South Asia’s First Integrated Wildlife Law Enforcement Strategy to be Developed in India — TRAFFIC

by Shubhobroto Ghosh 

New Delhi: Senior delegates from various enforcement and intelligence agencies of the eight South Asian countries plus China, Russia, and Myanmar will meet next week to develop a cross cutting operational strategy to curb the growing menace of illegal wildlife trade in the region.

The Integrated Investigative Capacity Development and Operational Planning Meeting in New Delhi, India, taking place from 1-5 July 2013 is a critical step to mobilize co-ordinated action against wildlife crime by the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN). The event is being led by INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Programme and the Government of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, with additional technical support from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and TRAFFIC.

Illegal wildlife trade is perceived to be a high profit and low risk activity and has grown to become the fifth largest illegal global trade after narcotics, counterfeiting, human trafficking and oil trafficking. Besides driving many endangered species towards extinction, illegal wildlife trade strengthens criminal networks, undermines national security, and poses increasing risks to global health. Since illegal wildlife trade extends beyond national borders, a regional strategy and international co-operation are needed to address its growing influence.

Against this background, this specialized capacity development and operation planning meeting will aim to identify regional priorities in wildlife law enforcement, implement a common approach for regional operations and bridge communication gaps between agencies at the national and regional levels. This meeting will also help to strengthen SAWEN as an institution by connecting focal points and specialists with other national colleagues and government representatives. The initiative will help enhance enforcement capacity for the conservation of wild tigers and other Asian big cats, linking up with INTERPOL’s Project Predator. The capacity development and subsequent operational planning will allow participants to guide the international community with targeted regional strategies for information strategies and effective investigations.

At least three officials from each of the South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) representing one or more enforcement agencies, including the police, wildlife departments, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, INTERPOL National Central Bureaus, environmental agencies, SAWEN focal points and Customs agencies are expected to attend the meeting as well as delegates from China and Russia.

Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC in India said: “TRAFFIC is very excited about this meeting and hopeful that concrete plans for combating wildlife crime will emerge from it – the inputs from INTERPOL and India’s CBI, along with other experts, will play a critical role in assisting SAWEN to realize its full potential as a best-practice law enforcement network.”

The meeting will largely focus on capacity development of tools for the support of investigative operations, intelligence-led best practices such as controlled deliveries, questioning wildlife smugglers, risk management and ethics and professionalism in building wildlife cases.

“The meeting is crucial for SAWEN since one of its main mandates is to bring together the eight South Asian countries for fighting wildlife crime. A concentrated global response in the form of a well committed and focused operational plan by the countries and SAWEN is necessary to stop illegal wildlife trade” said Dr Niraj.

Generous financial support from both the US Department of State and USAID is acknowledged in making this landmark training event possible.

For more information, please contact Shubhobroto Ghosh at +91-9310480645/011-41504786. You can also visit our websites — Traffic and Traffic India.

About TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC was established in 1976 and since then it has developed a considerable international reputation for helping to identify and address conservation challenges linked to trade in wild animals and plants. In India, TRAFFIC carries out research and provides analysis, support and encouragement to efforts aimed at ensuring that wildlife trade is not a threat to conservation of nature in India. TRAFFIC in India works as a programme division of WWF–India, the largest conservation organization in India. TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of WWF and IUCN.

About the author

Shubhobroto Ghosh
The author is Senior Programme Officer, TRAFFIC India.

Source: http://www.conservationindia.org/news/traffic-india

Two smugglers arrested, leopard skin recovered

Dehradun, May 10 (PTI) 
Two alleged smugglers were arrested and three leopard skin recovered from them in Shyampur area of Haridwar district, police said here.

On a tip-off, police found the skin from the smugglers during a checking operation in Teerchapull yesterday, they said.

Police have booked the two accused under the Forest Protection Act and investigations are on.

