Dhenkanal: Hunting activities continue unabated and have become rampant in the reserve forests of Dhenkanal district, thanks to lack of employees. The decreasing number of wild creatures in these reserve forests is a result of poachers openly wandering in their habitat with guns and traps.
A large number of wild animals have become the victim of illegal poaching in these forests. Vast forest covers still remain unguarded due to lack of employees in the forest department.
Staffs are not even capable to successfully guard core forest areas. Even as sporadic raids are being conducted on one side, animal hunters’ manage to give slips to the raiding teams on the other.
Hunting activities have been posing a serious threat to elephants in the reserve forests in Dhenkanal and the department has been spending sleepless nights over the issue.
Out of eight forest ranges in the district, animal hunting activities are going on rampantly in Kapilash, Sadangi and Hindol in the district. The Kandhara reserve forest bordering Badamba, Cuttack, Athgarh and Narasinghpur under Hindol range have been mostly affected.
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Patrolling activities have slowed down in Kapilash range as the post ranger has been lying vacant for several months. As many as 100 hunters have been arrested following raids and over 50 illegal firearms were seized in a year, of which 40 criminals were arrested and 25 firearms were seized from Kapilash sanctuary alone.
Apart from this, the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch has seized as many as nine firearms and arrested two wildlife criminals from Bhapur forest area during the same period, which ascertained during a detailed probe that the illegal firearms were being used for committing the crimes.
STF had raided a place about one-and-half years ago, in which, the wildlife criminals shot down the pachyderm and took away its tusk. No criminal has been arrested in this connection, so far.
The wildlife criminals have been mainly targeting herbivores like wild boar, deer, barking deer and Sambhar. At times, the animals are being trapped and electrocuted as well for hides and meats.
On being contacted, Kapilash Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Prakash Chand Gogineni said, “Patrolling has been intensified in the reserve forests of Dhenkanal to curb illegal activities. A watch-tower has also been erected at Kandhara reserve forest.”
Armed forest personnel are guarding the areas 27 x 7. Arrangements are also being made to appoint a permanent ranger in Kapilash range, the DFO informed.
PNN