Farmers allege hunting of spotted deer near city

The Times of India , Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Correspondent : A Subburaj
COIMBATORE: Kothapalayam village, located along the border of Coimbatore and Tirupur, looks much like any other agrarian village of the region, but for the dozens of spotted deer grazing by the fields.

However, these animals, close to 700 in all, are increasingly under threat from poachers say villagers. Unidentified men enter the village in the dark of the night, they allege and hunt down deer which end up as delicacies in distant farm houses.

In 2010, three poachers were caught red-handed with a country rifle. Soon after this incident, senior revenue and forest officials visited the village and two forest personnel were deployed to patrol the area round-the-clock. But as the vigil was relaxed over time, poachers seem to have resurfaced.

"In the past five years, we have been seeing a drastic reduction in the deer population inhabiting the area,'' said one resident. The villagers allege that at least one deer is being hunted by poachers every month. "We sometimes hear gun shots at night. Before we rush to the spot, the poachers would have fled,'' he added. Forest officials said they do receive information about poachers, but have not received any concrete evidence to nail anyone.

Till about four decades ago, Kothapalayam neither had forests nor wild life population. "In the 1970s, there was heavy flooding in the Vannathangarai stream abutting the village. That's when a few deer from upstream Kurudimalai were washed away in the flood. Others managed to get ashore to Kothapalayam and multiplied over years,'' said S Palanisamy, president, Tamil Nadu Farmers' Association, Coimbatore, a native of Kothapalayam.

Tirupur superintendent of police, Amit Kumar Singh, said that a police team would be sent to Kothapalayam to probe the poaching incidents. "We will take stringent action against poachers," said Amit Singh. A Ponnusamy said he had to fence his farm to prevent deer from damaging his crops. P Shanthi, a woman farmer who has cultivated maize said she could not prevent deer from damaging her crop. But forest officials have ruled out relocating the deer. "Deer are very sensitive beasts. It is impossible to move them from one place to other without endangering them," said Dhanraj, Tirupur district forest officer.

Coimbatore district collector Archana Patnaik said that she has asked district forest officials to conduct a detailed study and suggest measures to protect the deer.

 
SOURCE : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Farmers-allege-hunting-of-spotted-deer-near-city/articleshow/45544455.cms
 


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