Cattle from village sheds are either lifted or killed in Niali and Alipingala areas of Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts, respectively, by unknown beasts, which are yet to be identified. The incident has been going on since last 2 to 3 months, but the administration has failed to stop the trend and provide relief to the cattle losers.
As observed the local forest employees of wild life wing have utterly failed to detect the killer animals and snare them to remove the panic among the local people, who are generally economically weak and entirely depend on rearing cattle.
Cattle like cow, sheep and goats are reared for animal protein. They also give milk for domestic uses and also for sale. The cattle owners get organic manure for their agricultural fields. So they are normally worried for gradual loss of their domestic animals.
Both Niali and Alipingala are geographically contiguous and ecologically have similar traits. Both areas are peninsular areas, which are home to wolf, hyena, leopard, fox, jackal and different kinds of rodents and ground birds. Generally, these animals prefer to stay within the surrounding of the human habitats. They are friends of human beings. They clean the environment and keep control over harmful rodents and birds, but sometimes they do harm the properties of human beings. Usually they are not enemies of men, but when they do not get their normal food from nature, they prey upon cattle and children of the men. The leopard and wolf are recognized as predatory animals ofthe wild.
The natural habitats of wild creatures are shrinking very fast due to greed of man. So the wild creatures are forced to enter into the habitats of man to collect their foods. Niali and Alipingala have bushy and shrubby lands, where usually wolf, hyena, jackal and fox are found.
Circumstantial evidences are the best to track the culprit animals from the wild. When the writer was in service and working in Similipal forests, he has had the experience of capturing creatures from the wild, which were lifting cattle from the local villages. The best way to catch the offenders is to watch the same from a convenient location by camouflaging oneself. The wild creatures can be captured by tranquilisers. Temporary watch towers can be created to locate the creatures. The cattle lifers or the man eaters like Royal Bengal
Tigers, Chitahs and hunting leopards are brought under control especially during night through such types of strategy. The wild creatures which are nocturnal and active in the night are nabbed very easily through this way. Even rogue elephants can be brought under control through application of such methods.
As reported again and again, the people of the locality of Niali have seen the sheep and cattle lifters. If so, the forest employee should take the co-operation of local people to trap the culprits. Moreover, the people of the locality should be taken into confidence to build a cooperative effort to overcome the present situations. The police dogs can be used for detection of the culprit animals through tracking.
There are several slaughter houses in the nearby areas of Niali to supply animal meat to the cities and to the towns nearby. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities are also very close to the localities. Offal is thrown in the nearby forests, which attracts dog family like foxes and jackals and also common dogs of the villages. Once these animals in the wild get accustomed to devouring offal from free and open kitchens, they develop hunting habit by barging into the cattle sheds. It is but natural that the offal eaters can be hunters, when easy meat is not available to them.
The mating calls of wolf and hyena are quite different. The rain or the end of rainy season is the mating period of both the animals. The mating call of male wolf is harsh to hear, but the female wolf follows the male after getting such calls. Again the mating call of the hyena is quite different from other creatures of the wild. The laughing of hyena is distinct. During mating period, the male hyena can easily be detected and located through its laughing. The hyenas always like to live in family packs.
It is also not surprising that the village common dogs commit such type of crimes of cattle lifting or child lifting. There are evidences that the village dogs, when become semi-wild in the nature especially in wooded areas, they develop the habit. It is certain that, there are several crimes committing carnivores in these areas, which are indulged in cattle lifting affairs. Again, this is the time when the predatory animals roam for hunting. As the human population of the coastal region is growing very fast and there is massive industrial development and shrinking of forest areas, these wild animals are increasingly straying into human habitations and either killing or lifting the domestic animals.
The State Government should announce compensation to the affected families who lost their livestock. The matter should be taken as the subject of disaster and failure of agro lives stocks of the region.
This should be taken as a special case. There must be permanent arrangements to save the livestock of the region. There should be a few cattle enclosures in the villages as well. These enclosures are known as “Khuada”.
