As many as 51 incidents of illegal wildlife trade were reported from Karnataka during 2020. Overall, 173 incidents were documented from southern States - Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana - in the year, a new analysis of data has found.
The report, ‘“Wildlife Poaching and Illegal Trade in India: 2020’ by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) - India, which aims at providing a comprehensive overview of illegal wildlife trade in India for 2020, is an assessment of data collected through publicly available online open-source newspaper articles carried out by our Counter Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) team.
“We documented 522 unique reports of wildlife poaching and trade in 2020 from India. We came across the maximum number of events involving ungulates (89 incidents), followed by big cats (82 incidents), pangolins (72 incidents), tortoises and freshwater turtles (61 incidents), elephants (57 incidents), red sandalwood (52 incidents), other reptiles (49 incidents), birds (37 incidents), marine wildlife (35 incidents), other mammals (34 incidents), uncategorized (17 incidents), non-native wildlife (13 incidents), and rhinos (9 incidents),” the report said, adding that the number of documented incidents from media reports suggests that despite the pandemic and the related lockdowns, illegal hunting and trade in wildlife continued across India.
Nirmal Kulkarni, Senior Consultant, Counter Wildlife Trafficking Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society - India, said although some of these are truly hotspots of hunting and trade, many hotspots are, in fact, areas of effective enforcement that have been able to detect illegal wildlife trade.
When asked about the species under threat, Uttara Mendiratta, Programme Head, Counter Wildlife Trafficking Programme, Wildlife Conservation Society - India, said, pangolins are hunted for their scales that are sold into international markets in addition to hunting for the consumption of its meat.
“Freshwater turtles and tortoises are harvested in huge quantities from across India for the international and domestic pet trade and localised consumption in parts of India. Sea fans seem to have found their way into domestic markets, especially those surrounding charms and black magic. We do not yet clearly understand the international market for this if any,” she said.
“High volume seizures involving sea cucumbers have taken place along many parts of coastal India. Although not commonly consumed in India, sea cucumbers are used extensively for gourmet dishes in other parts of the world.
Elephant ivory continues to have a market internationally and in India, driving the killing of male elephants across the country. Big cats such as tigers and leopards are killed for their skins, teeth, claws and other body parts. These cats are also often accidentally killed in snares set for catching other animals, such as deer, that are hunted for consumption,” she added.
According to the report, big cat incidents were documented in 63 districts across 19 states and 1 Union Territory: the highest number from Odisha (15 incidents), followed by Maharashtra (13 incidents), Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka (9 incidents each), and Chhattisgarh (6 incidents).
The report highlights a seizure incident from Bengaluru in November, which revealed a huge network catering to the demands for big cat parts in the jewellery industry (400 leopard nails and six tiger nails seized), indicating “an elaborate supply chain tracing the network from poachers to smugglers, to jewellery vendors, and regular customers, who demand big cat parts embossments in gold pendants/lockets and other jewellery.”
The report also suggests that illegal trade of elephant ivory persisted due to its high demand in the local and international markets. The highest number of illegal trade incidents took place in Karnataka (10 incidents), followed by Odisha (7 incidents), Tamil Nadu (7 incidents) and Assam (6 incidents). The notable seizure incidents recorded from these states include seizure of 25 kg of ivory in Mysuru (Karnataka), 21 16 kg in Wayanad (Kerala), and 19 kg in Keonjhar (Odisha), it added.
The report also said incidents of first-time offenders who were attempting to sell pangolins opportunistically were documented in locations such as Karnataka (Bhadra Forests, Muthodi Forest Area, Belur Range, and Kalasapura) and Telangana (Bhadrachalam, Kothagudem).
As the Forest Department continues to be the primary agency that is mandated to protect India’s wildlife, and has, over the years, diversified to include special crime cells to meet the challenges of illegal wildlife trade, other enforcement agencies, such as the police, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), customs, also play an important role in combating it, she added.
“Additionally, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), an interagency unit under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), has been central to India’s effort to combat IWT. The need of the hour is to ensure that sufficient funds and committed and proper training are undertaken for these agencies to enable them to prevent, detect and prosecute IWT. Additionally, it is critical that there is awareness amongst other sections of the government, like the judiciary, and amongst the masses, about IWT. It is vital that we highlight the threat IWT poses, to wildlife and humans. Similarly, focussed conservation awareness campaigns in communities in identified hotspots are equally essential,” said Ms. Mendiratta.
