The seizures of leopard pelts and bones by the police have once again elicited focus on the inadequacies in the State Forest department of Uttarakhand.
While the State is already considered to be a hub of leopard poaching and trade of its pelts and body parts, the department has achieved little success in mitigation of the leopard poaching.
In the past, the department had planned various measures to protect leopards from poachers and also to mitigate the human-leopard conflict being experienced in different parts of the State.
However, observers point out that nothing concrete has been done by the department yet towards this aim. The department has an
‘anti-poaching cell’ which exists mainly on paper as it does not have dedicated resources and consists mainly of the cell’s director.
Wildlife activists point out that the anti-poaching cell of the forest department has been ‘functioning’ for years without required human and other resources.
Department officials in the past have submitted proposals for establishing a proper organisational structure of the anti-poaching cell providing it personnel and financial resources.
The draft submitted in 2012 proposed that the cell should have at least seven wildlife wardens, four foresters, four forest guards and four ex-army men
apart from its own fund in order to work more efficiently against poaching and wildlife criminals.
later, a proposal for establishing the anti-poaching cell as required was again submitted by another official. However, so far, the department has done little towards making its anti-poaching cell a proper body with resources to effectively meet its target.
The existence of the cell which comprises mainly its director has remained restricted to official papers
as it lacks the staff, finance and other resources which
are basic requirements for such a body.
Observers point out that the State had already become notorious as a hub for leopard poaching and trade in its pelts and bones, but the State authorities do not appear to be concerned about addressing this issue effectively even while harping on the State’s eco tourism potential.