WHY POACH?

June 5,2014

*Readers discretion advised: on graphic imagery and disturbing images of animals

 

Let me ask a simple question…

How do you like to see a Tiger, Our National animal an absolutely majestic, magnificent and charismatic in the entire mammal species?

Alive and ruling..

Royal Bengal Tiger
Image courtesy : Google

Or like an exclusive stuffed trophy?

Seized Tiger skins – worth thousands of dollars
Image courtesy : Google

Questions continue – Is it difficult to imagine that Tiger – known for their royal grace, strength, agility and beauty; often revered and compared to gods in our ancient mythical texts are under severe threat?!

No surprises.. yes they are… !

So, why are Tigers under such threat?

There are reasons and many….. But, the one important reason that has been radiating, reported, heard and forgotten yet gradually creating a lot of buzz in all forms of media is ‘poaching’

Poaching has been traditionally defined as illegal hunting, killing or capturing of wild animals.

In case of a tiger, it is killed, skinned, cut into pieces for its precious meat and bones, peeled off its claws, eyes & teeth and sold at International black markets for hundreds of dollars.It’s appalling to know that, The Royal Bengal tiger that once ruled the Indian jungles were close 10,000+; has been subjected to merciless poaching and according to recent estimates, the number sums up to a mere 1800+ wild tiger numbers in India!

Tigers poached for skin and other body parts ,
Image courtesy : Google

The shocking incidents of Sariska National park in Rajasthan losing all of its tigers to poachers , was later discovered that the truth was left undisclosed for many years  until 2005 because most poachers were hand in glove with the tribals living in and around the park and a few park officials were responsible for closely guarding the real tiger numbers in the park. One such notorious  poachers’ was  Sansar chand who has to his credit of killing and selling 450+ tiger skins and about 2100+ leopard skins for his clients across Nepal and Tibet alone. He along with his associates like Surajpal alias Chacha  have been held responsible for wiping out the tiger population in Sariska and for trading numerous leopard skins poached across central Indian and southern borders.

The infamous kingpin of wildlife poaching – Sansar Chand
Image courtesy : Google

Another poacher and close associate of sansar chand -Surajpal alias Chacha ,
Image courtesy : Google

The horror poaching’s by this dreaded gang (and many unnamed poachers)has lasted for more than two decades and even with the best efforts by the forest departments, these criminals always managed to bail themselves out and stay in hiding yet continued to poach through their networks up north and down south.

The modus operandi of this gang specifically was to set up snares, iron traps/clamps or offer poisoned domestic cattle as prey to lure tigers. Tigers usually die within a radius of 6-10 km so, once caught in the trap, the poachers would allow the tigers to struggle through for a few hours and approach and kill the already tired animal that would have caused enough injuries in a bid to escape the traps –  take it to a cordoned area, peel its skin off and extract all the derivatives, dry and use preservatives before smuggling their hides, that are mostly in demand in China and the Far East.

The snares and iron clamps may be a primitive method but has been a ruthlessly effective trap. Snares are simple, cheap, lightweight, easy to make, easy to set up, nearly impossible to escape. A typical snare used is nothing more than a length of wire ending in a loop formed by a slip knot. Tension within the loop slides the knot along the wire pulling the loop tight. The more tension, the tighter the loop.The loop is generally placed in the path of the animal  along with a bait.

A trapped tiger caught in snares laid by poachers
Image courtesy : Google

A Lioness caught in a wire- snare trap laid by poachers succumbs to excessive bleeding
Image courtesy : Google

A closer look at a cheap nylon thread like snares – frequently used to trap wild animals and the extent of damage caused is clearly visible to the tiger’s paw
Image courtesy : Google

There are plenty of cases of reported tiger and other wild animals deaths due to snares, iron clamps and poisoning across  India

The dreaded tribal poachers caught setting up iron clamp traps at BRT wildlife sanctuary
Image courtesy : Google

The infamous poachers held at BRT reserve,2012 under direct surveillance and efforts of then Director, BRT (Biligiri Ranganathittu) Tiger Reserve, Vijay Mohan Raj and his Team disclosed how poachers specifically had begun targeting tiger reserves and how they hid their identity as tribes – living in make-shift tents outside parks during the day and operate by illegally entering the reserve at night to setup iron traps (Read more)

A tiger dies caught in an iron clamp trap laid out by poachers
Image courtesy : Google

Operation Bheema

Another classic example of poachers operating in networks was ‘Operation Bheema’In a joint operation conducted based on a tipoff to NGO Wildlife SOS,NTCA, Haryana Forest Department, CBI, WCCB and Haryana Police were successful in nabbing  the notorious poacher Bheema Bawaria, a repeat offender in several wildlife crime cases over the years linking him to big names in wildlife crime like Sansar Chand also shows how the network is active even after several arrests. He was arrested with booty worth lakhs and two live turtles! (Read more)

Bheema Bawaria, a repeated wildlife offender caught with live turtles,skins and elephant tusks
Image courtesy : wildlifesos , Google

In spite of all the efforts and arrests, the kingpins are said to be working with the networks from inside prison premises and are said to have inter-state contacts with close involvement of various wandering tribal communities like Pardhi, Bawaria and other similar tribes that includes women who work as a primary transporters of animal skin and other parts cleverly hidden under their clothing.