Source: http://www.ptinews.com/news/3622969_Two-smugglers-arrested--leopard-skin-recovered

Reward for informing forest crimes in Madhya Pradesh

Ramendra Singh, TNN May 9, 2013
BHOPAL: The state government has made several efforts to ensure protection of forests and wildlife and curb forest crimes. A fund has been instituted to reward people informing about forest crimes.

A provision of upto Rs 25,000 reward has been made in Madhya Pradesh Van Suraksha Puraskar Niyam for individuals who assist in detection of forest crime being proved in court, give tip-off for nabbing forest offenders and seizure of forest produce or any other thing.

Forest Minister Sartaj Singh has informed that sustained efforts are being made to curb forest crimes through public participation and activeness of regional units. Instead of beat system in sensitive forest areas, 131 forest check-posts have been set up for group patrolling.

As many as 2600 12-bore guns have been provided to patrol parties deployed at forest check-posts. Not only this, revolvers have also been provided to 136 officers of range level for the first time in the state.

As many as 4,266 wireless sets, 5,500 mobile SIMs, 2946 mobile handsets, 900 PDAs and 900 binoculars have also been provided to the staff for effective communication.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-09/bhopal/39141507_1_forest-minister-sartaj-singh-curb-forest-forest-crimes

Love-lorn tiger enters zoo

AFP

May have travelled over 100 km in quest of mate

A lonely male tiger that left the jungle and entered a zoo in Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha in quest of a mate has been trapped, an official of the state-run park said.

"It seems to have strayed into the zoo attracted by a tigress," Sudarshan Panda, director of the Nandankanan Zoological Park near Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern state of Orissa.

Panda said foresters kept a lookout for the animal, which had travelled from a protected state forest some 100 kilometres from the zoo and roamed around the facility last weekend. The tiger was captured and is now in the tiger safari area, which has been temporarily closed to visitors due to the presence of the wild cat.

The Nandankanan zoological park has a large number of white tigers as well.

India is home to half of the world's rapidly shrinking wild tiger population and has been struggling to halt the big cat's decline in the face of poachers, international smuggling networks and loss of habitat.

The country has seen its tiger population plummet from an estimated 40,000 animals in 1947, when it gained independence, to just 1,706 in 2011.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/lovelorn-tiger-enters-zoo/article4687447.ece

Thai Turtle Smuggler Caught With 14 Percent Of An Extremely Rare Species

Michael Kelley

Thai authorities arrested two smugglers who were trying to sneak 54 extremely rare Ploughshare Tortoises into the country, the wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic reports.

Ploughshare Tortoises are among the rarest species on earth, with a dwindling population of about 400 in northwestern Madagascar.

The smugglers — a 38-year-old Thai man and a 25-year-old woman who had flown from Madagascar to Suvarnabhumi International Airport — also had 21 Radiated Tortoises, which are also critically endangered.

Earlier this year the Thai man was arrested on a different wildlife smuggling charge.

The tortoises can command high prices in the animal black market in South East Asia.

Earlier the same day, authorities at the airport found 300 Indian Star Tortoises and 10 Black Pond Turtles when they inspected an unclaimed bag. Traffic notes that the Indian Star Tortoise is heavily traded as an exotic pet despite it being illegal to ship the species from its habitat in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/turtle-smuggler-caught-with-rare-species-2013-3

Over 8,000 captive baby tortoises die

P. OPPILI

Reptiles were seized at airport on Tuesday, housed at private vet clinic

• 9,000 baby red-eared slider tortoises were seized by Chennai airport officials on Tuesday
• The passenger who was carrying them had got them in China, and flown in to Chennai from Kuala Lumpur
• They had been stacked one on top of the other, in three cartons
• Of the 9,000, less than 800 are currently alive
• Each baby tortoise was about three inches in size
• The tortoises get their name from the distinctive red patch of skin around their ears
• They are semi-aquatic reptiles, and very popular as pets
• They can live for up to 30 years

Two days after the seizure of 9,000 baby tortoises by customs officials at the airport, shocked animal welfare activists have found that fewer than 800 have survived.

