Baripada: The recent instances of leopard poaching and theft of trap cameras from the core areas of Similipal sanctuary have raised serious questions over the safety of wild animals in the proposed national park in Mayurbhanj district, according to wildlife activists.
The incidents came as a rude shock for them when more than 700 personnel of Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) and forest department have been engaged through 104 camps to patrol the sanctuary. There are 10 camps in corridor areas, 31 in the buffer region and 63 more camps in core areas of the sanctuary, it is learnt.
According to reports, leopard hides were seized from some poachers October 30 and November 7. The arrested poachers admitted to have killed the animals to sell their hides.
Similarly, four trap cameras installed in Koipal area under Jenabil forest range for tiger census were stolen November 9. The cameras had complete data about the movement of wild animals. These cameras were of no use for common people. However, poachers can get the details about the presence of animals in the area and can hunt them using the information, it is suspected.
The other incidents that worried the wildlife activists in recent times included the death of about 10 elephants in the sanctuary this year and arrest of seven poachers from a core area under Thakurmunda range. Officials also seized seven bows and 15 arrows from the hunters.
Entry of poachers into the core areas despite such tight security arrangements is unacceptable, the activists said.
According to official records, 2, 234 cases of illegal entry into the forest were registered in 2015-16 while 131 timber smugglers and hunters were arrested in these cases. Nearly 50 country-made guns were seized from them. The situation is more or less the same this year too, sources said.
When contacted, STR deputy field director Ajit Kumar Satpathy said hunting has come down by 90 per cent if compared to previous years. There are nearly 1,200 villages on the outskirts of Similipal forest. People in groups used to enter the forest to poach wild animals on festive occasions which has been checked to a large extent, he added.
An investigation is on over the seizure of leopard hides and theft of trap cameras, Satpathy clarified. PNN