A senior officer once expressed his dismay when he comes across animals found trapped in snares  -“The worst thing about snares is that it is so totally indiscriminative”. The usage of snares and iron clamps work as near-perfect killing machine because once the animal is trapped, it struggles, grapples and injures itself to death in a bid to free itself .

Sadly, this just doesn’t stop with big cats –these snares affects even smaller animals such as primates, wild boars and even birds. See below a few examples of the extent of damage snares and iron traps can cause –

A chimp dies, caught in an iron trap laid by paochers
Image courtesy : Google

Birds are not spared from the hard clamp of the iron traps killing the bird almost instantaneously
Image courtesy : Google

A leopard caught using a primitive iron clamp as a trap,the animal caught would struggle to get free and eventually succumb to excess stress and bleeding
Image courtesy : Google

Birds such a kites,falcons ,eagles,vultures are often fancied to be owned as pets and are caught /fall prey for iron traps
Image courtesy : Google

Although the State and the Central Government have been on  high alert on such crimes, there is a rise in wildlife related offenses to date. Blame it on the economic conditions or the greed to make easy money poachers always find a way out to evade such crimes and either way it has taken a tough toll on our country’s wildlife and the survivors are still in grave danger!

Other animals that are constantly poached for skin/meat/body parts and illegally transported  or sold to other countries are –rhinocerous,Elephants,crocodiles,star turtles,pangolins,monitor lizards,pythons ,lorises and many more.

Rhinos are under severe threat and often poached for its horn
Image courtesy : Google

These small creatures can escape from being eaten by a tiger but not the greed of man
Image courtesy : Google

Hundreds of ivory tusks of elephants seized on a special inter-country border check
Image courtesy : Google

Its concerning when there is an alarming rise in exotic pet providers in a country, where the animals are mostly brought as a fad or to just fulfill the thrill of owning such animals.In most cases, owners usually lack the necessary knowledge to house and maintain such pets and the animals goes through a lot of stress and usually end up in a zoo.

Loris -These poor little creatures are caught for its big eyes which is assumed to have medicinal values for better eyesight
Image courtesy : Google

Tiger medicine?

Inspite of the tremendous growth in science and technology , Its truly unfortunate that people still believe in using parts of animals in the wild for medicinal and other purposes even when there is no evidence of any research that confirms animal meat/bones /others parts does have any medicinal /healing properties in it!

There are hundreds of such packed medicines made of tiger parts for various ailments available in open markets in China and certain Asian countries.

Tiger parts (the whole of its body derivatives) are sold as products often for assumed to have medicinal and healing porperties
Image courtesy : Google

We have already lost over 3 species of tigers in the wild (The Javan,The Bali and Caspian tigers) and many more species of birds and animals due to loss of habitat,decreasing prey base and in some cases poached to extinction. Let there be a continued drive to support wildlife conservation and awareness at various levels in order to put an end to this illogical, immoral and inhumane act of poaching.

After all, Don’t our tigers deserve to live in true royalty ?

Tigers are meant to flourish and live free and not meant to adorn our houses as stuffed artifacts.. Save the tiger!
Image courtesy : Google

What you can do –

• Say no to products made out of animal skin/bones/claws/other body parts

• Quit the fancy of owning animals (wild and endangered) in the name of exotic pets

• Do not encourage buying or selling of artifacts/gifts made of animal derivatives

• If you find exotic animals sold in open markets – inform the Forest Department helpline/your nearest police station (Karnataka Forest Department Phone Number : (80) 23346846 23341993)

• Lastly, Create awareness – at various forums, schools, colleges or even at you own apartment block.

 

Conservation starts today… and with you! 🙂

Join us in conservation efforts!    https://www.facebook.com/NaturalistsByChoice

Author – Mala Chandrashekar

A keen interest on wildlife, eager birdwatcher, with a passion for photography – Mala Chandrashekar believes in fostering an ecological sensitive environment and creating awareness on nature and its conservation.

Co-founder of Naturalists by choice (NBC), a non-profit voluntary organization based in Bangalore, dedicated in bringing awareness on wildlife and conserving flora and fauna.

Join her and Team NBC in conservation efforts. Reach us atnbc.mkphotography@gmail.com / https://www.facebook.com/NaturalistsByChoice

Tags: anti snares, conservation, environment day, forests, green, poachers, poaching, save tigers, tigers, wildlife, wildlife conservation