Forest Department officials are in a fix over the intervention of elected representatives in enforcing laws meant to protect wildlife with regard to possession of wildlife articles.
Interestingly, politicians, cutting across political parties, maintain that exhibiting the horns of the Indian gaur or deer antlers is quite common in the Malnad region. People need to be given time to declare wildlife articles in their possession.
Former minister Kimmane Rathnakar of the Congress has written to the Karnataka Government suggesting that people be given time to surrender wildlife articles.
BJP MLA and former Home Minister Araga Jnanendra succeeded in stopping the arrest of Prasanna, a resident of Basavanagadde in Thirthahalli taluk, on October 31. The items seized at his place include 18 deer antlers of which three sets had skulls, nine horns of Indian gaur, 10.4 kg of sandalwood, and a single-barrel gun, for which the accused has no licence.
Prasanna Krishna Patagar, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), told The Hindu that Prasanna was not arrested because of his health condition. “We will take him into custody when required for further investigation,” he said.
Display of wildlife artefacts is common in Malnad region
Politicians of the Malnad argue that display of wildlife articles is quite common in the region. Most houses possess one or two articles, which are prominently displayed.
Earlier in August this year, Thirthahalli police raided a private resort where they seized antlers and horns. Kaneena Kadidal, owner of the resort, told The Hindu that the seized articles had been with the family for many years. “The articles were procured by my ancestors. They displayed them on the walls, and we retained them. It is quite common in many old houses in the region,” he said.
However, people were given a chance to declare the articles they possessed when the laws to protect wildlife came into force. Mr. Patagar says that people were given another chance to declare such articles in 2003 as well. “People should have submitted all such articles and obtained relevant certificates. Lack of a relevant certificate amounts to illegal possession,” he said.
Abundance of incidents of poaching
Politicians insist that none of the articles were procured in recent years. They claim that those who possess rifles and guns use them only to scare monkeys.
However, incidents reported in the recent past suggest the opposite.
An Indian gaur was shot dead at Sampekatte in Nagara taluk in September 2023. The veterinarian who conducted the post-mortem found a bullet.
Recently, officials seized Indian gaur meat at Udavi, near Sorab. Besides these, there have been at least eight incidents of leopards getting caught in snares in Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts in one year.
The DCF (Wildlife) said that the department had taken note of these incidents and instructed the field staff to comb their jurisdiction for snares. “We are taking measures to avoid such incidents,” he added.
Veterinarian Murali Manohar said that many farmers fire pellets using airguns to scare Indian gaur to protect their crops. Pellets that enter the animal’s body could cause chronic suffering, leading to a slow death. He found at least 54 pellets in a gaur during a post-mortem in Chikkamagaluru.
