‘Illegal transportation and procurement of arms as well as contraband drugs through international border interlinked’
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Assam-based wildlife conservationists have asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to play a proactive role in prevention of illegal trade in wildlife parts which is closely linked with the illegal transportation and procurement of arms as well as contraband drugs through the international border.
Wildlife conservation biologist Bibhab Kumar Talukdar and wildlife crimes mitigation expert Rahul Datta dwelt on the important role that the BSF can play in preventing trans-border wildlife trade during a sensitisation workshop on wildlife crime prevention at the BSF headquarters, Patgaon, on Saturday.
Talukdar, who is the CEO and secretary-general of Aaranyak, chair of the Asian Rhino Specialist Group of the IUCN and Asia coordinator of International Rhino Foundation (IRF), told The Sentinel that the agencies have found that cadres of some insurgent groups based in Manipur and Nagaland had killed rhinos to procure arms in the recent years.
Elaborating on the global and local wildlife crime scenario and its link to illegal arms trade and insurgency, Talukdar said the BSF must wake up to playing an important role in the prevention of wildlife trade.
“The lone survivor of the Baihata Chariali accident, in which three of his partners died after killing a rhino in the Gorumara National Park in 2017, was a cadre of a Manipur-based insurgent organization as per investigation done by agencies,” Talukdar said.
Wildlife crimes mitigation expert Rahul Datta said huge money is involved in global illegal wildlife trade and it has attracted direct involvement of hunting of endangered species such as tigers and one-horned rhinos by organized insurgents armed with sophisticated weapons and organized gangs with global outreach. He said there are pictorial evidences of well-armed Northeast militants’ involvement in killing of rhinos in the protected areas across Assam.
“The BSF has to maintain strict vigil to prevent cross-border movement of wildlife parts,” Datta said.
During the Saturday’s workshop, the officiating Inspector General of the BSF, Guwahati Frontier, KK Gulia, said, “Balanced biodiversity is a must for any country and the presentation made by wildlife conservation experts were an eye opener as it highlighted how wildlife crimes have become a threat to the nation’s security for its link to illegal trades in weapons and drugs.”