Skins and bones

A FEW years ago, a news channel team, a la Tehelka style, filmed the purchase of a pair of three or four month old bear cubs from a trader in Agra for a paltry Rs. 12,000. The trader was obviously a middleman. The cubs had been trapped in the jungles of Central India. The trader had more cubs and was looking for buyers.

Pallava Bagla, who had done the story for "News Track", was in Lahore recently and was horrified when he was offered the skin of a snow leopard at the Kashmir Art Gallery on the Mall. Snow leopards are rare and endangered. Those lucky enough to see one cannot forget the beauty of this magnificent animal. At the emporium, the skin was available for Rs. 15,000 (Pakistani). These incidents in two different countries tell you the sorry state of wildlife all over the world. Poaching is rampant. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of flora and fauna (CITES) regulations are being flagrantly violated as species are smuggled across international borders to markets in South East Asia where they fetch large sums of money.

The Government as well as the various NGOs working for wildlife conservation in the country have failed. With forests thinning and wildlife habitats shrinking, animals are fighting for survival and poachers are adding to their woes. The new millennium has been particularly bad for wildlife. There have been a number of seizures of skins from different parts of North India and West Bengal. In fact on December 6, 1999, 50 leopard skins were seized from Ghaziabad. In January 2000, the huge seizure of skins from a home/factory in Khaga, Fatehpur district, Uttar Pradesh, sent shock waves. In addition to 70 leopard skins, 221 black buck skins and five tiger skins, there were 150 kg of tiger bones and 18,000 claws, largely leopard. In May 2000, 50 leopard skins were seized from Haldwani. In the third week of April this year, in simultaneous raids in Lucknow and Kanpur, 24 leopard skins and a tiger skin were seized in addition to some money and a gun. Two Nepalis and two Indians were on their way to Nepal when they were caught. One person has been arrested.

There was yet another seizure in Delhi recently but all the 10 skins (five leopard and five tiger) were licenced and belonged to a retired forest officer. He had passed away and his family was was apprehended while trying to sell the skins. The skins had been with the officer before the ban on hunting came into effect in the early 1970s.

An officer with the World Wide Fund for Nature, Mr. Abrar Ahmed, investigating the bird trade in the country, says the modus operandi of those dealing in animals, animal skins and parts is the same as that of those trafficking in birds. Until you deal strictly with those involved in procurement and trade at different levels, there can be no end to poaching, he says. Operations are carried out at three levels. At the highest level are the posh traders who operate out of Srinagar, Crawford Market in Mumbai or the emporia of Lahore and Kathmandu. Backed with money power they can subcontract the responsibility of procuring skins from all over the country. These traders have neither religious nor ethical qualms about killing wildlife or indulging in its trade.

The second category know exactly where and how they can procure skins and animal parts and where and to whom they can sell them for a good price. This middle-man, between the moneyed trader and the person who kills the animal or procures the skin from the wilds, is the most dangerous, according to Mr. Ahmed.

The actual procurers are the forest dwellers and tribals. Hunting and trapping has been their only source of livelihood for years, he says. There are at least 15 to 20 tribes known as animal catchers.

Those who catch bears are known as kalanders. They know the breeding season of the bears and when the cubs will be old enough to come out from the dens where they have been in hiding since birth. Ten cubs may be trapped from a forest area in just one season.

If for some reason vigilance on bear trapping or catching increases, these trappers try leopard cubs instead. They may get a paltry Rs. 30 for a bear cub. If leopard and bear cubs cannot be got, they try scorpions, owls or some lesser cat.

The middle man collects the maal and markets it to the right person. If 24 leopard skins were seized in Kanpur and Lucknow this April, at least 12 trappers were active at the field level, says Ahmed. The consignment was being smuggled across the border to Nepal, when it was seized.

The traditional trappers and wildlife catchers need to be rehabilitated. Some other avenue of livelihood has to be found for them if they are to stop trapping and hunting. Such tribes include the Mirshikars, the Bawarias, the Pardis, Mongia, Dey, Kalvelia, Kanjar, Bahelias, Nari Korava and Hakki Pukki. The Doms, who for centuries have cremated the dead, have now taken to hunting and trapping. The Lambadis of Andhra Pradesh, who are so poor that they do not consider it a crime to sell their children, are also good at trapping birds and animals. Not too long ago a trader sold a pair of the rare, brush tailed porcupines to a zoo for Rs. 20,000. He had obviously got them from one of the traditional trappers of wildlife.

There is little hope of saving India's wildlife if we cannot rehabilitate traditional trappers and hunters, says Ahmed. This is vital and so far there has not even been any documentation on these tribes, their numbers or how they are surviving.

The first category in the poaching ring, the big traders with big money, are difficult to nab. They can evade arrest. They have to be ruthlessly dealt with, says Ahmed. The expression he uses is "hang them". Middle men who act as conduits, have contacts and are also difficult to catch and punish. They know people in the police as well as the customs. They know the law and the loopholes. So far, those caught have invariably managed to escape punishment. It is not till all categories in the poaching ring are dealt with that poaching can be stopped.

USHA RAI

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