Poachers’ trail points towards Vidarbha

Tigers – Tigers Poachers

Source – TOI

Strategically located at the heart of the country, and within easy reach of at least five tiger reserves in two states, Nagpur has historically been a minor hub for illegal wildlife trade. But with the crackdown on organised wildlife crime in North India, alarm bells have begun to ring about potential increased poaching pressure in this region.
Consider the following:
– Poaching mastermind Sansar Chand told the CBI that he also sourced tiger skins from Tadoba tiger reserve.
– After UP, poachers were most active in Maharashtra with 23 tigers killed in the state over the past five years.
– There were 19 tiger seizures between 1999 and 2003 in the state, the fourth largest in the country.
– In 2000, the CBI busted two local poaching gangs near Nagpur with several tiger skins.
The Centre has issued an alert to increase patrolling in central India’s sanctuaries this monsoon, which is usually the poaching season. Chief conservator of forests (wildlife) S W Naqvi told TOI that tiger cells of police and forest officials are being formed in every district, meetings are being held at villages and ex-jawans hired to train additional patrol bands of locals in every tiger reserve. “Poaching exists but it is under control,’’ he claims.
Others are less sanguine. CBI officials feel that not enough is being done.”Our investigations have shown that the forest belt around Nagpur is a big source for the wildlife trade, and frankly, the protection is not very good,’’ said an official. “Every now and then there is a seizure, but there is no concerted effort to tackle the problem,’’ he added. The anti-poaching cell here, for example, is composed of just four people, the additional conservator of forests, a range forest officer, a guard and a driver. Unlike in UP, which has emerged in recent years as the centre of organised wildlife crime, the poaching in this region is largely unorganised, carried out by locals, often poor, disaffected tribals and in some cases traditional hunting tribes from MP. “Their wildlife knowledge is immense, far superior to anyone else. They know exactly where to find the tigers,’’ says Nitin Desai of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

Uneven Protection

A look at the distribution of Maharashtra’s tiger population shows just how vulnerable they are. The latest official estimates say there are 268 tigers in the state, but most of them are concentrated in Vidarbha, specifically in the forested border districts of Chandrapur, Amravati and Nagpur. These are some of the poorest, most backward regions, many parts of them troubled by Naxal violence. The biggest tiger populations are concentrated in three tiger reserves—Melghat, Tadoba-Andhari and Pench, which is contiguous with Pench National Park in MP. They have the biggest budgets, while the other sanctuaries are suffering from a resourcecrunch which is reflected in their falling tiger populations. In Nagzira sanctuary, for example, tiger numbers fell from 15 to 10 in the last five years.
Unlike the other states, the recruitment freeze on forest guards was lifted in Maharashtra two years ago, which has helped protect its parks and sanctuaries. Reserves like Melghat and Tadoba, for example, once had over 50% vacancy in posts but has since reduced to about 30%.
However, the average of the officers remains over 40. More worryingly, perhaps, is the fact that the best of park patrolling does nothing to help the onethird of the state’s tiger population which roam in the forests outside these protected areas.

The Numbers Game

Local officials cite tiger population trends as proof that Maharashtra is doing well. The estimates show a rise from 238 tigers in 2001 to 268 this year, and specifically a considerable increase in populations in Chandrapur and the two sanctuaries of Tadoba and Pench. “Even if the numbers are not accurate, they’re an indication that the population is stable,’’ notes Naqvi. The numbers are, however, under fire from conservationists who contend that the pugmark system of counting animals is flawed, prone to over-estimation. Tiger population estimates have become a numbers game, says tiger expert Valmik Thapar, who feels that Maharashtra’s reserves are now at risk. An expert recount of Ranthambore’s tigers, for example, turned up far fewer numbers than the official census.
The question of population should be answered in the future with a DNA fingerprinting exercise being proposed in the various reserves, but in the meantime, say conservationists, “artificially inflated figures’’ should not induce a false sense of security among state officials. After all, even if you go by official figures, Maharashtra’s tiger population is still less than two-thirds of what it was twenty years ago. “There’s no doubt that there has been a setback to Project Tiger after 1992,’’ says Naqvi, “but we’re doing the best we can.’’