Jan 8, 2008
BANGALORE: He would take a pup deep into the forest, slit its ears and put salt or lime on the wound. Leaving the screaming pup on the ground, he'd take up position to shoot the big cats which would come to prey on the pup. On one day, in less than 12 hours, wildlife poacher Durra (21) shot six adult leopards using his 'puppy bait'. A special squad of the CID forest cell has been sent to Madhya Pradesh to nab Durra, a Pardhi tribe member staying at Birahuli village in Rithi police limits, for leopard poaching in Haliyal and Dandeli. The inter-state link came to light after the CID forest cell took over the Haliyal wildlife trade case and interrogated the main accused Prabhakar Keshav Dajakosh. He spilled the beans on the inter-state links among poachers and traders in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Gujarat. Durra is also wanted by the Gujarat and MP police for his involvement in Gir lion poaching, as well as killing tigers and leopards in Madhya Pradesh. Last month, the state CID forest cell sleuths arrested four people in Haliyal and Old Hubli to recover 43 otter pelts, one tiger pelt and 23 leopard pelts. "The missing links in the recent recovery of pelts and poaching of big cats across the country will be established once Durra is in police custody. Preliminary investigation revealed the international links in wildlife trade," forest cell IGP K S N Chikkerur said. It's the first time that otter skins have been recovered in such a large quantity in the state. Otters are largely found at the Cauvery basin and poached for their pelt to make coats in the Himalayan and Tibetan regions. While tiger and leopard pelts are in great demand, the demand for sloth bear skin and its vital organs has gone up tremendously in the past few years. An otter poached in Karnataka reaches Kashmir and its coat is in great demand in China and Nepal. "Leopard skins are in great demand. They are often smuggled to Tibet and China through Nepal. An inter-state gang is operating in collusion with international traders and it could wipe out the wildlife here systematically," the officer added. Fortunately, Karnataka is the only state where the cases in wildlife crime have more than 50% detection rate. "One cannot rest on statistics. Big cats from South India are preferred by poachers for their unique colour combinations. Tigers or leopards dwelling in south Indian habitats are more beautiful than their counterparts from the deserts or snowy region," explained Chikkerur.
Source: The Times of India
Friday, January 11, 2008
Pardhi tribe termed the biggest threat to wildlife
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Monday, January 07, 2008 at 0000 hrs IST
New Delhi, January 6Authorities have termed the Pardhi tribes as the “number one threat” to the country’s wildlife population in the wake of poaching of eight lions in the Gir Forest lately “They are the most skilled of all the poachers. And as the lions are extremely and critically endangered, the Pardhis strike should be seen as a huge and big threat to them,” said Belinda Wright, Executive Director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
It is not only the lions in Gir, even tigers in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh are not safe from the Pardhis
“They are the number one threat to wildlife as well as to the tiger population in MP. They are traditional hunters and there are numerous wildlife offences registered against them in the state,” said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) of Madhya Pradesh, H S Pabla.
Wildlife experts attribute hundreds of tiger deaths to the Pardhis over the years and say that as these tribesmen are active across the country, there is no collated data regarding them with any anti-poaching agency, like the forest department, police or NGOs.
Wright pointed out that unlike the tigers, which are found in various parts of the country, the lions have their only natural habitat in the Gir forests.
Recounting the deadly might of the Pardhis, Wright said, “Once they laid four steel-traps in the forests in the afternoon and by evening they had poached three Lions.”
The Pardhis, who have sub-tribes like Bawadiya, Mogia, Chidimar and Bahelia, were branded as “criminal” tribes in 1871 by the British for their hunting and poaching activities. In 1952, the tribe was denotified as “criminal” and named a nomadic tribe.
“The Pardhis are present in the Reethi forest range, Vimalkheri, Barhi, Bihrauli and other places. They are traditionally into poaching as they are habitual non-vegetarians,” said K P Tripathi, Range Forest Officer (RFO) of Vijayraghogarh forest range in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh.
