Poachers kill wild elephants

FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itagar, January 19: Despite efforts by various organizations for mass awareness on conservation of wildlife and tural resources, poachers killed two wild elephants besides capturing a calf near Siluk village under Pasighat forest division in East Siang district.

The decomposed bodies of two fully grown elephants were found on Saturday by a team of Eco Development Committee (EDC) members of Mebo area, who have been associated with the forest department for protection of wildlife in the area.

The EDC members, following a tip off from local villagers, searched for the elephant carcasses in the deep forest near Siluk village and recovered two decomposed bodies in close stretch aside Ngopok–Siluk PWD road, official sources said here today.

The EDC members, observed the broken skull of the slain elephants suspected to be killed by hunters for the tusks.

According to local people, the herd of elephants from Poba Reserve Forest and Daying Ering Wildlife Sanctuary often arrives at Siluk area during December every year.

They said there may be more elephant carcasses inside the dense jungle of the area. The villagers say that a number of tuskers that entered in the area were killed by the poachers during the last few years. The villagers doubt presence of a wild organelle trader and elephant illegal catcher in the area.

The recent incidents of ubated killing and catching of wild pachyderms in Mebo jungles has created strong concern among the members of State Wildlife Board (SWB) and EDC.

They have criticized the territorial forest department for its alleged ’ictive role’ in protection of the wildlife and other forest resources in the area.  "The forest department officials in the district are quite indifferent towards protection of the wild beast in the reserve forests and adjacent tural forests. Though there is a CCF office at Pasighat and sufficient manpower in the department, yet the department miserably fails to protect wild lives and other forest wealth of the area. I fervently appeal to the higher ups of the state forest authority to depute Wildlife Crime Bureau officials for investigation of the wildlife crimes registered under the division’, said SWB member John Apum.

Apum, who is also a member of Aruchal State Biodiversity Board, urged the forest authority for posting of officials of Tiger Protection Force for guarding strayed tigers in the area.

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