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Hunting is game in Orissa

The killing of black bucks and chinkaras (Indian gazelle) by film stars in Rajasthan may have hogged the headlines, but hunting is quite common and a source of easy money in states like Orissa.

The incident involving the stars has nonetheless caused serious concern about the protection of animals, and the Wildlife Society of Orissa has demanded that the state government set up a special legal cell for prosecution of offenders under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Orissa has quite a few wildlife sanctuaries, and the rich and powerful hunt there with utter disregard for the law, since they know how to circumvent it.

In fact, if the palate seeks it, there is exotic meat available in some locales where poachers thrive. The illegal trade of tiger and leopard pelts, crocodile skin and ivory also flourishes in these areas.

WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty said, ''A large number of wildlife poachers from influential backgrounds go scot-free, even if they are ever caught for any offence.''

He said influential people from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack go on regular hunting expeditions to the Puri-Konark marine drive, the Konark-Balukhand sanctuary, the Chandaka wildlife sanctuary and the adjoining Gurudijhatia and Khutuni forests.

Deer, black bucks and migratory birds are often killed, though the offenders are rarely caught, let alone booked.

Other places people go to hunt are Satkosia, Daspalla, Charichak, Sitalpani, Barmul, Lakhari, Rairakhol, Dhama, Tumba, Mohana and Bamunigaon, Mohanty said, adding that barking deer, sambhar and wild boar meat is sold in the Hindol and Narsinghpur areas.

The discovery of a black buck and two chinkaras at the family farmhouse of film writer Salim Khan isn't out of the ordinary; there are many cases where protected birds and animals are illegally kept in captivity, particularly in Orissa.

The rich and influential consider hunting and the possession of wild species in their homes a status symbol. They decorate their mansions with stuffed animals or birds. But rarely are such animals seized or recovered from their possession, Mohanty said.

Last September, five youth from influential families in Cuttack were caught by the Nimapada police with a spotted deer, but they obtained bail and are yet to be prosecuted, he said.

Poaching is an easy means of livelihood, the WSO secretary pointed out, adding that trading of ivory and skins of leopard and tiger was rampant. Since the government was slow to prosecute, poaching went on unchecked, Mohanty said.

Though 24 leopard pelts and seven crocodile skins were seized from Pichkuli in Khurda and Bhubaneswar during the past two-and-half years and an ivory poacher had been arrested in 1991 in Baripada, none of the accused had yet been chargesheeted, he pointed out, calling for more stringent measures against the guilty.

UNI

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