NGOs seek better vigil in Kaziranga- Incentive plea for guards A STAFF REPORTER TELEGRAPH INDIA Gruesome Guwahati, Jan. 24: Five non-governmental organisations working for wildlife conservation in Assam have urged Dispur to be more aggressive and take pre-emptive action against poachers. The plea comes in the wake of frequent and gruesome killing of rhinos in the state. A female rhino and her calf were brutally killed in Kaziranga National Park early this week. This was the second instance of rhino killing in the park this year. At least 21 rhinos were killed in the state last year.
The organisations Aaranyak, WWF-India, EcoSystems-India, Dolphin Foundation and Early Birds told reporters today that the government should focus on preventing poachers from entering the protected areas rather than taking action after they have entered. They said the poachers appeared to have a strong network if they could strike in Kaziranga, which had better security that most national parks. Aaranyak secretary general Bibhab Talukdar alleged that they had often provided the authorities with crucial inputs, but no action had been taken. He also pointed out that one of the shots fired on the female rhino was from a .315 rifle, generally used by officials of government departments, implying a nexus between the two. He said a tranquilliser gun, used for poaching in Kaziranga, had been traced to Nagaland last year. "The inquiry is still on," he said, adding that no follow-up action has been taken. Gautam Narayan of EcoSystems-India said the security in Kaziranga was lax and the rhino population in the park would be wiped out, as in Manas and Laokhowa, if the situation did not improve. The NGOs demanded a special package for all the frontline staff in the park as an incentive for working under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions. They also demanded regular and timely release of funds to all national parks, strengthening of intelligence networks and immediate steps to fill up all vacant posts of field staff. The Kaziranga National Park management yesterday said they needed a "young team" of forest personnel to outrun and outwit poachers.