Airport officials had seized the tortoises from a passenger who had come in from Kuala Lumpur, and was attempting to exit through the green channel. Activists said the red-eared slider tortoises, which were just a few days old, were stacked one on top of another and packed into three cartons, with no provisions for aeration or food.

The tortoises had been bought by a city resident, who deals in the wholesale trade of pets.

The tortoises were handed over to State wildlife authorities, who later housed them a private veterinary clinic in Guindy. Even at the time of their being handed over, 1,500 died, and the wildlife authorities only received 7,500 live tortoises.

Activists said they were surprised by the authorities’ move to house the surviving tortoises at the private clinic, instead of taking them government’s quarantine centre in Medavakkam, as per government norms.

At the private clinic, the tortoises were kept in tubs, with each tub containing more than 300 tortoises, they said.

They pointed out that this was not the first time such a huge number of red-eared slider tortoises have been brought to Chennai.

A similar consignment arrived here about a year ago, and then too, the tortoises had been taken to the same private clinic in Guindy instead of to the quarantine centre.

Allowing the import of exotic animals to be reared as pets will lead to problems for endemic or native species. Moreover, pet owners become afraid once the tortoises grow older, an activist said.

When they find it difficult to find a suitable home for their pets, many owners end up abandoning them on the roads, he added.

Noted conservationist Shekar Dattatri said: “This seizure has revealed the extent of the illegal trade in this and other non-native species that are smuggled into the country. Many people buy these turtles to keep them as pets, or because they believe that keeping one brings good luck. What they probably do not realise is that for every turtle that survives the journey to India, hundreds die in the tightly-packed containers in which they are smuggled. I appeal to people not to buy exotic species like these turtles, as it encourages a very cruel trade.”

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/over-8000-captive-baby-tortoises-die/article4559180.ece

30 kg of pangolin scales seized, three arrested

A file picture of pangolin. Photo: Lingaraj Panda  - The Hindu

Rajaji National Park officials arrested three persons from the Kansrao forest area and recovered about 30 kg of pangolin scales. The officials described it as one of the biggest catch of pangolin scales in the country.

Pangolins are a highly endangered species and use of its scales for medical or other purposes is banned internationally.

They are, however, said to be used illegally to treat arthritis and stomach ailments in countries like China and Thailand.

The officials said they launched a combing operation after recovering several SIM cards and mobile phones from the Kansrao forests. This paid off with the arrest of three locals with gunny bags containing the pangolin scales.

The three revealed that a goldsmith of Doiwala area, near here, offered to buy any amount of pangolin scales they could get.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/30-kg-of-pangolin-scales-seized-three-arrested/article4443776.ece

Another rhino killed in Kaziranga

Park officials said the spot where the rhino was
shot dead was just about 700 metre from the
Erasuti anti-poaching camp situated on the
northern bank of the Brahmaputra.

JORHAT: Poachers killed another rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park on Monday. Forest staff found the carcass of the rhino at the park's Agoratoli range with the horn was missing.

Park officials said the spot where the rhino was shot dead was just about 700 metre from the Erasuti anti-poaching camp situated on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra. However, no gunshots were heard during the past 24 hours. "Our staff found the carcass of the animal close to the anti-poaching camp while they were patrolling this afternoon. They also recovered some bullets of a .303 rifle from near the body. We believe the rhino was killed by a .303 rifle with a silencer as the forest guards did not hear any gunshots,'' said chief conservator of forest (Kaziranga) N K Vasu.

After the carcass was found, forest staff launched an operation in and around the northern side of the park, Vasu said, adding, "Forest guards have been put on high alert in all the forest ranges of the park and both forest guards and the newly-appointed Assam Forest Protection Force personnel have been engaged in the operation."

