BHUBANESWAR: Forest and wildlife protection appears to be crumbling in Odisha. The lockdown period alone has reported poaching of at least five leopards, though insiders say the actual number could be seven.
The first case came to fore in May when a leopard skin was seized from Tongabilla village by the Karanjia Forest Division staff. According to Karanjia DFO Prasanna Behera, the leopard was poached in Barehipani, right in Similipal Tiger Reserve, before the skin made its way out to his jurisdiction where it was recovered. Even the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has not been informed about it though under protocol, the apex agency must be kept in loop.
Interestingly, the Wildlife Wing of the department is clueless because it has official reports of only two leopard deaths, one from Mahanadi division and another from Khurda division, this year, so far. Last year too, it had officially reported two deaths.
As the Forest Department remains in denial, the Special Task Force of State Police has seized four more leopard skins within five days, all from Nayagarh district which holds Mahanadi Wildlife Division, a part of Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
On June 7, a teacher was among two arrested by STF while selling two leopard skins and as many deer hides in Daspalla. Five days later, two more leopard skins were seized during an operation in Ranapur. Bones found from the accused, including a panchayat samiti member, are believed to be of a leopard but only examination by Wildlife Institute of India can ascertain that.
Seizure of the leopard skins not only point at organized and rampant poaching in Odisha forests but expose the plunging protection network. "Except for Karanjia Division operation, the rest were endeavours of STF which used its informer network. This also means the Forest Department has no clue and its ground intelligence has failed," said a senior officer.
Insiders say what has come to fore is only a tip of the iceberg because field protection has plumbed new depths in absence of coordinated efforts.
There is no coordination between Forest Department, STF and even Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), an autonomous investigating body under MoEF. In the past, WCCB had carried out successful operations across the State but now it seems to be struggling.
Conservationists say there is clear lack of transparency and efforts which is showing. “The fact that a big cat was poached in Barehipani raises serious questions about protection of wildlife in a tiger reserve. This must be investigated to its logical conclusion and action must be taken against those responsible for the lapses,” says naturalist Aditya Chandra Panda.