One poacher was arrested in Amangarh forest range in Uttar Pradesh bordering the Corbett tiger reserve on Wednesday while two of his accomplices managed to escape.
The authorities seized steel traps, knives, mobile phones and eatables from the person arrested while it is being suspected that one of the two poachers absconding is Pathri Sapera Basti (Haridwar) resident Amarnath alias Amra who is believed to be the mastermind behind the poaching of two tigers and subsequent seizure of two tiger pelts from this very range last year which also saw the arrest of 12 poachers.
Wildlife activists here fear that the failure of the authorities to act against such notorious poachers in Uttarakhand and neighbouring Uttar Pradesh has exacerbated the threat faced by tigers in the Corbett tiger landscape. In a related development, the Forest Department officials state that the death of a tiger in Terai West forest division on Monday is also being viewed suspiciously as a patch of its pelt and some body parts were missing.
The additional principal chief conservator of forests (Wildlife) and head of the State anti-poaching cell, SK Dutt said that he had gone to Delhi to meet officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and other agencies following the discovery of the tiger carcass on Monday.
He said that the death is being investigated to ascertain whether the big cat was poached. Regarding the arrest made in neighbouring UP on Wednesday, he said that traps were not discovered though mobile phones were seized from the person nabbed. He said that two Van Gujjars suspected of involvement are being investigated.
However, wildlife activists here state that Dhara village in Uttar Pradesh bordering Kalagarh in Uttarakhand, is becoming a hub of wildlife criminals. They also point out that some residents of Sapera Bastis in the Haridwar and Dehradun forest divisions are also frequently indulging in poaching. The authorities need to act strongly against activities in these settlements, they stress.