18,000 leopard claws stare in Govt face; Greens shocked

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 13: In one of the largest wildlife seizures in recent times, the UP Wildlife department has seized 70 leopard skins, fo...

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 13: In one of the largest wildlife seizures in recent times, the UP Wildlife department has seized 70 leopard skins, four tiger skins, 220 blackbuck skins, 18,000 leopard claws and 132 tiger claws. This mind-boggling numbers which question the entire conservation model has been seized from Khaga, in Fatehpuri district, 100 km from Allahabad.

This closely follows a big haul in Ghaziabad on December 19 where a large number of tiger and leopard skins had been seized on their way to Siliguri. It is while making inquiries about this case, that the wildlife department struck upon this haul. It is clear that these two cases are connected, establishing the modus operandi of the poachers.

Four people have been arrested 8212; Azizullah, Sabir Hussain Quershi, Nizamudin and Jamalludin. Well-to-do people in Khaga, they already had their well-established tannery business in the town. In the garb of routine taxidermy, they were also indulging in banned wildlife items.

Since there is no forest nearby,these have come from far-flung places like the UP hills and Himachal Pradesh, where the leopard population is the most. These traders are merely a link in the long chain of wildlife crimes.

8220;We are suspecting that the animals have been poisoned because there are no knife marks on the skin,8221; said R L Singh, chief conservator, Uttar Pradesh.

This points to another bitter truth: These are committed in collusion with locals and tribals living within the periphery of the jungles. 8220;Since the livestock of these tribals are sometimes killed by the carnivores, they do not mind poisoning them,8221; explained Singh. The animals always come back to finish their unfinished prey.

With these two recent arrests, the pattern is becoming clearer. These raw skins are brought to smaller towns like Khaga where they are treated and then sent via Delhi to other parts of the world.

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These numbers defy logic considering that there are only 5,000 leopards in North India and the tiger population is around 3,000 in the entirecountry. Four tiger skins in this one, three in Ghaziabad and one two days back in Haridwar means that eight tiger skins have been recovered in a month.

For these 18,000 claws, 900 leopards have to be killed. 8220;I am going to do the chemical tests tomorrow, but we suspect that the lot contains claws of other wild animals too,8221; said Singh.

The Conservationists are outraged at this second large haul in a span of one month. 8220;We have screaming for a specialised wildlife agency to tackle wildlife crimes for ages. How many more animals have to be killed before they constitute it?8221; said Ashok Kumar from the Wildlife Protection Society of India WPSI.

This case once again highlights the fact that the forest officials are helpless against those criminals who are operating from towns and cities. 8220;Even L K Advani had promised this to us 1998 but nothing was done after that,8221; said Kumar. He is threatening to go on hunger strike if the authorities do not wake up this time.