He said that with this incident, the total number of rhino deaths due to poaching in Kaziranga and it's adjacent forest divisions areas has mounted to nine this year so far. The first poaching incident occurred near Sorali anti-poaching camp in Burapahar forest range on January 29 followed by three rhino killings on January 30, February 2 and 4 respectively.

To curb the unabated rhino poaching in the World Heritage Site park, the state forest department recently formed the Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) and recruited 300 personnel for Kaziranga. This force is equipped with SLR and .303 rifles. According to the park authorities, about 100 such AFPF personnel have already joined their duties at the park and are working in different forest camps along with other forest guards.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Another-rhino-killed-in-Kaziranga/articleshow/18682496.cms

Forest guards attacked, check post vandalised

Case registered against timber merchants, lorry owners and drivers

The Forest Department check-post on
Salem – Yercaud Ghat Road that was vandalised
in Salem on Friday. PHOTO: P. GOUTHAM

Two forest guards were assaulted and the check post they were manning vandalised by a few timber merchants at the Salem — Yercaud Ghat Road, here on Friday morning.

 According to the police, around 6 a.m. on Friday, eight lorries carrying silver oak logs from Yercaud was stopped at the check post and the forest guards, Jayakumar (34) and Sri Ganesh (32), asked the drivers to produce the documents. The drivers, who did not have valid documents, left their vehicles behind to inform their owners.

Later, around 9.30 a.m., more than 30 persons, including lorry owners, drivers and timber merchants, reached the check post and entered into an altercation with the guards. They allegedly assaulted the guards and damaged the properties at the check post. Later they broke the check post’s gate and drove away the lorries.

The guards, who sustained injuries, were admitted to Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital. Yercaud Tahsildar Chandrasekaran, Additional Superintendent of Police Saroj Kumar Tagore and senior forest officials inspected the spot.

 N. Thangaraju, District Forest Officer, Salem Division, told The Hindu that this was the second attack on the personnel at the check post and protection has been sought from the police.

Forest officials said that under the Tamil Nadu Hill Areas (Preservation of Trees) Act, 1955, the order for tree cutting has to be obtained from the District Committee, headed by the District Collector. “Only if trees are felled legally, it can be transported. Only the committee is empowered to take action against the violators”, the officials said.

 Based on a complaint lodged by forest guard Sri Ganesh, Yercaud police have registered a case against 20 persons, including lorry owners, drivers and timber merchants under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting with deadly weapon), 294 (b) (uttering obscene words in public place), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharging duty), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Search is on for the accused.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/forest-guards-attacked-check-post-vandalised/article4445258.ece

Officials target poaching by forest staff kin

MUMBAI: The forest officials at Sanjay Gandhi National Park are set to kick off a sensitization programme that will help stop poaching by staffers' kin. This initative comes on the back of the involvement of two forest guards' sons in a leopard poaching case that came to light on Monday., has left the forest officials at Sanjay Gandhi National Park with the need to sensitize their staffers' kin as well toward poaching.

Families of several forest officials live on the premises and have the best access to the forest, which makes the crime easier to commit. The need is to make their kin more sensitive to avoid such instances, officials say.

A senior forest official said that increasing surveillance is only one half of the partly the solution to the problem of poaching. It is also the families of as well as staffers who need to be made aware not just of the need to preserve wildlife but also of the seriousness of the crime and the punishment that which follows it.

"This case should serve as an example. Most staffers of those who work in the forest are usually well-aware of their responsibilities,and role but their families should also be involved or made aware of in the effort to preserve wildlife," he said. Officials said there are many staffers who live with their families in quarters within the park. Another official said that even though this was a rare case, "the effort of speaking to families should start now It can be more of an awareness measure to avoid involvement of kin in wildlife crimes". Officials also said families should be made aware of the penalties that come along with poaching to further discourage them.

Krishna Tiwari from City Forest Initiative said the idea to speak to families is a novel one and may make a difference when it is finally implemented.

