Maharashtra forest department finds proof of tiger poaching in Melghat reserve

The state forest department has unearthed evidence to show that a tiger may have been killed by poachers in the Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) by recovering bones suspected to be that of a carnivore. The department has nabbed "at least six people" in multiple cases related to poaching and smuggling of wildlife products.

A source said there were chances that around 11 tigers had been poached and seven skins had been traded. "Although these figures are not confirmed, there seems to be a huge racket involved in killing carnivores," he added.

A forest department official said they had secured leads in the case dating back to 2013 when the arrested accused claimed they had poached a tiger. "We verified the spot which the poachers had shown us. We recovered some bones from there last week," he added. These recoveries will be analysed through forensics.

Officials admitted that the time lapse between the crime and detection made it tough to recover further evidence.

"At present, investigation is localised. We will verify if these poachers have international links (as tiger parts command a huge price there)," the official said, adding they are on a lookout for the prime accused who is said to have purchased the skin and other organs of the tiger.

In the month of August, some forest guards had chanced upon a group inside the tiger reserve. These people attacked them and fled while leaving behind Safed Musli, which is used as a libido enhancer, and some meat suspected to be that of a porcupine, which like the tiger, is a Schedule-I species accorded the highest grade of protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

One suspect was arrested in the case. In September, the forest staff went to a village to arrest those named by the accused. The police later made some arrests and the forest department took custody of the accused, who spilled the beans during questioning.

The alleged poachers reportedly admitted to killing tigers in the MTR since 2013, and the neighbouring buffer zone that is under the territorial forest division.

The MTR, which is located in Vidarbha, is the first tiger project in Maharashtra and is spread over a 2,768 square kilometre area, including a 1,500 square kilometre core. It has around 49 tigers.

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) data, a total of 16 tigers have died in Maharashtra this year. On Saturday, a three-year-old male tiger was electrocuted on the fringe of the Tadoba Andhari tiger project, taking the toll to 17. In addition, three cubs were mowed down by a train at Chandrapur, in November.

• According to the 2014 tiger census, 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. 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.
   
• In 2013, Amravati saw the sensational Dhakna tiger poaching case involving a multi-state poaching syndicate. This was the first case to be cracked using cyber forensics.