GUWAHATI: The Centre and other organisations have been sent a notice by the National Green Tribunal on the severely endangered state of the feral horses in Assam's Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.
A bench consisting of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava and expert member A Senthil Vel issued an order on December 16 in a suo motu case, stating that the "unique" horses, which are exclusively found in the national park, were in danger of going extinct and needed "urgent intervention." Although they are wild and wander freely, feral horses are said to be descended from domesticated horses.
A news report citing the animal's "dwindling" numbers due to smuggling, habitat destruction, grazing field shrinkage, floods, and conservation authorities' disinterest was taken into consideration by the green organisation.
The bench cited the news story when stating that these horses were not protected by the Wildlife Protection Act and that it was challenging to determine their conservation status without a census.
"The matter indicates a violation of the provisions of the Biodiversity Act and Environment Protection Act. The news item raises substantial issues relating to compliance with the environmental norms,” the tribunal said.
In addition to the directors of the Zoological Survey of India and Wildlife Institute of India, as well as the chief wildlife warden of the state, it named the secretaries of the National Biodiversity Authority and the union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change as parties or respondents.
“Issue notice to the above respondents for filing their response/reply by way of affidavit before the eastern zonal bench of the tribunal (in Kolkata),” the tribunal said.
The story claims that these horses had been in the wild for around 80 years and were thought to be descended from either the Przewalski's horse species in China or the army horses of World army II.
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