Army jawans found cooking chinkara meat in Barmer army camp

In a shocking incident, at least five army jawans participating in the ongoing Sudarshan Shakti exercise on the India-Pak border hunted three endangered chinkaras (Indian gazelle) in the Nimbla Sajitala area of Barmer's Sheo tehsil on Friday.

"After being informed by the villagers, officials from the state forest department rushed to the camp and recovered the severed heads of the gazelles besides uncooked meat," P.R. Bhadu, territorial district forest officer (DFO) of Barmer, said.

The five army jawans have been identified as subedar Gopilal, hawaldar D.R. Nath, nayak N. Sarkar, lance nayak P.R. Pardesi and sipahi D.R. Naidu. Bhadu said the jawans fled the camp when the forest officials raided it.

They also left behind the army vehicle that was used in the hunting. The vehicle, which had bloodstains on it, was seized and released only after an examination by the forensic experts.

Defence spokesperson S.D. Goswami said a court of inquiry was ordered to investigate into the matter. He said if the accused were found guilty, they would be dealt with sternly.

Calling it a very serious offense, Bhadu said the recovery of the hunted chinkara- that too in a "langar" (kitchen) of the army camp - was unprecedented. The meat was being cooked when the forest department officials raided the place.

The accused have been booked under sections 9 to 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides for a maximum punishment of seven years, including financial penalty.

Hunting of chinkara is banned under Schedule I of the Act. The law also prohibits hunting of blackbuck, cheetah, elephant, rhinoceros, snow leopard, tiger, lion and several other wild animals.

Member of the state committee for wildlife and environment Rajpal Singh pointed out that the locals had been complaining for long that the army officers were frequently hunting the endangered species but no action could be taken for want of evidence. "But now with the undisputed evidence available, the complaints had been proved correct," he said, adding that the senior officers of the army should look into the matter and ensure that such incidents did not occur in future.

This is not the first time that the hunting of an endangered species has created a controversy. The late Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi had to face court proceedings after he killed a blackbuck in 2005 and then absconded as a fugitive. In another case in 1998, Bollywood actor Salman Khan was booked when he killed two blackbucks in Bhawad near Jodhpur.

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Meat shop within 10 km of airport illegal

INDORE: State urban development minister Babulal Gaur may have told the Assembly on Thursday that there is no provision in the Indian Aircraft Act to determine minimum distance from the airport for setting up of meat shops, but the Act specifies that there should be no slaughtering of animals within a radius of 10 km from the airport.

Gaur had accepted on the floor of the House that two licensed meat shops were in existence within the municipal limits in the proximity of Devi Ahilyabai Airport at Indore. Outside the municipal limits, two license shops and 14 unlicensed shops were functioning within the panchayat limits. He had also informed the House that there is no provision in the Act to determine minimum distance from the airport for setting up of meat shop.

Rule 91 of the Aircraft Act of clearly "prohibits slaughtering and flaying of animals, depositing rubbish and other polluted or obnoxious matter within a radius of 10 km from aerodrome reference point."

Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) had also sent a letter (AV 15023/1/2009-AS (Nbcc)) in November 2009 to all state government and Union territories, asking them to take necessary action under Rule 91 of Aircraft Act for control of incidents of bird hits.

The letter stated that the ministry of civil aviation has constituted the National Bird Control Committee (NBCC), with civil aviation secretary as its chairman. The committee pointed out that the provisions of Rule 91 of Aircraft Act are not being enforced effectively.

The letter has also advised the chief secretary and commissioner or head of districts to chair the Airfield Environment Management Committee (AEMC), formed by the ministry of home affairs, to hold meetings on regular basis with local civic bodies and police and list preventive measures to be implemented on a fixed time frame for the control of bird's presence in the vicinity of airports.

Congress MLA Satya Narayan Patel, who raised the issue of bird-hit in the Assembly, said Gaur has misguided the House about the provision of the rule and the government is not very serious about the safety of air travellers.

In another letter, the DGCA has asked the Airports Authority of India to carry out a survey of the area -- about 10 km all around the airport - and work with the local administration and police authorities to identify any violation of Aircraft Rules in the case of slaughter houses, unauthorised piggeries, meat shops, dumping of garbage and other sources that can attract birds and register FIRs to have them removed.

Till now, a survey was conducted but it did nit extend to a radius of 10 km and not a single FIR has been filed.

Stick to animal exchange norms, Indore zoo told

INDORE: Two months after the death of a white tiger cub shortly after a few days of its transfer to Indore zoo from Aurangabad, the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZAI) has instructed all zoological parks across the country to strictly adhere to its guidelines for animal exchange programme.

The CZAI observed that the quality of captive animals in some zoos suffered due to violation of animal exchange programme and many died after their relocation. Wildlife experts attribute it to pre-mature release of cubs in a zoo to attract visitors.

