Apathy for wildlife in Odisha
Amidst concerns globally that the coronavirus lockdown has increased wildlife poaching in African and Asian countries, it is time to drive home some unpleasant truths about Odisha. Elephants are being hunted down, and leopards have been poached, skinned and their hides sent out for sale.
The first half of this month saw the Special Task Force, an arm of the Odisha Crime Branch designated to take on organised crime, seize at least four leopard skins. The next seven days saw a spate of elephant deaths. Two jumbos were electrocuted by poachers who had laid electric wire traps, and a third one was found with bullet injuries.
A report says that at least 14 elephants died in the state during the lockdown period and the Forest and Environment Department did not even have final reports from the districts about the cause of death. Two leopard skin smuggling cases were almost bordering on the bizarre—in one, a teacher was arrested for selling the hide; in another, it was a panchayat samiti member. The photo of a dead leopard being skinned by its poacher went viral.
However, all these have not been enough to wake the Odisha government out of its slumber. In neighbouring Chhattisgarh, the death of six elephants in 10 days prompted the Bhupesh Baghel government to effect a massive shake-up in its forest bureaucracy. Of the nine IFS officers who were reshuffled, the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) was one. How did the Naveen Patnaik government react after the elephant deaths in Keonjhar? Two field staff were placed under suspension, while the top bosses continue to sit pretty.
There is a clear sign that wildlife conservation is in a state of collapse. Top-level policy implementation as well as monitoring has very little connect with protection on the ground. One of the largest elephant-bearing states, Odisha continues to report massive man-animal conflict. In the absence of strong enforcement, the incidence of poaching too has jumped. Annually, over 70 jumbos are killed by poaching, electrocution, train and road accidents in the state. The government, happy to push mining and industrial activities, has shown no interest in investing in officers who have expertise and training in wildlife protection. If the apathy continues, Odisha will shed more wildlife blood.