M A I N   N E W S

Anti-poaching measures at high altitude
Shelters to come up soon; will ensure long-distance patrolling
Jotirmay Thapliyal
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, August 27
To rein in poachers — who are on the prowl in the snowbound areas of the state, hunting for leopards, musk deer, bears and the Himalayan blue sheep — the Uttarakhand government is planning to set up five high-altitude shelters to facilitate long-distance patrolling.

The higher reaches of Govind and Gangotri National Parks, Nanda Devi Biosphere, Kedarnath and Pithoragarh forest divisions have been chosen for setting up of these centers.

Poachers are active in these tough terrains. While leopards are hunted for the precious pelts and other body parts, musk deer’s bile fetches phenomenal price in illegal wildlife markets.

Wildlife officials have been undertaking long-distance patrols to keep a check on these anti-wildlife activities. These patrols entail four to five days of trekking, with teams covering around 60 km in one day. But in absence of any shelters, the patrol party has to face a number of hardships, say forest officials. Also, the teams become vulnerable to poachers, who are often armed.

Since most of these areas are not inhabited, it becomes a problem to even know about the poaching activities. Many cases go unreported due to terrain difficulties, add officials.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr RBS Rawat said the need of high-altitude shelters was being felt for quite some time. “We were waiting for some funds and now that we have got them from the Centre, we would go ahead with our plan,” he added.

Some of the high-altitude forest areas like Dharchula in Pithoragarh that houses the Askot Sanctuary, famous for its musk deer, share border with Nepal and fall in the most notorious routes of illegal cross-border wildlife trade. Last year, the Wildlife Trust of India, in a meeting at Dharchula, had recommended closer coordination between the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Uttarakhand Police and the Uttarkhand Forest Department to check cross-border wildlife trade.

Chief Conservator of Forests Pramajeet Singh, who heads the anti- poaching cell of the Uttarakhand forest department, said these shelters would help forest guards effectively conduct patrolling in tough terrains, which are vulnerable to poaching. He said the recent recovery of leopard skins in Ghat region of Chamoli clearly reveals that leopards were being hunted in the higher reaches of the state.

National Wildlife Board’s member Bijendra Singh, too, welcomed the initiative. “These snowbound areas are difficult to patrol. Shelters would greatly help curb poaching,” he said.