However, the new order raised question over the plans of Indore zoo to transfer lion from Kamla Nehru Zoological Park in Rajkot and tiger from Junagarh Zoological Park. Zoo in-charge Uttam Yadav claimed that they have made the plans by keeping CZAI guidelines in mind.The zoo, going by the guidelines, needs to have forest like cage (mot) for animals and exchange of animals should be allowed only if a pair is available. Besides, it is necessary to conduct medical check-up of animals before and after relocation or exchange. Animal which are 20% above their average age and less than their 80% of average age can only be exchanged.

Sources said most of the time ill underage or above prescribed age animal are exchanged and animals are also not exchanged in pair. It affects their reproduction. In exchange, under and above age animals run greater risk of death in as these are unable to adjust to new atmosphere.

Wildlife experts stress on need for green structures .

Eco-engineering and wildlife experts have stressed on the need for green structures and preventing habitat loss to allow wild animals, especially elephants to travel through wildlife corridors. This is vital to mitigate the damage caused to wildlife and environment by habitat fragmentation and also to lessen the rising human-wildlife conflict in the Terai region of Uttarakhand.

These views emerged at the international conference on eco engineering for connecting wildlife corridors organised in Dehradun on Sunday by Tiger Protection Group and Wildlife Savers Society in association with Uttarakhand forest department.

Speaking as the chief guest of the event, the Vidhan Sabha Speaker Harbans Kapur said that the growing conflict between humans and elephants in the State is a cause for serious concern. Expressing hope that the conference would come up with important recommendations for addressing this problem, he said that the State Government would follow these recommendations while stressing that the State and Central Governments need to work together with all stakeholders to resolve this issue.

Professor and Chair of the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Raman Sukumar said, “About 400 people die annually in India due to human-animal conflict. Habitat fragmentation and degradation is a major cause of this conflict which can be mitigated by enabling unrestricted movement of elephants and other wild animals in wildlife corridors. However, various factors like the bio diversity of forest areas linked by a corridor and the size of the area have to be considered while taking measures for consolidating such corridors.”

Strays keep scholars company at PAU

LUDHIANA: Every day many researchers and scholars from India and abroad frequent the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) campus that is known for its spick and span surroundings, wide roads and soothing landscape apart from the academic quotient.But, the authorities at PAU are confronting a peculiar problem of increasing stray dogs on the campus.

Whether it is vice-chancellor's office, students' welfare office, hostels or Parker house, groups of stray dogs running here and there or just basking under the sun is a common sight at the campus. The previous efforts of PAU authorities to control the number of stray dogs have proved futile and they are now contemplating various measures to keep a tab on them.

"Stray dogs have been a problem with PAU for many years. Earlier, we had transported them in trolleys to far-off places but they returned. There are many hot spots for these dogs surrounding our varsity like a busy marriage palace near one gate and a busy market outside another, so these dogs come from there,'' said a senior official of PAU administration, on the condition of anonymity.

The official added they are planning to implement some more measures to control their population. "We can rope in GADVASU (Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University), which is located inside PAU campus, to tackle this problem. A plan for mass sterilisation or setting up a dog pond might resolve the issue,'' he added.

Stop exhibition of animals: AWBI tells Jumbo Circus

The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) on Friday suspended the performing animal registration of The Jumbo Circus, which is currently on in Patiala. The action follows complaints of cruelty to animals and subsequent inquiry into the allegations. 

Marking copies of the communiqué — a copy of which is with The Indian Express — to the said effect to state chief secretary, director general of police, chief wildlife warden, patiala deputy commissioner and patiala senior superintendent of police, the AWBI has asked the circus officials to stop exhibition of animals as an interim measure, pending inquiry. In case of non-compliance of the directions, the AWBI warned of legal action against the circus. The AWBI letter also stated that the circus did not send monthly reports of all performing animals and submit an “adequate corroboration” of having employed a full-time veterinarian. 

The circus had come under scanner when during an inspection, Panipat SDM (Civil) had noted that a hippo with corneal opacity (less vision) and dogs with docked tails were being used at the performances. After receiving complaints regarding general upkeep and maintenance of the animals and cruelty to them during transportation and training, the board had appointed an inspecting officer to look into the matter. 

It is learnt that in his report submitted to the board, Dr Sandeep Kumar Jain listed a number of irregularities. These included a horse Abas who was tied from both legs, another horse Deepak who as “sick and isolated”, a donkey Tunty was tied from both legs, three female camels tied in “open cold weather”, wings of a bird “clipped”, tails of dogs “docked” and hippopotamus Raja suffering from “chronic corneal opacity, who did not respond to the sight of food but only responded to the voice of keepers”.  

Jain also pointed out in the report that while one elephant Lucky Prashad “did not belong to Jumbo Circus”, another was tied from both feet.When contacted, Jumbo Circus official R P Sharma, however, claimed that they were yet to receive the AWBI communiqué. “Dr Sandeep Jain had conducted an inspection. After taking all necessary steps to overcome the discrepancies pointed to us, the circus is now following all norms. We have already gifted away the dogs with docked tails. The hippo is no more performing. Only one leg of the animal is tied and likewise there is no irregularity in the circus now,” he added.