“They initially hunted wild animals for eating but with time they have become ‘specialists’ in tiger poaching. They poach cruelly and are a hard nut to crack once we start the investigations,” Tripathi added.
Manjula Srivastava, an advocate who has represented the Madhya Pradesh state forest department in various poaching cases related to Pardhis, said, “They have done it all — be it tigers, leopards or wild boars. They are a tough game for the Forest Department as they are always armed.”
She added that many Pardhis are known to have voter ID cards, bank balance, television sets and luxury cars too.
Experts opine that lack of education and their laid-back attitude towards work make them an easy pawn at the hands of politicians and mafia gangs. However, the Forest Department is trying to bring them into the mainstream.
“They are expert net makers and can do small business.
We are trying to impart training to the elders and education to their children with the help of the Tribals Department,” said Additional PCCF Pabla.
Source: The Indian Express
Posted online: Monday, January 07, 2008 at 0000 hrs IST
New Delhi, January 6Authorities have termed the Pardhi tribes as the “number one threat” to the country’s wildlife population in the wake of poaching of eight lions in the Gir Forest lately “They are the most skilled of all the poachers. And as the lions are extremely and critically endangered, the Pardhis strike should be seen as a huge and big threat to them,” said Belinda Wright, Executive Director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
It is not only the lions in Gir, even tigers in the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh are not safe from the Pardhis
“They are the number one threat to wildlife as well as to the tiger population in MP. They are traditional hunters and there are numerous wildlife offences registered against them in the state,” said Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) of Madhya Pradesh, H S Pabla.
Wildlife experts attribute hundreds of tiger deaths to the Pardhis over the years and say that as these tribesmen are active across the country, there is no collated data regarding them with any anti-poaching agency, like the forest department, police or NGOs.
Wright pointed out that unlike the tigers, which are found in various parts of the country, the lions have their only natural habitat in the Gir forests.
Recounting the deadly might of the Pardhis, Wright said, “Once they laid four steel-traps in the forests in the afternoon and by evening they had poached three Lions.”
The Pardhis, who have sub-tribes like Bawadiya, Mogia, Chidimar and Bahelia, were branded as “criminal” tribes in 1871 by the British for their hunting and poaching activities. In 1952, the tribe was denotified as “criminal” and named a nomadic tribe.
“The Pardhis are present in the Reethi forest range, Vimalkheri, Barhi, Bihrauli and other places. They are traditionally into poaching as they are habitual non-vegetarians,” said K P Tripathi, Range Forest Officer (RFO) of Vijayraghogarh forest range in Katni district of Madhya Pradesh.
“They initially hunted wild animals for eating but with time they have become ‘specialists’ in tiger poaching. They poach cruelly and are a hard nut to crack once we start the investigations,” Tripathi added.
Manjula Srivastava, an advocate who has represented the Madhya Pradesh state forest department in various poaching cases related to Pardhis, said, “They have done it all — be it tigers, leopards or wild boars. They are a tough game for the Forest Department as they are always armed.”
She added that many Pardhis are known to have voter ID cards, bank balance, television sets and luxury cars too.
Experts opine that lack of education and their laid-back attitude towards work make them an easy pawn at the hands of politicians and mafia gangs. However, the Forest Department is trying to bring them into the mainstream.
“They are expert net makers and can do small business.
We are trying to impart training to the elders and education to their children with the help of the Tribals Department,” said Additional PCCF Pabla.
Source: The Indian Express
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Gujjar- A denotified tribe?
The five criteria were evolved by the Lokur Committee and on that basis, 700 communities were classified as S.Ts. According to the Chopra Committee, Gujjars did not fulfil the criteria all over the State. Gujjar representatives maintained that nine of the S.T. groups, excepting Sahariyas, fulfilled the basic criterion of having “primitive traits”. They also argued that in the original list of denotified tribes, Gujjars were listed at number 14 and Meenas at 22. That was history and maybe such historical injustice cannot be undone. The fact is that the majority of Gujjars in the State are not well-off and neither are they represented adequately in government (Frontline, June 16, 2007).
Saturday, December 22, 2007
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