UoH may have conservation zone for its wildlife

The University of Hyderabad may soon have a conservation zone demarcated on its sprawling premises, to preclude rampant poaching of wild animals.

The provision of conservation zone has been agreed upon during a recent meeting between the university authorities and Forest Department officials, though the details of the location and area of the zone are yet to be worked out.

Of late, the university has been in news for all the wrong reasons, and one among them is its failure to protect its spotted deer from canines and poachers. Within a fortnight between February and March, there had been two instances of animal carcasses being found on the premises.

The ensnared body of a spotted deer or Chital was found on February 19 by a research scholar who is part of a wildlife protection network. The second instance on March 5 had two carcasses, one of a spotted deer and the other of a peafowl.

“The peafowl was half eaten, so it must be the work of a dog. The other was intact,” says a forest official from the head office, who admits that there could be scores of other instances where the poachers could have gotten away with the body of the animal. By conservative data given by the Forest Department, there have been over 30 recorded instances of animal carcasses being found over the last two years.

The forest on the 2,200-acre premises houses a wide variety of wildlife, which, according to a study, includes 10 mammals, 15 reptiles and 159 bird species. Frequent among them are spotted deer, hare, peafowl, wild boar, porcupine, and monitor lizard.

While Vice-Chancellor P. Appa Rao said the conservation zone would be demarcated on about 400 acres, where the wildlife is found aplenty, forest officials say it should be centrally located, with provisions for water resource and hideouts.

Blame-game

The blame game between the university and the Forest Department has been on for quite some time, with the former claiming that its resources were limited, and the Forest Department saying it was the responsibility of the university to take care of the wild life.

“We too cannot allocate exclusive staff to guard the premises. The only way for us to take care of it is to have it declared a national park, but then, we will have to evict the university or charge them for entry,” quips the official.

The visiting team, including Chief Conservator of Forests Ranga Reddy, S.N. Kukrety and Field Divisional Officer, Shamshabad, M. Ashok Kumar, advised the university authorities to fortify the compound wall using concertina wires, to prevent outsiders from scaling the wall.

Canine attacks are one more reason for the deaths, and, for this, the team suggested a drive by the GHMC to clear the dogs. Installation of sign boards citing legal provisions against poaching, increased patrolling and night vigil, besides appointment of a nodal officer for wildlife were some of the suggestions made by the Forest officials.