended to Nagarahole owing to the high density of elephants, gaurs, sambars, chital or spotted deer, mouse deer, four-horned antelope, wild pig, grey langur, big cats such as tigers and leopards, wild dogs or dholes, striped hyena, Indian civet and pangolin, in addition to over 300 species of birds. This took the combined forest area to over 1500 sq.km. over the years. But the number of field staff has declined.