The arrest of 12 persons with pelts, bones and meat of two tigers poached a few days ago has made wildlife activists question the functioning of the Forest Department and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau because one of those arrested has been under surveillance for the past month after being named in another tiger poaching case in November.
As the tigers are said to have been poached in the jungles of neighbouring Uttar Pradesh adjoining the Corbett tiger reserve in Uttarakhand, questions are also being raised as to why the Forest Departments of Uttarakhand and UP are not undertaking joint efforts for wildlife protection in stead of coordinating efforts to nab poachers after they had already killed two tigers.
The dozen men were involved in laying steel traps in the jungle and later killing the two big cats trapped. According to Endangered Flora and Fauna on Earth Conservation Team (EFFECT) chairman Dr Abhishek Singh, one of the dozen arrested on Sunday night, Mohammed Umar is also wanted for another tiger poaching in Pilibhit, UP and his mobile phone was under surveillance since November shortly after five persons were arrested in Uttarakhand for the Pilibhit poaching.
“Umar’s location had been traced to Bijnor (UP) in November and he was believed to be in possession of the pelt of the Pilibhit tiger. However, the authorities failed to nab him then and appear to have waited to arrest him after two more tigers were poached,” he said. Other wildlife activists too question the delay in action and also stress on the need for joint efforts by authorities of UP and Uttarakhand to ensure better wildlife protection especially against tiger poachers.
Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, northern region deputy director Nishant Verma denied that the authorities waited for two big cats to be poached before arresting Umar. “We are now trying to gain information about the forward links from the arrested poachers while also trying to ascertain the whereabouts of the pelt and bones of the tiger poached earlier in Pilibhit,” he said.
Joint patrolling and information sharing by the authorities of Uttarakhand and UP needs to be institutionalised, he added. Uttarakhand anti poaching cell director SK Dutt acknowledged the need for joint efforts and said that a proposal has been submitted for joint patrolling by Uttarakhand and UP forest departments for better tiger protection. The Uttarakhand and UP forest departments frequently share information, he added.