Kaziranga Poaching spikes amidst lockdown

#Two attempted poaching in Kaziranga

#One arrested, one jawan shot at

#Chinese demand suspected

#Naga poacher arrested

#A similar spike in South Africa, Nepal

The poaching might have shut down most of the world but not poaching and across the continents, it is rising and Assam is no exception witnessing series of poaching attempts in past weeks.

In Kaziranga alone, there were two major incidents of poaching when in one incident one forest guard was shot at his leg while in another incident a Naga [poachers was held with an assortment of sophisticated of weapons.

The forest authorities are baffled with the rise of poaching activities as all kind of traffic is closed.  The latest incident came from the Panpur area of Biswanath Range where four rhinos strayed from Kaziranga area.  The poachers laid a trap for the rhinos and forest guards getting the tip-off swung into action.

A gun battle ensured late atnight and one forest protection force jawan Pranjal Borsamua got a bullet inhis right leg and now being treated at the Biswanath Civil Hospital.

Similarly, a week earlier another such attempt was foiled when a Naga poacher was arrested inside the Burapahar range of the Kaziranga national park. The villagers of Kathcapori, Baruahchuk and Kanchikata apprehended the poacher, Gagon Eko, 35, at Lohore Chapori, 50km from here, on Monday. Three men had planned to poach a rhino which had strayed from Kaziranga on February 24. But because of the strict vigil by the villagers, one of the poachers was caught. Two others managed to escape.

A worldwide phenomenon

Wildlife conservationists havecautioned about a possible spike in poaching during the COVID-19 lockdownperiod even as a few such cases have been reported from Kerala during thefortnight.

Conservationist Bibhab Talukdar notes that there has been a surge in poaching all over the world. "As the governments get busy with protecting human lives and human priorities and all legitimate economic activities being shut down, people may turn to poach. Encroachments can also go up. It's a global trend," Mr Talukdar of International Rhino Foundation said.

The mobility of the front-line forest staff has not been affected by the lockdown as the protection of forest and wildlife has been declared as an essential service by the State and the Central governments

Assam Wildlife warden Kaushik Barua finds a Chinese angle to the spike. "The Chinese have stated that certain body parts of wild animals are required to to produce a traditional cure for Covid19. With the demand in place and the situation is conducive with the authorities concentrating their efforts on controlling the pandemic, poachers will try to take this opportunity to meet the demand" he said

Inside South Africa

Inside South Africa, At least nine rhinos have been poached in South Africa's North West province since the lockdown.  There could be more as the mobility of authorities has been affected due to the lockdown.

In neighboring Botswana,according to Rhino Conservation Botswana, a nonprofit organization, at leastsix rhinos have been poached since the country closed its borders to stop thespread of Covid-19. And last week, the country's government announced that fivesuspected poachers had been killed by Botswana's military in two separateincidents.

While poaching is not unusual inAfrica — the last decade has seen more than 9,000 rhinos poached —conservationists said the recent incidents in Botswana and South Africa wereunusual because they occurred in tourism hot spots that, until now, wereconsidered relatively safe havens for wildlife.

Nepal poaching

Taking advantage of thenationwide lockdown enforced to contain Covid-19, poachers in recent weeks havebecome active in several forests of the district, according to the DivisionForest Office in Rautahat.

A team of forest employees onSunday encountered poachers in a forest at Gujara Municipality Ward No. 2 inRautahat. The forest guards tried to detain the poachers by firing two warningshots but the latter fled the scene.

"We attempted to arrest thepoachers but they ran away," said Rajeshwor Sah, the ranger who led the patrolteam. According to him, the hunters left a musket in the forest as they fled.

The poachers generally targetdeer, wild boars, blue bulls, rabbits and various species of birds. They areusually active in the dry months between March and May, and some even setforests on fire to trap wild animals, says Singh.