Rourkela: The absence of a western Orissa wing of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a multi-disciplinary body set up by the Union ministry of environment and forest to combat organised crime against wild animals, has encouraged large scale poaching in the region.
With no resistance whatsoever from the forest department, the wildlife mafia engages poachers to kill adult tuskers and earns in lakhs by selling the tusks in the international market. The tusks have great demand in countries like East Asian countries like China and Japan, according to a report.
The mafia is active in prominent forests of Sundargarh, Sambalpur, Bolangir and Keonjhar districts, wildlife experts said.
Apart from tusks, the mafia these days takes keen interest in collecting snake venom as it is one of the most sought-after items in the international market for manufacturing of anti-snake venom drugs.
Besides, the mafia targets the hides of monitor lizards and scales of pangolins in the forests. While poaching of wild animals is on the rise due to involvement of forest officials, absence of a WCCB wing has made things easier for poachers, it was learnt.
According to sources, forest officials don’t have the power the WCCB officials have. While the poachers are armed, forest officials have not been given the authority to possess weapons to counter them. Moreover, there are many instances when forest officials get assaulted by the wildlife mafia. Therefore, forest personnel mostly do not enter the core forests fearing attack by the mafia.
On the other hand, WCCB officials have the authority to shoot at sight.
Smuggling of tusks and snake venom and other wildlife crimes can be checked with the opening of a western Orissa wing of WCCB, said wildlife expert Sangram Parida.
The mafia from Manipur, Kolkata, Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand is mostly involved in the smuggling and takes help of local hunters to kill wild animals, Parida added.
WCCB had engaged dog squads in forests of Mayurbhanj district to nab wildlife offenders but such measures are not taken in western Orissa forests, Parida said.
WCCB busted a racket at Bhubaneswar in July 2017. At that time it was learnt that the animal organs including hides, horns, teeth and nails were collected from the forests in Bargarh district.
Rourkela divisional forest officer Sanjay Swain said WCCB has a wing in Cuttack and wildlife crime can be curbed with the opening of another wing in western Orissa.
The dog squad is very effective in Mayurbhanj forests and a similar strategy can be adopted in the forests of western Orissa, Swain added. PNN
