The Madhya Pradesh Wildlife Special Task Force has arrested around 200 poachers this year who were involved in the killing of tigers and pangolins and trading in their parts. Yet the unnatural deaths of precious wildlife is not stopping. On December 21, the poaching of tigress T521 inside the Panna Tiger Reserve near the Gehrighat area took the toll of tigers killed this year up to 26.
The incident came barely a week after two tigers were poached in the Shahdol-Umaria region of Madhya Pradesh.
However, the biggest surprise is the incident in Panna, which was in the eye of storm few years back when the entire population of tigers vanished. The then director and principal secretary (forest) had asked for a CBI inquiry into the whole incident.
Once called the tiger state, Madhya Pradesh is home to over 20 per cent of the tiger population in India. It has around 308 tigers as per the 2014 Wildlife Census. The state also has the highest number of tiger reserves in India at six—Panna, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Satpura, Pench and Sanjay Gandhi National Park.
The state is also a hub for poachers who regularly exploit the wildlife in the region with a deep and entrenched network around the protected forest areas. Ritesh Sirothia, a senior officer with the Wildlife STF, said, “We have identified people in this trade and have nabbed hundreds of them. We are sure to catch the culprits of these incidents who are constantly evolving new ways due to pressure from the forest department.”
Nomadic tribes like the Pardis, Bhelias and Bawarias are primarily involved in the trade but with recent growth in the business of new species, many educated people are also getting involved, said a wildlife officer. The trade is now going online, but the poaching continues with the poor and uneducated people living around the forest areas.
The Wildlife STF, after the poaching of four tigers in the Shahdol-Umaria region, arrested 10 local residents for their involvement in the poaching where electrocuted traps were used by the poachers.
The kingpin of the racket, Suraj Raghuvanshi, too was arrested. On the other hand, two deputy rangers and two beat guards were suspended for dereliction of duty.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey says, “The whole story of poaching is a case of the apathetic attitude of forest officers; the government has made wildlife a low-priority area and that is being used as an advantage by poachers.”
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which monitors tiger conservation in the country, has shot off a letter to the state forest department on the sudden increase of tiger deaths in the state. So far, 26 tigers deaths have been reported from various protected areas in Madhya Pradesh.
Dubey says, “The most shocking was the death of three tigers and a cub within a span of less than 45 days last month.”
He said until natural corridors for tigers are erected and a special tiger protection force like the one existing in Karnataka is formed, such cases will be bound to happen when tigers stray out of their natural habitat and are killed by poachers.
