Following a spurt in the number of poaching cases in the Nilgiris, the Forest department plans to set up a “flying squad” to locate snares and traps laid by poachers to hunt wildlife.
According to forest department officials, there had been three “notable” instances over the last two years in the Nilgiris forest division that had led to large carnivores getting ensnared in traps laid to capture small game such as black-naped hare and wild boar.
In 2019, two leopards were killed after getting ensnared in traps, while in 2020, a tiger was trapped for an entire day in a snare before it finally managed to break free. Till date, the forest staff have not been able to track down the animal to find out if it had suffered any injuries.
D. Guruswamy, District Forest Officer, Nilgiris division, concedes that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of poaching cases. “Last week, we imposed heavy fines on four people who were caught hunting a Sambar deer with dogs,” said Mr. Guruswamy, adding that it was difficult to find snares laid to trap wild animals as they are usually kept in agricultural areas or tea estates.
“In almost all of the reported instances where carnivores have died or got trapped in snares, the incidents occurred in agricultural areas where the owners of the land or workers laid the traps, and are outside forest limits,” said Mr. Guruswamy, adding that another difficulty the forest department was facing was the inability of forest staff to identify the snares.
“In order to bridge this gap, we plan to set up a flying squad which will begin random checks in areas where we receive information about poachers being active,” said Mr. Guruswamy, who added that the team will be given training on how to identify particular kind of snares and traps in any location.
“We also appeal to the public to share information with the Forest department about instances of poaching, and to NGOs to also hold sensitiaation programmes in villages discouraging the use of snares and traps, as large carnivores, such as leopards and tigers, as well as ungulates like Indian gaur get trapped and injured,” said Mr. Guruswamy.
