Kendrapara: Wildlife in Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara district is facing threat from poachers. According to a report, in the last two decades, over 400 poachers have been arrested for killing animals in the sanctuary.
The killing of deer and other animals is still going on unabated.
It was learnt that a team of the state and district level officials of the women and child development department had visited Dangamala crocodile breeding centre a few days ago. They had their dinner at Aranya Nivas.
What is shocking is that venison (deer meat) was part of their menu. This was alleged by several outfits like Raha Foundation, Jaydurga Foundation and Bhitarkanika Yuva Parishad.
Alleging such a glaring violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, members of these outfits staged protests at Jaydurga gate Saturday.
Kanika ranger Manas Kumar Das rushed to the agitation spot and assured the protesters of looking into the matter. The agitating people then relented.
The manager of the Aranya Nivas said that the meat had been bought from outside for the dinner while district welfare officer Chinmayee Rath said that meat was part of the menu, but the meat was not venison.
This incident which is under the scanner of the public and the forest department is a pointer to the fact that some animals are under threat due to the high demand for their meat.
Locals alleged that deer, boars and crocodiles are being hunted in the national park area on a daily basis, but the forest department looks the other way. Besides, domestic and foreign birds are hunted by poachers, but such cases often go unnoticed.
Official records of the forest department say, over 400 poachers have been arrested over the last two decades. Locals observed that as the rate of conviction in such wildlife crimes is miserable, poaching has not been fully curbed in the national park.
Jasobant Singh, Pabitra Karan, Jagannath Das, Rabindra Singh and Suryakant Das have claimed that poachers have been killing deer, boars, and rabbits by using snares. Some poachers set dogs to divert deer and rabbits from their groups to hunt them easily, they said.
They lamented over the fact that top officials coming to the national park are being appeased with meat of wild animals. They stated that poaching inside the national park will be curbed if the accused are handed out stringent punishment.
The forest department has no forensic laboratory to properly investigate the wildlife crimes, while the conviction of such crimes depends on the investigating officers, they added.
Kanika ranger Das said that protection of wild animals is the top priority. Officials are working sincerely to check such crimes while an investigation into the serving of deer meat in the dinner is underway, he added.
PNN
