Poachers have a free-run as Kaziranga reserve forest is short staffed

New Delhi – Shortage of frontline staff was responsible for not adequately protecting the one-horned rhinos and other animals, including tigers, at the Kaziranga National Park in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam where incidents of poaching have been reported, Indian media reports said.

Assam state Forest and Environment Minister Rockybul Hussain told Senators in the local legislature that the strength of the frontline staff in 152 camps inside the park was 386 and this remained unchanged for the past 20 years though the area had doubled and the rhino population grown from 1,069 to over 2,000.

According to the 2009 census, the park has 2,201 rhinos. Of these 2,048 are one-horned rhinos, making it the largest population of the animal anywhere in the world.

The present area of the park is 940 sq.km.

The state government early this month signed a pact with the country's para-military organization for providing manpower and intelligence assistance in protecting the animals in the park.

With staff shortage and increased poaching, the state government has turned to the Border Security Force (BSF) for help.

Kaziranga lost two rhinos to poachers this year, while a third rhino was killed by villagers on the fringes of the national park last month. It is also home to at least 86 tigers. Poachers killed six rhinos last year.

The Indian border guard troop not only will provide manpower for patrolling both inside and outside the 860 sq km national park, but also provide its dog squad to help track down poachers.

“Our primary objective is to bring poaching incidents to the zero level and create an environment where poachers and other criminals do not dare to stare at Kaziranga,” reports in Indian media said quoting officials..

The park is home to nearly one-third of the world's one-horned rhinoceroses. It is criss-crossed by four major rivers, including the Brahmaputra and also includes numerous small water bodies.

The history of Kaziranga as a protected area begins in 1904, when Mary Victoria Leiter Curzon, wife of then Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, visited the area but failed to see a single rhinoceros, for which the area was renowned.

She reportedly asked her husband to take measures to protect the dwindling species. In June 1905, the Kaziranga Proposed Reserve Forest was created with an area of 232 km (90 sq mi).

Over the next three years, the park area was extended by 152 km (59 sq mi), to the banks of the River Brahmaputra. In 1908, Kaziranga was designated as a reserve forest.

Eight year later in 1916, it was renamed as the Kaziranga Game Sanctuary until gaming was banned in the area in 1938.

The Kaziranga Game Sanctuary was renamed the Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary in 1950 in a bid to get rid of the hunting connotations.

In 1954, the Assam government passed the Assam (Rhinoceros) Bill, which imposed heavy penalties for rhinoceros poaching.. In 1985, Kaziranga was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO or its unique natural environment.

Kaziranga has witnessed several natural and human-made calamities in recent decades. Floods caused by overflowing of River Brahmaputra have led to significant losses of animal life. Encroachment by humans along the periphery also has led to a diminished forest cover and a loss of habitat.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/313891,poachers-have-a-free-run-as-kaziranga-reserve-forest-is-short-staffed.html.