The seizure of six Himalayan black bear gall bladders in Dehradun district within a period of two days and discovery of an elephant skeleton in the Haridwar forest division has elicited concern and questions from wildlife activists regarding the functioning of the State Forest Department. Apart from the tiger, elephant and leopard, it has become vital to also focus on other wild animals like the black bear and pangolin which are being poached to an alarming extent, they state.
Acting on intelligence by TRAFFIC India, a team from the organisation along with forest department staff from the Dehradun forest division was able to nab two men with four gall bladders believed to be of the Himalayan black bear on Saturday near lacchiwala range. A day later, another man was reported to have been caught by the authorities with two gall bladders of the Himalayan black bear in the Rishikesh area on Sunday.
TRAFFIC India northern region team coordinator Abhishek Singh states that apart from the tiger and leopard, there is need to also focus on protection of other wild animals like the Himalayan bears, pangolin and musk deer which are known to be included in the sights of poachers targeting wildlife in the state. Another wildlife activist, wanting to remain anonymous states that the claims being made by the forest department regarding wildlife protection and related aspects are repeatedly being proven unreliable. So far about half a dozen tiger pelts and about a dozen leopard pelts have been seized in different cases around the state which does not present a good picture of the departmental functioning in the state, he opined.
Animal rights activist Gauri Maulekhi said that a couple of days ago the skeletal remains of an elephant were discovered in the Khanpur range of Haridwar forest division where it was estimated to have remain unnoticed for about six months. “This contradicts the departmental claims of regular patrolling. On top of that, the seizures of bear gall bladders recently further substantiate allegations of corruption, incompetence and unwillingness to improve affecting bulk of the departmental system. Instead of taking concrete measures to improve wildlife security and mitigate human wildlife conflict, the situations being created are exacerbating the problem- both for the wildlife and the people. The State Forest Department is focusing more on questionable and unproven actions and methods like the monkey sterilisation programme and offering to pay for the bullet fired to kill wild boar raiding a farm,” she added.