Dehradun: In a significant move to tackle smuggling of gall bladders of bears — which are used in many Chinese aphrodisiac drugs — across the porous Indo-China border, Indo-Nepal forest officials and scientists in a workshop at Pithoragarh decided to work in tandem and make the divisional forest official's office at Baithani in Nepal, which are close to Pithoragarh, as focal centre for sharing information on poachers.
In addition, it was decided that the 10-year financial management plan of the functioning of Askot Wildlife Sanctuary of Uttarakhand will now be the same as the Api Nampa Conservation area of Nepal. Both these sanctuaries are separated by the Kali Nadi river.
DVS Khati, chief wildlife warden, said, "Pithoragarh shares a border with China and Nepal. This proximity leads to illegal trade of gall bladders of bears which are supplied to Chinese wild animals' organs market through Nepal. Hence there is a dire need to check the movement of poachers across the porous Indo-Nepal border. The forest officials and scientists in the two-days workshop at Pithoragarh agreed to exchange and share information about the wildlife criminals' through dossier and intelligence network of forest divisions close to Pithoragarh on both sides."
RC Sharma, divisional forest official of the Pithoragarh forest division, said it has become necessary to create a data base of the wild animals killed, location of the poachers in those cases, the profile of poachers and smugglers to tighten the security across the border. In the wake of poverty, he said, local people are indulging in illegal trade of wildlife organs to make easy money.
A 10-year management plan has to be prepared for every reserve forest to get funds and apprise successor officials about the works being done and to be done in long term in that forest. Khati said as the same forest of India and Nepal has been divided by Kali river near Pithoragarh, so it was decided that a common approach through mutual deliberation in the form of similar management will be devised and implemented in the Askot Widllife Sanctuary in Pithoragarh and Api Nampa Conservation Area of Nepal.
Dhananjai Mohan, chief conservator of forests, shed light on other aspect of human-animal conflict. "The man-wild animal conflict exists even in Pithoragarh like many other forest areas of the state. However quite interestingly no one talks about the death of livestock caused by deadly ailments such as 'foot and mouth' disease which claims lives of several livestock every year in Pithoragarh alone but if the the livestock is killed by leopards, the matter is highlighted for the glamorous quotient attached to that."
