The menace of poaching

ANIMAL POACHING CONTINUES relentlessly despite a tough law. The Wildlife (Protection) Act, amended some years ago, does not allow endangered species to be killed. There are only a few exceptions to this rule, like, for example, when human life is threatened. The legislation is thus almost foolproof and very stringent. It carries a maximum prison term of seven years. But the problem lies elsewhere. Often, the country's legal system, argue environmentalists, provides, though unintentionally, an escape route for offenders. Take the case of Mr. Salman Khan and four others caught hunting blackbuck in Rajasthan; even after two-and- a-half years, they remain free. And, this is very common. Some lawyers aver that hundreds of cases are pending in trial courts and, in all these decades since 1972 when the Act was promulgated, there have been but very few convictions. Not surprising, because as one report says a poacher can hire a lawyer for an amount as measly as Rs. 500.

But most of those who butcher India's tigers and elephants among other animals are themselves never trapped. To begin with, they are rich and influential (some of them are supposed to be industrialists, wealthy farmers, politicians, bureaucrats, senior Defence officials and, yes, bored Bollywood actors or actresses who sport night vision glasses, wield powerful spotlights and guns, and criss-cross jungles in state-of-the-art vehicles), and have absolutely no qualms about destroying a beautiful creature and selling its organs for fancy money and fancier aspirations. If tiger soup is still foolishly regarded as an aphrodisiac especially in China and South East Asia, elephant ivory has a snob value in Japan and elsewhere, where it is used to make name seals. As the demand for these poor beasts continues, poachers make hay of money, giving away a few crumbs to the corrupt forest official or the ill-paid, badly equipped and poorly motivated guard. With usually just a lathi to save his own life and limbs, he is expected to take on the might of a team of notorious men who freely maim and murder.

It is in this frightening scenario that a ray of hope appears to have emerged. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has established the National Police Academy in Hyderabad. The Academy will conduct a training programme to help strengthen wildlife crime enforcement - and intelligence. Which to say the least is just about absent. For years, it was widely believed that the chiru or the Tibetan antelope shed its fur and that this was used to weave a Shahtoosh shawl. The truth was revealed only recently: the deer was being slaughtered. In fact, five had to be to make one shawl, which cost between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 3 lakhs. Subsequent investigations found that Shahtoosh was being exchanged for tiger parts, and nomads acted as conduits traversing inhospitable mountain ranges. One hopes that the Academy is the first step towards a more effective implementation of the law. But some more measures are necessary if our animals are not to pass into history. If advocates must check the temptation to plead for someone they know is guilty on this score, the guards must be given better facilities. They have to be armed properly and paid realistic wages. Otherwise, the battle to stop blood from sullying India's greenery and reputation will be lost even before the bugle is sounded.

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