(IN): 11 hardcore poachers surrender at the Indo-Bhutan belt

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11 hardcore poachers surrender at the Indo-Bhutan belt

 

 

Eleven hardcore poachers surrendered with their weapons yesterday ( 3rd June

) in Subankhata reserve forest before Dr. Anwaruddin Choudhury, the Deputy

Commissioner of Baksa district in Assam.

The region these poachers used to carry out their illegal activities is a

buffer tiger reserve zone and adjacent to the eastern end of the Manas

National Park bordering Bhutan, a world heritage site in danger.

 

The mass surrender was possible due to the initiatives of Dr. Anwaruddin

Choudhury, the Deputy Commisioner of Assam`s Baksa district who is also an

eminent biologist and wildlife researcher of the Northeastern region of

India.

A new local grassroot NGO, Manas Sousi Khongkhor Eco-Tourism Society

(MSKETS) has been instrumental in bridging the gap between the local

administration and the poachers and has been successful in getting these

eleven poachers surrendered.

Some of the poachers who have surrendered have been active in this field for

the past seventeen years.

The weapons that were surrendered by the poachers include country made

rifles, tiger and hare traps, fishing nets, axes and large sawing blades.

 

Dr.Choudhury who has been transferred from the post of the Deputy

Commissioner of Baksa as the Joint Secretary, Forests in the state

Govenrment says this mass surrender of hardcore poachers close to the Manas

National Park which is a World Heritage Site in Danger is an excellent model

for the state and also for the entire country, and something which has not

been heard of at least in Assam.

The President of the local NGO, MSKETS, Mr Binoy Choudhury has said that

there are many more poachers who have expressed their willingness to

surrender. But the NGO does not have the capacity at the moment to sustain

more poachers. But they are now finding ways with the state government and

local administration and are hopeful that very soon all the poachers active

in that region will be brought into the mainstream.

 

It maybe noted that Assam has seen an upsurge in poaching activities

recently in and around many National Parks and sanctuaries of the state

therefore this surrender of local hardcore poachers and their adoption by

NGOs and societies working for conservation certainly brings a lot of hope

and boasts the morale of wildlife conservation activities in this region.

 

Azam Siddiqui

 

 

Contact info of:

Dr. Anwaruddin Choudhury, MA, Ph.D, ACS

Deputy Commissioner & District Magistrate, BAKSA

 

Member: State Board for Wildlife, Assam

Member: IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant, Asian Rhino, Asian Wild Cattle. Bear, Cat,

Pheasant, Small Carnivore and Threatened Waterfowl Specialist Groups.

Regional representative: WPA India.

Coordinator (Assam), Indian Bird Conservation Network.

Honorary Chief Executive, The Rhino Foundation for Nature in NE India.

 

Residence address:

C/o late Alauddin Choudhury, Near Gate No. 01 of Nehru Stadium, 7 Islampur

Road, Guwahati- 781007 (Assam), India

 

Ph: +91 94350 79376 ( cell ), +91 361 2550902

 

email: badru1