Poaching continues to be the key threat to tigers in the country. As per a joint study conducted by Snow leopard Trust (USA), Nature Conservation Foundation and Wildlife Protection Society of India, poaching gangs are largely using the rail networks to smuggle tiger parts across the country undetected.
The study — Tiger poaching and trafficking in India: Estimating rates of occurrence and detection over four decades — covers the period between 1972 and 2012 in the 605 districts of the country.
As per the study, trafficking was higher in districts closer to railway routes than highways. Poaching gangs and middlemen prefer to use trains to transport tiger parts, since trains are well-connected to remote forested areas and usually crowded. Buses, in comparison, carry fewer people and can be easily stopped and checked.
During 2009-2012, the probability of tiger crime was high in 73 of the 605 districts. These can be considered the current hotspots for tiger crime. They are situated in a narrow corridor running from south India, through central India, all the way up to the country’s border with Nepal, says the study. Many districts are at high risk of tiger crime along India’s border with Nepal —considered as the main international hub for trafficking of tiger parts into China.
Authored by Koustubh Sharma, Belinda Wright, Tito Joseph, Nitin Desai, the study suggested that the Nepal boarder is the main hub for international trade of tiger into China. These hubs were not limited to areas near tiger habitats, and 17 of such active districts were distant ones, including Delhi .
According to the study, the illegal trafficking of tiger parts has two components -- that of poaching tigers and that of selling, buying and smuggling out of the country. Nearly 82-88 districts have been identified as traditional and new trade hubs based on the number and kind of confiscations over the years and reliable intelligence inputs.
“We hypothesize that these tiger trade hubs underwent a change around 1999-2000 when the trade became more organised. Some hubs were abandoned and new districts became trade hubs, though many have remained traditional tiger trade hubs at least for the past 40 years,” say the experts.
The study underscores the inability of local enforcement agencies in effectively curbing tiger crime where it seems to be taking place through an organised network. Despite the presence of ground staff in various capacities in the Tiger Reserves, the biggest stumbling block to curbing tiger crime is the lack of intelligence led enforcement. Immediate efforts should be made by Government and non-governmental organisations to enhance intelligence networks in these districts to improve the probability of detection of tiger crime, the study said.
There has been a minor improvement in detection of tiger crime after 2005, possibly as a result of the disclosure of tiger extinction in Sariska tiger reserve.
With distinct estimates of probabilities of occurrence and detection, the study provides a framework that can be utilised to monitor crime and crime detection rates in the country. Such information can thus be useful in prioritising intelligence and enforcement efforts, subsequently leading to prevention of crime.
The study is based on WPSI data on poaching cases and confiscations from 1972 onwards and recorded information for confirmed incidents of illegal killing or trafficking of wildlife. The total database consists of more than 25,000 entries on poaching, confiscations, raids, retaliatory killings and accidents involving nearly 400 wildlife species. This information was collated, categorised and stored in database on wildlife crime.