63 leopard & 3 tiger hides seized in past 3 yrs: Min | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: In the past three years, as many as 63 hides of leopards and 3 of Royal Bengal Tigers have been seized by forest department and other agencies in the state, forest minister Ganesh Ram Singkhuntia informed the assembly on Tuesday.
In the same period, the forest department recorded the poaching of 12 leopards and two tigers, the minister said in a written reply to a question from Baliguda MLA Chakramani Kanhar. Leopards mostly died due to electrocution traps laid by poachers to kill wild boar, officials said.
The MLA wanted to know whether the number of tigers and elephants has decreased in the past three years due to poaching. He questioned what steps the govt has taken under the new wildlife protection policy.
“In the last three years, poachers killed two male tigers and 12 female leopards in the state. Skins of at least six tigers and 63 leopards have been seized. The govt has implemented wildlife protection measures and anti-poaching strategies. Monitoring of wildlife and poaching activities through the use of advanced knowledge and skills is ongoing,” the minister said.
Singkhuntia said the forest department has formed poaching and elephant tracking squads and has made provision to reward for sharing information on poachers. “The department is developing meadows to create more grazing space for prey animals besides having regular brainstorming on how to check human-animal conflict,” he further said.
Regarding elephants, the minister said out of the total 291 elephants in Dhenkanal division, 41 died in the last three years. “Last year’s elephant census revealed that the state has 2,103 elephants in 38 forest divisions.”
Govt data revealed that two tigers, which died in the past two years, were melanistic. One was killed by a poacher while another died due to infighting in Similipal. Officials said leopards mostly were electrocuted by live wire traps laid by poachers to kill wild boar. Very few cases of leopard killing for hides have been reported.
Leopard deaths have been reported in forests of Mahanadi wildlife division, Ghumusar (South), Khurda, Sundargarh, Athgarh, Athmallik, Similipal (South), Dhenkanal, Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary, Subarnapur territorial division, and Karanjia and Khariar divisions. Death of animals (other than herbivores) has been rising since 2014, data revealed.
In the same period, the forest department recorded the poaching of 12 leopards and two tigers, the minister said in a written reply to a question from Baliguda MLA Chakramani Kanhar. Leopards mostly died due to electrocution traps laid by poachers to kill wild boar, officials said.
The MLA wanted to know whether the number of tigers and elephants has decreased in the past three years due to poaching. He questioned what steps the govt has taken under the new wildlife protection policy.
“In the last three years, poachers killed two male tigers and 12 female leopards in the state. Skins of at least six tigers and 63 leopards have been seized. The govt has implemented wildlife protection measures and anti-poaching strategies. Monitoring of wildlife and poaching activities through the use of advanced knowledge and skills is ongoing,” the minister said.
Singkhuntia said the forest department has formed poaching and elephant tracking squads and has made provision to reward for sharing information on poachers. “The department is developing meadows to create more grazing space for prey animals besides having regular brainstorming on how to check human-animal conflict,” he further said.
Regarding elephants, the minister said out of the total 291 elephants in Dhenkanal division, 41 died in the last three years. “Last year’s elephant census revealed that the state has 2,103 elephants in 38 forest divisions.”
Govt data revealed that two tigers, which died in the past two years, were melanistic. One was killed by a poacher while another died due to infighting in Similipal. Officials said leopards mostly were electrocuted by live wire traps laid by poachers to kill wild boar. Very few cases of leopard killing for hides have been reported.
Leopard deaths have been reported in forests of Mahanadi wildlife division, Ghumusar (South), Khurda, Sundargarh, Athgarh, Athmallik, Similipal (South), Dhenkanal, Satkosia Wildlife Sanctuary, Subarnapur territorial division, and Karanjia and Khariar divisions. Death of animals (other than herbivores) has been rising since 2014, data revealed.
