(IN): One- Horned Dilemma

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Link: http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/271043.html

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*ONE-HORNED DILEMMA*

 

Samudra Gupta Kashyap

Posted online: Sunday, February 10, 2008 at 1049 hrs

*The 'last words' of a rhino killed by poachers inside Kaziranga National

Park, an SMS campaign to save the rhinos of Kaziranga

 

** " You called me Pride of Assam. You made me the National Games mascot. You

tagged me as endangered and promised me security. You earned a living by

showing me to the world. Then why couldn't you protect me from the

poachers? " *

—The 'last words' of a rhino killed by poachers inside Kaziranga National

Park, an SMS campaign to save the rhinos of Kaziranga

 

*February 5, 2008. 6:30 A.M.* Sagar Mura and Girin Lahon, two armed forest

guards, had just reached a newly erected tongi-ghar (a temporary

thatch-and-bamboo watch tower) when they heard a gunshot. " We rushed towards

where the gunshot appeared to have come from. But by the time we reached the

spot, the rhino was already down and the poachers had chopped off its horn

and disappeared, " says Mura.

The two followed a trail of blood and footprints. But after about 50 metres

or so, the trail faded away. Kaziranga National Park, a World Heritage Site,

had lost its fourth rhino in less than six weeks of the New Year.

The situation couldn't have been more different in February 2005 when it

celebrated 100 years of rhino conservation and earned praise as " the world's

biggest conservation success story of the century " . Poaching had scaled down

commendably—in 2003 there were only three instances of poaching. The figure

reached eight only twice over a period of nine years from 1998 to 2006. Then

it all changed. Kills went up from five in 2006 to as many as 21 in 2007.

" Yes, incidents of rhino poaching have gone up in the past few years. There

are two sides to it. One, the demand for rhino horns (popular aphrodisiac in

South-east Asia and the Arab world) in the international market has gone up.

And two, our manpower to protect the animals is too low, " admits Rockybul

Hussain, who has been in a spot since rhino poaching went up after he took

over as Assam minister for forest and environment in May 2006.

Kaziranga, which had an area of 430 sq km when it was declared as a national

park in 1974, today has an area of almost 890 sq km after six more patches

of adjoining areas were added to it in the past decade. " But the manpower

has remained almost the same, " says Hussain, citing financial constraints

and a ban on recruitment that has come in way of raising the protection

staff strength.

Kaziranga today has an effective frontline guard strength of 435 against a

sanctioned strength of 504. There are about 85 casual workers too in

addition to 100 Home Guard personnel whose services have been requisitioned

after the incidents of poaching went up in the past few weeks. Of the 435

guards, 66 are over 50 years and only nine are below 30. And they are

expected to chase poachers with .315 rifles, most of which may not even

work.

 

*THE journey of Kaziranga* National Park has been an interesting one. When

Assam became part of British India in February 1826, Kaziranga and other

jungles in the Brahamaputra Valley became happy hunting grounds for the

sahibs. It was one Nigona shikari, a villager whose real name was Bapiram

Hazarika, who while guiding Lady Curzon, wife of then Viceroy Lord Curzon,

in January 1905, pleaded with her to stop the hunting of rhinos before the

animal become extinct. That was the beginning. And from just about a dozen

rhinos in the beginning of the 20th century, Kaziranga increased its rhino

population to 1,800 by the turn of the last century. The rhino population in

Kaziranga, according to the 2006 Census, is 1,886.

Besides the rhino, the park has as many as 15 species of India's threatened

mammals included in Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Act, 1972. Kaziranga

is also one of the few national parks in the world that has five 'big'

animals—in this case, the rhino, elephant, buffalo, tiger and deer. It also

has the highest concentration of tigers in India: 86 at the last count.

So, how does rhino conservation compare with the battle launched to save the

tiger?

" There is a huge difference between tiger conservation and rhino

conservation. The rhino is concentrated mainly in Assam while the tiger is

found in many states. But Kaziranga is home to both rhino and tiger, and it

also comes under Project Tiger, " says Tariq Aziz, associate director

(species programme) with WWF India.

