Nation»
Officials want more teeth to curb poaching
KATHMANDU, MAY 09 -
Amid reports of poaching of the endangered one-horned rhinos inside the Chitwan National Park (CNP), park officials have pointed out the need for improving the conservation approach as well as equipping
security personnel with high-tech weapons to curb such crime.
The concern comes in the wake of news reports on Sunday that poachers killed three rhinos for horns and left a fourth one injured this year alone. A rhino was found dead and poachers fled with the horn on Friday evening at Bhalu Khola inside the park.
Megh Bahadur Pandey, deputy director general at the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), says, “The traditional conservation approaches cannot protect the endangered species now.”
The poachers, who electrocute or use modern guns to kill rhinos, are more equipped than security personnel and officials patrolling the park, said Pandey.
“The recent incident in which poachers killed a rhino and fled with its horn
within 15 minutes the gunshot was heard shows poachers are well-equipped to elude arrest,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation on Sunday decided to deploy three more officials at the CNP for the next three months. A senior Army official said presence of security personnel cannot curb poaching unless they are provided with modern equipment to deal with poachers.
Altogether 1,272 Army personnel are deployed in 47 security posts inside the CNP.
Posted on: 2010-05-10 07:21
Headlines
Advertisements
