Taking cognisance of rising wildlife contraband seizures and poaching incidents involving some members of the Sapera community, the Rajaji National Park authorities have started a drive to check settlements where members of the community reside. The departmental team along with a sniffer dog has already search some Sapera Bastis near Rajaji national park and though no seizures have been made from the settlements so far, the search will be continued to keep a tab on the activities of suspicious elements. Though not all members of this community are involved in wildlife crimes, some of them are active in poaching and other wildlife crimes.
In this month alone, there have been two separate incidents involving members of the Sapera community caught with wildlife contraband and poached wildlife. On November 3, a police Special Task Force team had arrested a resident of Sapera Basti, Bhaniawala with 10 kilogram scales of pangolin listed in the Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
later on November 9, the anti-poaching cell of the Forest Department nabbed five residents of Sapera Basti, Rispana, from Asharodi range in Dehradun forest division with one poached civet, a roasted porcupine apart from the intestines of the porcupine and other items. The Sapera Bastis are scattered in different locations near Rajaji national park, Haridwar, Dehradun and Kalsi forest divisions apart from other parts of the State.
Taking cognisance of the recent seizures, the chief wildlife warden Dig Vijay Singh Khati had directed the Rajaji director and other department officers to conduct searches of Sapera Bastis. According to the Rajaji director Neena Grewal, a team of Rajaji staff and the national park’s sniffer dog have conducted searches in various Sapera Bastis so far. “We will conduct searches in all the settlements where they live and keep a tab on the activities of suspects,” she said. Though no wildlife contraband has been seized yet, the searches will have a deterrent effect on those members of the community who are involved in poaching and other wildlife crimes. Wildlife activists have welcomed this development while stressing that the department needs to undertake such searches regularly to effectively deter people from wildlife crimes.