The need to sensitize has arisen after the crime branch have arrested four persons in connection to leopard poaching. They include Alok Khaire (27), Prashant Patel (25), Tushar Bagwe (29) and Abhishek Rane (26). They were arrested on Monday while trying to sell a leopard skin for Rs 4 lakh.

The police said they had formed several teams and were still looking for the gang leader, Pankaj, Patel's elder brother.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Officials-target-poaching-by-forest-staff-kin/articleshow/18602261.cms

Man arrested trying to sell leopard skin

A 48-year-old man was arrested in Kurla (West) Tuesday night for allegedly attempting to sell a leopard skin. He was carrying the skin worth Rs 1.5 lakh in a haversack, police said.

The accused, booked under Wildlife (Protection) Act, has allegedly confessed to acquiring the skin from a relative in Pune. Forest officials suspect the leopard to be from the forest in Sahyadri Hills.

Police said Bhagwan Sanas was seen loitering suspiciously around GSK Lodge on LBS Marg at 9 pm Tuesday. When he did not answer questions regarding his presence confidently, patrolling police demanded to check his haversack and found the skin.

Sanas was immediately arrested and taken to Kurla police station. An examination at Sanjay Gandhi National Park confirmed the 89-centimetre-long skin belonged to a leopard.

Sanas is a contract labourer with Larsen and Toubro and lives in Kurla. He told police he acquired the skin a few days ago at his native Karanji village in Pune district.

"It appears the leopard was skinned after it was killed. I do not think it was killed in Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Sanas said the leopard is from the Sahyadri Hills near his village. We have charged him with killing an endangered species," said DCP (zone V) Dhananjay Kulkarni.

Sanas has been booked under sections 9 (prohibition of hunting), 39 (confiscation) and 51 (penalties imposed by the forest department) of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and remanded in police custody till February 23.

"We arrested him after a tip-off. He has not yet disclosed who he was trying to sell the skin to," Kulkarni said.

The arrest comes two days after four youth were held by the crime branch trying to sell a leopard skin worth Rs 4 lakh. Two of the youths are sons of forest officials and stay in quarters inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/man-arrested-trying-to-sell-leopard-skin/1077288/0

3 smugglers held, 5 tiger skins recovered

LUCKNOW: The network of wildlife poachers seems to have penetrated into the city and is trying to reach the international market via Nepal. The special operations group and district police caught a murder accused and two more smugglers in possession of five tiger hides from Chinhat area on Wednesday. The police also recovered a porcupine from the smugglers.

The trio had got hold of the hides from a Maharashtra-based poacher and was in the middle of finding a prospective buyer, when the police intercepted them. The three smugglers have been identified as Vishal alias Sahil-the murder accused and Rajmal and Rajan, both residents of Barabanki. A resident of Dewa Road, Vishal had been accused of a murder that took place at Matiyari in 2007.

"The trio was in possession of five tiger hides and porcupine (an endangered species), when they were held by the police. We are trying to find out who was interested in dealing with the trio and suspect that the hides were to be smuggled to international market via Nepal," said J Ravinder Goud, senior superintendent of police, Lucknow.

According the police, the trio had bought the tiger hides from a man identified as Vijay. The trio had been in the business of wildlife smuggling and trafficking for past several years and had developed contacts across several states in the country. From preliminary investigations, it was found that the recovered hides have been smuggled from Maharashtra's Aurangabad district to the city. "The cost price of a single hide is Rs 50,000, while the selling price ranges between Rs 4 and 5 lakh," told Brijlal Verma, the sub-inspector of the team that nabbed the trio from a shanty located off Faizabad Road.

The police have pressed various charges under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 against the trio and have sent them to jail. "We had information of some groups, which were active in smuggling of endangered animals, skins, hides, bones, body parts etc in the city. Following continuous surveillance and help of informers, a notorious group had been held," said a police official.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/3-smugglers-held-5-tiger-skins-recovered/articleshow/18602036.cms

Forest officials concerned over bridge

S. HARPAL SINGH

Say the new bridge over Godavari river aiding teak smugglers in Adilabad district

A new high-level bridge across the Godavari river near Kalamadugu in Jannaram mandal has become a cause of alarm for forest officials of the Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR). The bridge reduces considerably the distance to a few towns like Jagityal in neighbouring Karimnagar district which is likely to become an attractive proposition for timber smugglers operating in Adilabad district.

