Chandrapur's farmlands have been afflicted with boars grazing on the crops. While their vermin status remains unofficial, poachers have continued killing these animals for personal gains. On Wednesday evening, three poachers were arrested for shooting boars in Talodhi range at Chimur Tehsil. Forest officials are concerned over such events as these shootings took place in a wildlife corridor where no animal, irrespective of its status, is hunted down.
"Out of the three arrested, one shot the boars while the other two were consumers.We have recovered one carcass," informed A H Sontakke, range forest officer from Talodhi range.
Nitin Desai, director of central India, Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), an organisation (founded by Belinda Wright) working for nature conservation, informed that the arrested poachers had killed four wild boars in anight. While three of them were caught, other three are absconding. Cops were informed by WPSI about the poaching.
"The main culprit — Kanhaiya Singh Bhond — is a history-sheeter. He was previously caught with a leopard skin back in 2004 and is ahabitual poacher," Desai informed.
Boar meat sells for extremely low rates as compared chicken and mutton. Sold at Rs 30- 40 per kg, the pig that weighs 60-70 kg on average, earns the poachers anything Rs 7,000.
Chandrapur's forest division had recently come under fire for culling of wild boars with the help of shooter NawabShafath Ali Khan at various ranges. Their statistics show a rise in population of boars and subsequent man-animal conflict as these boars consume the crop. The department's stance had received a mixed reaction from activists.
"We cull animals scientifically. Wild boars have not yet been declared as vermin that anybody can shoot. Moreover, the area where poaching happened was a part of the wildlife corridor from where the animal's predator pass. We do not cull any animal here ," informed Sanjay Thakre, chief conservator of forests, Chandrapur division. Environmentalists, however say, both these issues — poaching of wildlife and culling — are different and should be handled differently.
"Illegal poaching is an offence already covered under the Wildlife Protection Act and needs to be dealt with by taking legal action. Culling is different from poaching," said BanduDhotre, honorary wildlife warden of Chandrapur district. Adding to this, Suresh Chopane, yet another environmentalist from Chandrapur said, "Some people are already killing wild boars with crude local bombs. The forest department, too, was not paying much attention. However, this action is welcome."
