Elephant massacre in Simlipal
4 June , 2010
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Elephant massacre in Simlipal
Friday, June 4, 2010
(The Pioneer):
Team formed to look into Simlipal jumbo massacre
By Moushumi Basu
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has constituted a two-member independent team for assessing the ground situation at the Simlipal tiger reserve in Odisha, particularly against the backdrop of incidents of elephant massacre.
The Pioneer had on Thursday reported about the alarming incidents of jumbo carcasses being found at the reserve. Two carcasses of elephants were found burnt and two others were found buried with dismantled bones. At least 12 pachyderms have been killed here in the last two months.
The team set up by the NTCA comprises Biswajit Mohanty, Secretary, Wildlife Society of Odisha and Belinda Wright, former member, National Board of Wild Life (NBWL) and a wildlife expert.
The team would submit its report within a fortnight. It would appraise and assess the existing situation in the reserve that led to the poaching and killing of so many elephants in the park. It would also examine the ongoing protection initiatives, while suggesting immediate measures for strengthening the same.
Mohanty had alleged that there has been mass poaching of elephants in the core area of the reserve and claimed that more than 12 pachyderms have been killed in the last couple of months alone. He had also written to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh demanding a CBI investigation into the incident.
Wildlife Warden (honorary) Sanjukta Basa had also claimed that there was a definite evidence to wipe out evidence. “Two carcasses of elephants were found burnt and two others buried with dismantled bones,” she said.
Later, talking to this correspondent, Mohanty claimed, “Such investigations are necessary to unearth the role of field forest officers as to whether they connived with the poachers or not, especially when there have been deliberate efforts to destroy evidence by burning or burying the bones.”
Article
Massacre of elephants in Simlipal reserve
Thursday, June 4, 2010 (The Pioneer)
By Moushumi Basu
Poaching of elephants is the new menace that has come to haunt the Centre. Jumbo carcasses tumbling out of the Maoist-hit Simlipal reserve in Odisha have set the alarm bells ringing.
Alleging poaching of elephants in the core area of the reserve, former Member of National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) Biswajit Mohanty has claimed that at least 12 pachyderms have been killed in the last couple of months.
Lending credence to Mohanty’s assertion, Wildlife Warden (honorary) Sanjukta Basa maintained that there has been definite evidence to wipe out evidence. “Two carcasses of elephants were found burnt and two others were found buried with dismantled bones,” Basa told The Pioneer.
“This only indicates that there are organised poaching gangs active in the area that obviously cannot thrive without the collusion of the field staffs of the forest department,” she said.
Interestingly, the area from where the incident has been reported is in and around Jenabil, one of the four villages falling in the core area of the reserve that has recently been relocated.
“The Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) too has written to Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh demanding a CBI investigation into incident. “This is necessary to unearth the role of field officers as to whether they connived with the poachers or not, as there have been deliberate efforts to destroy evidence by burning or burying the bones,” it stated in its letter. Mohanty is also the secretary of WSO.
“The elephant census was being carried out in April when the news first came about the poaching of elephants. The concerned Range Officer refused to grant permission to me and my team to enter the park to verify the reports,” Basa claimed. She wanted to visit the core area on April 30, armed with an official order of a senior forest official.
She alleged that the local forest staff had reported the death of just one elephant in April concealing the deaths of others. “Two poaching cases were discovered by the department after information about their locations was provided by our team,” she said. A senior forest official had personally visited the park and found the two carcasses, she added.
However, after Basa with her group was finally allowed entry between May 15 and May 21, she located four other carcasses out of which two were burnt down “in an apparent bid to destroy evidence of poaching”. Two remains were buried in order to avoid detection.
“There has been information of five more skeletons, which need to be found. We have so far got information about 12 deaths. The number could be more in the vast 2,750 sq km area,” said Bhanumitra Acharya, an activist, who accompanied Basa.
This vulnerable core area was earlier inhabited by the residents of revenue village Jenabil. The 61 families of the village have been relocated to Ambadiha, outside the reserve area, during the last week of March. The series of jumbo killings have occurred after their evacuation.
“We would keep a vigil on the forest, outsiders, corridor areas and animals. We had been staying here for generations and were acquainted with every nook and corner of the forest,” said Kanha Ho, a village elder from Jenabil.
Ironically, the relocation of the villagers was to strengthen the conservation of animals and strengthen the habitat area.
The reserve area is Maoist-affected. In March 2009, the extremists had gutted four forest offices there. “The area has thus converted into a safe haven for poachers. It is virtually an open field,” pointed out Mohanty.
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