AR-News: Elephant poaching continues unchecked in Orissa

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http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?slug=Elephant+poaching+continues+in+Orissa&id=54738
 
Elephant poaching continues unchecked in Orissa  
 

 
Sampad Mahapatra

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Sunday, May 30, 2004 (Bhubaneshwar):


The poaching of a young tusker in Orissa has once again highlighted the urgent need to keep wildlife crime under control. Male elephants are prized for their tusks, which fetch large amounts in the international market. The wildlife officials concede they lack proper training and infrastructure to tackle the growing crime.

A young male elephant was shot several times near a waterhole inside
Orissa's Athgarh forest division two days ago. The locals only informed the forest officials a day after the poachers had extracted the tusks and left. What's shocking however is the boldness with which they have been operating.

Government apathy

"In the last 13 years more than 180 elephants have been killed as per official records. Even if poachers are caught with ivory, sometimes red-handed, no action is being taken against them. This indicates that the state government is just not interested in controlling elephant poaching," says Biswajit Mohanty, Secretary, Wildlife Society, Orissa.

The apathy is manifest in the high failure rate in catching the poachers.

"Nobody comes forward with any information and then our investigation ability is also very poor. Our officers are not really trained in this kind of a job. In a few months time, we will have a full-fledged information system in our office. But the investigative system--that we have not been able to build so far," says Suresh Mohanty, Additional PCCF, Wildlife.

The illegal ivory trade is extremely lucrative. With ivory selling at anywhere between Rs 12000 and 15,000 per kilo and unless drastic steps are taken in Orissa, its elephant population of over 1850 will continue to be at the mercy of cold blooded killers.