The Khuada means the resting place of village cattle of several villagers at a village. These Khuadas are to be strictly under vigil of the forest employees and local people. Cattle from village sheds are either lifted or killed in Niali and Alipingala areas of Cuttack and Jagatsinghpur districts, respectively, by unknown beasts, which are yet to be identified. The incident has been going on since last 2 to 3 months, but the administration has failed to stop the trend and provide relief to the cattle losers.
As observed the local forest employees of wild life wing have utterly failed to detect the killer animals and snare them to remove the panic among the local people, who are generally economically weak and entirely depend on rearing cattle.
Cattle like cow, sheep and goats are reared for animal protein. They also give milk for domestic uses and also for sale. The cattle owners get organic manure for their agricultural fields. So they are normally worried for gradual loss of their domestic animals.
Both Niali and Alipingala are geographically contiguous and ecologically have similar traits. Both areas are peninsular areas, which are home to wolf, hyena, leopard, fox, jackal and different kinds of rodents and ground birds. Generally, these animals prefer to stay within the surrounding of the human habitats. They are friends of human beings. They clean the environment and keep control over harmful rodents and birds, but sometimes they do harm the properties of human beings. Usually they are not enemies of men, but when they do not get their normal food from nature, they prey upon cattle and children of the men. The leopard and wolf are recognized as predatory animals ofthe wild.
The natural habitats of wild creatures are shrinking very fast due to greed of man. So the wild creatures are forced to enter into the habitats of man to collect their foods. Niali and Alipingala have bushy and shrubby lands, where usually wolf, hyena, jackal and fox are found.
Circumstantial evidences are the best to track the culprit animals from the wild. When the writer was in service and working in Similipal forests, he has had the experience of capturing creatures from the wild, which were lifting cattle from the local villages. The best way to catch the offenders is to watch the same from a convenient location by camouflaging oneself. The wild creatures can be captured by tranquilisers. Temporary watch towers can be created to locate the creatures. The cattle lifers or the man eaters like Royal Bengal
Tigers, Chitahs and hunting leopards are brought under control especially during night through such types of strategy. The wild creatures which are nocturnal and active in the night are nabbed very easily through this way. Even rogue elephants can be brought under control through application of such methods.
As reported again and again, the people of the locality of Niali have seen the sheep and cattle lifters. If so, the forest employee should take the co-operation of local people to trap the culprits. Moreover, the people of the locality should be taken into confidence to build a cooperative effort to overcome the present situations. The police dogs can be used for detection of the culprit animals through tracking.
There are several slaughter houses in the nearby areas of Niali to supply animal meat to the cities and to the towns nearby. Bhubaneswar and Cuttack cities are also very close to the localities. Offal is thrown in the nearby forests, which attracts dog family like foxes and jackals and also common dogs of the villages. Once these animals in the wild get accustomed to devouring offal from free and open kitchens, they develop hunting habit by barging into the cattle sheds. It is but natural that the offal eaters can be hunters, when easy meat is not available to them.
The mating calls of wolf and hyena are quite different. The rain or the end of rainy season is the mating period of both the animals. The mating call of male wolf is harsh to hear, but the female wolf follows the male after getting such calls. Again the mating call of the hyena is quite different from other creatures of the wild. The laughing of hyena is distinct. During mating period, the male hyena can easily be detected and located through its laughing. The hyenas always like to live in family packs.
It is also not surprising that the village common dogs commit such type of crimes of cattle lifting or child lifting. There are evidences that the village dogs, when become semi-wild in the nature especially in wooded areas, they develop the habit. It is certain that, there are several crimes committing carnivores in these areas, which are indulged in cattle lifting affairs. Again, this is the time when the predatory animals roam for hunting. As the human population of the coastal region is growing very fast and there is massive industrial development and shrinking of forest areas, these wild animals are increasingly straying into human habitations and either killing or lifting the domestic animals.
The State Government should announce compensation to the affected families who lost their livestock. The matter should be taken as the subject of disaster and failure of agro lives stocks of the region.
This should be taken as a special case. There must be permanent arrangements to save the livestock of the region. There should be a few cattle enclosures in the villages as well. These enclosures are known as “Khuada”.
The Khuada means the resting place of village cattle of several villagers at a village. These Khuadas are to be strictly under vigil of the forest employees and local people.