“The bridge can actually bring our efforts at controlling teak smuggling to a nought. We are in the process of establishing a check-post at the new entry point to Karimnagar district”, says Jannaram Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) G. Rama Krishna Rao revealing the apprehension of his department.

While illegal felling of teak is under check within the confines of the KTR, smugglers are having a field day elsewhere in the district.

A whopping Rs. 13 to Rs. 14 crore worth teak seized in continuing operations, was auctioned at the Ichoda and Khanapur timber depots since April last year. “About 3,000 cubic metres of illegally felled teak was seized from the forests of Ichoda, Nirmal and Khanapur.

The situation is more than alarming considering the fact that this seizure is taken to be just 10 per cent of all teak felled in smuggling activity in this area”, reveals a top forest official as he tries to throw light on intensity of smuggling activity.

Teak transport

Teak from the interior parts of Ichoda and Khanapur is transported to Nizamabad and Karimnagar through several routes mainly over different bridges on Godavari. The Forest Department already has check-posts at Soan in Nirmal, Badankurti in Khanapur and Gudem in Dandepalli mandal.

“Smugglers even from distant Ichoda can cross over into Karimnagar through the Kalamadugu bridge. They can transport teak to this place through interior parts of Ichoda mandal via Pembi”, the forest official points out the inherent attraction for timber smugglers.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/forest-officials-concerned-over-bridge/article4405749.ece

Forest officials cannot be granted immunity: State

Government has to implement provisions of the SC & ST Act’
In a setback to the forest force, the State government on Wednesday informed the Karnataka High Court that it cannot provide any “immunity” to officials of the Department of Forests from being “falsely” prosecuted under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by persons accused of forest land encroachment, poaching and smuggling.

State Advocate-General S. Vijay Shankar made submissions in this regard during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) petition initiated suo motu by the High Court on the issue of false complaints filed by accused persons against forest officials under the provisions of the Act.

The court had initiated the PIL petition based on a plea by the Karnataka State Range Forest Officers Association and the Karnataka State Assistant Conservators of Forests Association.

It was complained that during the past one year, in a majority of cases booked by forest officials against those indulging in encroachment of forest land, poaching, timber smuggling, etc., the offenders had subsequently lodged counter-complaints with the police under the Act against forest officials.

“The government cannot direct the Home Department not to register case against forest officials under the SC and ST Act. It is the State government which has to implement the provisions of the SC and ST Act, which is a Central legislation,” Mr. Shankar argued pointing out that the petition cannot be treated as in “public interest” as it was related to private interest of forest officials.

Can seek bail

Mr. Shankar also submitted that the forest officials, against whom cases under the Act were registered by the jurisdictional police, would have to approach the jurisdictional court either seeking bail or anticipatory bail, while making it clear that forest officials probing forest offences cannot be granted “immunity.”

However, K.N. Phanindra, court-appointed amicus curiae , pointed out that the issue taken up in the suo motu petition was of public interest as the provision of a law was being misused against officers of the State by the accused persons.

Mr. Phanindra insisted that the contentions raised by the Advocate-General be submitted to the court in form of a statement by the government.

Different say

Interestingly, during earlier hearing on December 13, 2012, the government had informed the court that it would submit a draft notification to grant relief or immunity to forest officials who had taken action against any person belonging to SC or ST community, from being prosecuted by such accused persons.

This submission was made on behalf of the government when the court asked what step was taken to protect forest officials, probing forest offence cases, when a large number of cases under the Act were filed against such officials.

A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice K. Sreedhar Rao and Justice B.V. Nagarathna adjourned further hearing by three weeks.