Kendrapara: As more winged visitors keep their annual tryst with Bhitarkanika National Park, an alarming rise in poaching of migratory birds this winter inside the National Park and its nearby areas in Kendrapara district has become a matter of concern, reports said.
Recently, in separate drives, forest officials had held two poachers and recovered two Brown-headed Gulls from them. But the poaching ringleaders are nowhere to be found.
While bird poaching gangs have become active in Bhitarkanika and its vicinity, the bird meats are regularly sold in many villages. Sources say each migratory bird fetches between Rs 100 and Rs 200.
Young boys from nearby villages kill the migratory birds and sell it to hotels at Kendrapara, Paradip Marshaghai, Kujang and other nearby places. Bird meats are easily available in hotels and eateries ‘dhabas’ beside National Highway 5(A) from Chandikhole.
Villagers indulge in the crime due to stark poverty and forest officials have so far miserably failed to check poaching. They kill birds by sprinkling poison in their food and spreading traps in the wetland and later sell it for a living. This indeed is the daily job of most of the people in the area, reports said.
Villages like — Rangani, Alachua, Kanhupur, Magarakandha, Iswarapur, Dangamala, Batighar, Jamboo, Kansarabadadandua and Suniti within the park have become hunting ground for poachers the poachers.
Around 450 poachers have been arrested in the last two decades on charges of poaching birds, spotted deer and wild boars in the park and its nearby areas. Despite the high incidence of poaching of birds and other animals, the conviction rate of arrested poachers continues to be nil due to the slipshod attitude of forest officials.
When contacted, Bimal Prasana Acharya, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of the park, said, “Forest guards were patrolling the abode regularly. We have arrested two poachers and seized two birds from them. We have also established 16 camps in the park and vicinity to protect the birds”.
PNN