50-yr record haul of tiger, leopard skins in Tibet; India likely source

The illegal skins were intercepted in Tibet’s Ngamring county on Thursday night as they were being transported by truck from neighbouring Nepal into Tibet by two Nepalese. Three Tibetans and two Nepalese have been arrested. officials says that the seizure was worth $795,000 and most of the animals had been shot dead.

The most worrying fact is that many of these skins are suspected to have originated from India. First, Nepal does not have such a large number of tigers and leopards (its tiger population is only 400).

Second, there have been ample signals in the past: The skins recovered in the last major seizures in India — Khaga, Ghaziabad, Haldwani — had Tibetan signatures and Tibetan names written in English.

So far New Delhi maintains there is ‘‘ no prima facie evidence’’ that these are from India.

‘‘There is a lot of disturbance in Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal. They would well be from there. But we are certainly looking into it,’’ said Rajesh Gopal, director, Project Tiger.

India shares the boundary of Dudhwa National Park with Nepal. This trade route of India-Nepal-Tibet-China has been often talked about.

From forests all over the country, poachers take the Haldwani-Pithoragarh-Dudhwa into Nepal.

‘‘This is the beginning of the end for the wildlife. The Government should immediately convene a meeting with the Chinese and Nepalese government to see where these are coming from,’’ said wildlife conservationist Valmik Thapar.

A Delhi-based NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) conducted a study into wildlife trade in 2002 in Uttaranchal and Uttar Pradesh. One of the findings in the study was that from the mid 80s, seizures have always had a connection with Tibetans in exile living in India and Nepal.

However, only one of the Tibetan traders has been apprehended so far.

They also found that the Khasa border check post on the road from Kathmandu to Lhasa lets consignments go unchecked.

‘‘There is no way that these large numbers could have been generated from Nepal. This points to a complete failure of intelligence in the country,’’ said Ashok Kumar, director, WTI.