Twitter
Advertisement

Maharashtra: Three tigers, one leopard fell prey to Bhandara racket

Investigators have arrested 12 people so far, including three people who had purchased a tiger nail each from the poachers.

Latest News
article-main
File photo of six poachers arrested by the forest department at Tumsar
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The tiger poaching racket unearthed by the state forest department at Bhandara in Vidarbha, may have deep roots in the region, with at least three tigers and a leopard being killed. Forest officials said the body parts of the tigers like nails were sold to people for occult practices.

Investigators have arrested 12 people so far, including three people who had purchased a tiger nail each from the poachers.

"Prima facie, it seems that at least three tigers and one leopard, have been poached. The count may rise as we investigate further. Spot verifications are tough due to heavy rains. However, it seems that the animals were electrocuted using live wires," a senior forest department official told DNA. He said that while one tiger was killed in 2015, two tigers were poached earlier this year.

The carnivores were killed around Bhandara, which has a resident population of eight tigers and serves as a corridor for these animals between the Pench and Kanha tiger projects via Balaghat.

On Saturday, the department had arrested six poachers and recovered 22 tiger nails and paws, two nails of a leopard, part of tiger skin, seven chital horns and raw and cooked wild boar meat. On Tuesday and Wednesday, officials made five more arrests, including three individuals, who purchased a tiger nail each from the poachers. "These people seem to have bought the tiger nails as part of some superstitious, black magic rituals," the official explained, adding that fresh recoveries included 13 nails, and two complete carcasses and tiger bones were unearthed.

The poaching comes as a rude wake-up call for the forest department, which often thumps its back over rising tiger numbers. The impunity with which tigers have been killed in the recent past, including a three-year-old tiger via electrocution in the Tadoba- Andhari tiger reserve in December 2018, have driven home the point that poaching rackets are alive and kicking. Srinivas, the offspring of Maharashtra's iconic tiger Jai was similarly poached via electrocution in the Nagbhid range in 2017. Jai is himself missing from the Umred Karhandla wildlife sanctuary ear Nagpur since 2016.

Poachers place live wires around farms for poaching animals, including herbivores for bush meat. This leads to animals, including tigers dying after coming into contact with them.

According to the tiger census, results for which were released in 2014, India has 2,226 tigers, up from 1,706 in 2010. Maharashtra has around 190 such big cats, more than the figure of 169 in 2010. This increased to 203 in the phase-IV camera trapping exercise in 2014-15.

While results for the 2018 tiger census are yet to be officially released, officials state that tigers numbers in Maharashtra may be around 240.

Maharashtra has six tiger reserves, namely Tadoba Andhari, Pench, Bor, Sahyadri, Melghat and Navegaon Nagzira and a healthy number of tigers outside protected areas (PA) as well. However, the lack of surveillance and protection outside PAs puts tigers at risk.

The tiger mortality figure was 2018 was 20, marginally down from 21 in 2017. The numbers were 15 in 2016, 12 in 2015, seven in 2014 and 10 in 2013.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement