Gangs of Tiger killers

Poachers kill another tiger .
Saturday, 19 May 2012 00:09 TN RAGHUNATHA | Mumbai ..inShare.1Having killed two tigers in three weeks, poachers are stalking the areas in and around the Tadoba-Andhari Forest Reserve (TAFR) in Chandrapur district of Vidarbha region. Forest officials on Friday recovered a highly mutilated body of the second big cat.

Acting on intelligence reports suggesting that poachers from Madhya Pradesh have landed in TAFR with the intent to kill 25 tigers, the forest department has sounded a red alert and is combing the area. Intelligence inputs say the poachers have received `40 lakh as advance for tiger body parts.

“Our information is that more than one poacher gang is roaming around the forest of Chandrapur district, as there is great demand for the tiger body parts like head, bones, nail and hair from China and some South East Asian countries,” State Principal Secretary (Forests) Praveen Pardeshi told The Pioneer on Friday.

The carcass found on Friday was missing its head and limbs.

TAFR is one of India’s 41 Project Tiger reserves. Friday’s was the second move by a poaching gang from the Bahelia community of Katni. On April 26, the same gang had attacked two of the big cats in Palasgaon area, using steel traps.

Of the poached tigers, one died while the other severely wounded wild cat was shifted to a veterinary hospital in Nagpur. It is undergoing treatment in Nagpur district.

“At that time, poachers fled the area on seeing officials engaged in the census of tigers in TAFR and surrounding areas,” Kishor Rithe of Satpuda Foundation and member of National Board of Wildlife, based in Vidarbha, told The Pioneer from Chandrapur. Rithe added, “This time around, the poachers have badly chopped the tiger and taken away the parts they wanted.”

“It is more than three weeks now. The State forest officials have so far not been able to trace the poachers involved in Palasgaon. The State received information that Bahelia poachers are active in Maharashtra. Though they have increased security and foot patrolling, I have a serious apprehension that another tiger may fall prey,” Rithe noted.

According to Rithe, there are 30 to 34 tigers in TAFR and “an equal number” in the surrounding areas.

The forest department is not taking any chances. It has asked its officials to keep a close watch on all watering holes in TAFR and the vicinity. “We are also closely monitoring the watering holes in Pench National Park and Melghat Tiger Reserve,” Pardeshi said.

Officials have asked people in villages near the forest to keep them posted about the suspicious movement of unknown people. “We have launched an awareness campaign among the locals so as to apprise them of the gravity of the situation. We have also promised them rewards for information about poachers,” Pardeshi said.

Rithe has rooted for setting up a special investigation team (SIT), under the chairmanship of State Chief Secretary and with the Director General of Police, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Principal Secretary (Forest) and Principal Secretary (Home) as its members, to bring the poachers to book.

WS

Why is it that they always seem to be making a stand or a concerted effort to stop poachers but it never improves radically. They may be offering the locals rewards for information but I wonder if the poachers are offering more money in return for info on where the Tigers are.
Maybe these officials should be talking to previous poachers that have been caught and getting them on side by paying them for info on how the poachers work......just a thought.

We have said most of it before about the chinese and their uneducated beliefs about animal parts, there is so much more I would like to say but I won't air it on here.

My heart and thoughts go out to the Tigers that have been murdered and also to the ones under threat.

littlewid-x-

More sad news for the tigers.

Thanks for the info WS.

Lai

making the local people aware can be the best solution of all these menace

if the forest authorities have strong local support,this social evil can definitely be curbed

there are ngos and conservation agencies working on that part,lets hope that will help