Burn no horns please, say activists Assam’s much-acclaimed rhino conservation initiative has come under scanner, with several civil society groups accusing a section of Forest Department officials of having clandestine links with poachers and international traders in wildlife parts. The accusations came in the wake of a recent decision by the department to burn a stockpile of rhino horns in its custody as well as in various offices of District Collectors in the State. Some conservation groups view this decision of burning rhino horns as a ploy to destroy all evidences of manipulation in the inventory of rhino horns, in which fake horns may have been entered.
Once the stockpile is burnt, all evidences of malpractices will be wiped out forever, they suspect. Chief Wildlife Warden Suresh Chand, however, rubbished these allegations, which he said, were “aimed at maligning” the department. “There is absolutely no basis in the insinuation,” he claimed, saying that the decision of burning the rhino horns was taken to send out a message to traders and wildlife traffickers that the horns had no value. The Chief Wildlife Warden denied that there could be any manipulation, as the department had elaborate procedures for inventory of all wildlife parts, not only rhino horns. However, he said, the department would hold ‘public hearing’ to clear all doubts soon. Nature’s Beckon, one of the prominent wildlife conservation groups based in lower Assam, demanded that the department carry out a thorough forensic test on each of the rhino horn before these are consigned to flames. “We believe there are many fake horns among the stocks of genuine rhino horns,” claimed Soumyadeep Dutta, director of the Nature’s Beckon, which has been asking for detailed information on rhino horns along with the incidences of rhino death both natural and poaching through RTI. Two years ago, in response to the RTI queries, the department had informed the organisation that it had all together 1498 rhino horns, but failed to give details of the inventory. “We have gathered the information, including evidences that till the early ‘80s, the department had sold rhino horns to middlemen/traders,” Datta claimed, arguing that the investigation by his organisation suggested that a section of forest department officials had links with poachers and traffickers and had been involved in sale of rhino horns. “One must understand that most of the cases of rhino deaths – either normal death or infighting or killing by poachers – that take place inside Kaziranga National Park or sanctuaries, forest officials are the only witnesses,” Datta pointed out. People cannot go there and find out the truth. Under these circumstances, malpractices or manipulation may take place, more so when it comes to recovery of horns from poachers. Some unscrupulous foresters in league with poachers may swap the genuine horns with fake ones and show them as seized article, he said. “Therefore, we had been demanding for a CBI inquiry into the whole inventory of rhino horns as well as rhino deaths, including poaching, “ Datta said. Rhino horns, also described as ‘black ivory’, are in great demand in South East Asian countries, especially in China where rhino horn is used for its aphrodisiac properties in the traditional medicines. In international market, a horn can fetch up to $40,000 depending on its size and weight. Assam’s rhino bearing sanctuaries are, therefore, under constant threat from poachers and wildlife traffickers, who carry out their operations through a network of local population and local forest guards. Early June, during a public consultation under the chairmanship of Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh, conservation groups raised the issue and reiterated their demands for a through probe into the rhino horn issue. On June 19, several groups, comprising Nature’s Beckon, Early Birds, Greens, Aaranyak, Assam Forest Protection Group, among others held a public discussion on controversial the rhino horn burning issue and reiterated that the entire process of rhino horn disposal has to be made transparent. Assam is home to the world’s largest one-horn Rhino population, and its successful conservation efforts have received global recognition and praise. In Kaziranga National Park, which has recently earned the status of UNESCO heritage site, especially for its best conservation practices, has a thriving rhino population of 2,048 individuals as per the last year’s estimation. However, despite heightened protection cover, poaching of rhinos remains a matter of serious concern. In the last four years, over 50 rhinos have been killed by poachers, conservation groups claim. India’s Northeast frontier region also has emerged as a corridor for trans-border trading and trafficking in wildlife parts, which has come to light following the seizure of a huge consignment of tiger bones, hides and pangolin scales in the Guwahati airport a fortnight ago. http://www.dailypioneer.com/267069/Burn-no-horns-please-say-activists.html