Project Tiger also benefits from the campaign to save the rhinos in

Kaziranga, says Rajesh Gopal, director, Project Tiger. ''Project Tiger does

not necessarily take care only of the tiger. Our schemes and funds for

Kaziranga, being a major tiger habitat, are meant for the entire animal

kingdom there, " says Gopal. " Funds under Project Tiger are being enhanced,

and this will also benefit Kaziranga, including its rhino population, " he

adds.

Former Kaziranga director B.S. Bonal, currently CCF (Wildlife), too does not

think that the tiger alone is the focus of conservation efforts. " If the

tiger alone was getting attention, then how come we have the highest

population of both rhinos and tigers in Kaziranga? Both the animals draw

equal attention, " says Bonal.

Kaziranga also falls in the Australasia and Indo-Asian flyway of birds,

which makes it an important stopover for migratory birds. Well-known

bird-watcher Anwaruddin Choudhury has identified as many as 478 species of

birds, both resident as well as migratory, in Kaziranga.

 

* " PROTECTING rhinos *is definitely challenging, especially because of the

large population that is concentrated in such a small area in Kaziranga.

Yes, a strong political will is also necessary. But what is more important

is to have a proper intelligence set-up that can function like a special

police force or intelligence bureau unit and build up a massive network to

monitor the poachers and thwart their attempts, " says Bibhab Talukdar, who

is co-chair of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group of IUCN and also a member of

the National Wildlife Board and the State Wildlife Board.

Tariq Aziz, however, does not see Kaziranga as a lost case. " Kaziranga is a

jewel in the crown of India's conservation efforts. Hundreds of people have

made tremendous sacrifices to hike the rhino population from about a dozen

to over 1,800 today. Yes, there is a problem today. But we must fight back,

and we will, " he said.

He, however, wants Dispur to take things more seriously. " Fund flow from the

state government (to Kaziranga) has gone down in the recent years. The

Kaziranga management was also suddenly changed last year. The intelligence

network too seems to have collapsed alongside. It is very important for all

of us to tell the forest guards that they can do it. It is the same forest

guard who works round the clock risking his life who had done wonders in the

past, " said Aziz.

Bonal agrees. He says, " Preventing poaching is more an intelligence-based

activity than using the gun. The citizens around Kaziranga possess a lot of

information. It is for us to use it properly so that we remain ahead of the

poachers.

 

" *FIGHTING a dangerous* and lonely battle in the jungle is the forest

guard. He could be posted in any of the 125 camps inside Kaziranga and his

work is grueling. " There is nothing called duty hours. We work round the

clock, " says Paban Barua, a forest guard with 18 years of experience, who is

posted at the Karasingh camp.

Guards like Barua find it difficult to even collect their salary regularly.

" How can we go out just to collect our monthly salary? We hardly get to

visit our families back in the villages. I think our work is more difficult

than the jawans guarding the Chinese border, " said Raju Das. His designation

is of a boatman but he like most others around him, is expected to do

everything from gathering intelligence to playing guides to visitors to

taking on poachers.

" We have requested the government to give us more manpower so that we can

engage them in shifts, " says Park DFO Bankim Sharma. " Kaziranga also needs a

better infrastructure. Five wooden bridges washed away by floods last year

are yet to be rebuilt. We also need more vehicles and equipment, " he adds.

" An expert group has recommended there should be at least 2,660 people for

Kaziranga. We have also asked the government to provide us more weapons. We

have also decided to have a quick reaction team (QRT), " says state forest

and environment minister Rockybul Hussain.

But at the moment, the morale of the forest guard is down. " It is these

people who have caught and killed dozens of poachers. In fact 18 poachers

have been killed and 103 arrested in the past seven years by the very people

who are today being blamed for increasing in poaching incidents, " says Park

director S.N. Buragohain.

 

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