Odisha’s Special Task Force on February 13 arrested a person and seized a leopard skin in Kandhamal district.
The wildlife criminal identified as Gheneswar Pradhan (35) belonged to Gohibadi village under Dasingbadi police station. During search, a country made pistol was also recovered, apart from the leopard hide.
The skin will be sent to Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, for biological examination. As per the latest information tabled in State Legislative Assembly, as many as 84 leopard skins have been seized from different districts during past 10 years. The poaching of leopards is more than 10% of total big cat population of the State.
Between 2014 and 2019, the seizure of leopard skin has remained in single digit. From 2019 onwards, there has been a significant spike in leopard skin seizures. The numbers rose from three in 2019 to 20 in 2021. In 2022 and 2023, 13 and 10 leopard skins respectively were recovered from criminals.
According to wildlife experts, it requires urgent action to address the problem of leopard skin smuggling and more effective measures to curb illegal trade and protect leopard populations.
Elephant poaching has also emerged as a major challenge. During 10 years between 2014 and 2023, as many as 215 elephant tusks have been recovered.
From 2019 onwards, there has been notable increase in the number of elephant tusk seizures. The numbers jumped sharply from 2018 (10 seizures) to 2019 (36 seizures), indicating a sudden surge in elephant poaching activities. This trend continued with fluctuating but generally high seizure numbers in subsequent years, reaching peaks of 48 seizures in 2022 and 46 seizures in 2023.
Such a significant increase suggests a worsening situation regarding elephant poaching, possibly driven by factors such as increased demand for ivory, organised crime involvement, or weakened enforcement efforts.
