crack force of rangers, ex-army jawans and forest volunteers, called the Rapid Action Team (RAT), is on the prowl for tiger poachers in Jim Corbett National Park. It is possibly India’s first dedicated anti-poaching squad.
The RAT will have other jobs, too: stop animals from straying into the human settlements on the park’s edges and keep a leash on the “jungle mafia” smuggling forest produce.
“The rapid action team has been set up to fight poachers and keep wild animals from drifting into human habitations,” said Heera Singh Bisht, who heads the 22-member squad that began its work early this month.
The timing has been carefully chosen: January is the time when the park sees a rush and it becomes tough to spot suspected poachers from the large number of visitors.
Former soldiers, primarily those who opted for voluntary retirement, have been brought in because of their marksmanship, which can be used to thwart poachers who are often laced with modern weapons and gadgets.
The RAT, under the forest department, is modelled on a force raised in a Zambian national park where poaching had reached alarming proportions five years back.
Poaching has also been on the rise in the 1318sqkm Corbett park, part of the centre’s Project Tiger inititaive, near Uttarakhand’s Nainital.
The carcass of a tigress was found in March last year. Park deputy director Parag Dagate had suspected that poachers could poisoned it and removed the body parts.
In September 2006, a full-grown tiger was killed on the fringes of the park. Uttarakhand chief wildlife conservator S.K. Chandola had said one of the poachers, wounded after an attack by the animal, was arrested. The poachers, he had said, fired at the tiger from close range. In 2001, suspected ivory poachers killed six elephants.
Now, with RAT in action, hopes have risen that such incidents will be rare. “The team has been sensitised to animal behaviour,” said Corbett park warden D.S. Rawat.
He expects the kind of success achieved in South Luangwa National Park, the Zambian reserve whose anti-poaching force became an independent law-enforcing agency last year. RAT, too, has the powers to start a case.
Squads like RAT could be raised in other reserves of the country, such as the Dudhwa National Park (Uttar Pradesh), Gir (Gujarat) and Kaziranga National Park (Assam).
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090126/jsp/nation/story_10441257.jsp
The RAT will have other jobs, too: stop animals from straying into the human settlements on the park’s edges and keep a leash on the “jungle mafia” smuggling forest produce.
“The rapid action team has been set up to fight poachers and keep wild animals from drifting into human habitations,” said Heera Singh Bisht, who heads the 22-member squad that began its work early this month.
The timing has been carefully chosen: January is the time when the park sees a rush and it becomes tough to spot suspected poachers from the large number of visitors.
Former soldiers, primarily those who opted for voluntary retirement, have been brought in because of their marksmanship, which can be used to thwart poachers who are often laced with modern weapons and gadgets.
The RAT, under the forest department, is modelled on a force raised in a Zambian national park where poaching had reached alarming proportions five years back.
Poaching has also been on the rise in the 1318sqkm Corbett park, part of the centre’s Project Tiger inititaive, near Uttarakhand’s Nainital.
The carcass of a tigress was found in March last year. Park deputy director Parag Dagate had suspected that poachers could poisoned it and removed the body parts.
In September 2006, a full-grown tiger was killed on the fringes of the park. Uttarakhand chief wildlife conservator S.K. Chandola had said one of the poachers, wounded after an attack by the animal, was arrested. The poachers, he had said, fired at the tiger from close range. In 2001, suspected ivory poachers killed six elephants.
Now, with RAT in action, hopes have risen that such incidents will be rare. “The team has been sensitised to animal behaviour,” said Corbett park warden D.S. Rawat.
He expects the kind of success achieved in South Luangwa National Park, the Zambian reserve whose anti-poaching force became an independent law-enforcing agency last year. RAT, too, has the powers to start a case.
Squads like RAT could be raised in other reserves of the country, such as the Dudhwa National Park (Uttar Pradesh), Gir (Gujarat) and Kaziranga National Park (Assam).
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090126/jsp/nation/story_10441257.jsp
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