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making a killing on whatever comes
their way. Chhattisgarh is an apt ex- Chhattisgarh has
ample of this as the state has become three national Parks and
a cemetary of wildlife with dozens of
cases of poaching in the state while 11 wildlife sanctuaries, each
animals in the sanctuaries are dying of with its own set of
thirst.
A few days ago, an elephant died attractions and appeal
when trapped in a swamp in the
Kendai Forest Range of Korba forest
area distracts, raising question mark
over the ill-prepardness of the forest
department.

illagers say that the elephant
died due to cold and being
V trapped in the marsh for 40
hours. The forest department when
contacted made lame excuse that they
“had tried to save the elephant by put-
ting two JCBs, but due to the arrival of
elephant teams, the rescue had to be
stopped in the middle”.
Now a three-member investiga-
tion team has been formed under Ad- If you are coming to Chhattisgarh leopards were not hunted, from where
ditional Principal Chief Conservator of as a tourist to have a look at the wild- did their skins come from? Singhvi
Wildlife SK Singh, who will submit the life you may be in for disappointment claims that on natural death of tigers
investigation report within 15 days. because tigers have become almost and leopards, their corpses cannot be
More than 15 wildlife animals have extinct from the forests. The statistics removed in good condition because of
died in the last five months. Shankari, of the department are revealing how rottenness. Therefore, tigers and leop-
the world’s tallest tigress, has already serious the forest department of Chhat- ards are hunted.
died due to the alleged negligence of tisgarh is regarding the protection of In the last assembly session itself, the
the authorities. Just a few months ago, tigers. state forest minister Mohammad Akbar
a tiger named Bali also died. Six months Statistics of Wild Animal and poach- confessed that more than 34 crores had
ago, a leopard died due to the cold in ing database of Chhattisgarh show that been spent on the observation of tigers
Maitri Bagh in Bhilai known for its 17 tiger skins have been recovered in within four years in 2015-2019. Amaz-
street plant. the state in the last 4 years. Obviously, ingly, the amount kept increasing but
In February 2019, a leopard’s body these skins will either be from Chhat- the number of tigers kept decreasing.
was found in Lamer. Death of two tisgarh or the Tiger Reserve built in the According to the Forest Minister, in
wild bears in Surajpur district, death touching boundaries of Chhattisgarh. comparison to 26 tigers in 2006, only
of a Hippotamus in the zoo in Bilaspur, It is shocking that Kanker is the 19 tigers were left till 2019, whereas in
death of Asia’s oldest tigress in Durg, name of the largest hideout of hunt- 2014 there were confirmed to be 46 ti-
death of an elephant in Pratappur, ers in the Mufid forest division, which gers in the state. That is, 27 tigers disap-
death of elephant due to swamp in Kor- is considered to be the home area of peared in just five years.
ba are indicators to what is happening Chief Conservator of Forests Rakesh The villagers have confirmed the
in Chhatisgarh. So far only five smug- Chaturvedi. sighting of a tiger in Gurur forest ad-
glers have been arrested with the skin As many as 5 out of 17 tiger skins joining Dhamtari and Rajnandgaon a
of seven leopards. were found only from Kanker For- night before this news was written.
In the new capital, the government est Division. RTI activist Nitin Singhvi The state’s sanctuaries are no longer
has claimed to build Asia’s largest jun- wrote a letter to the member secretary safe for leopards as compared to tigers,
gle safari spread over 326 hectares at a of the National Tiger Conservation Au- especially in the Udanti Sitanadi Tiger
cost of 280 crores. On the other hand, thority to get a detailed investigation Reserve, leopard hunting continues
natural sanctuaries are becoming vic- done. Questioning the recovery of such indiscriminately. In the last 10 years,
tims of government negligence, cor- a large number of tiger and leopard about 51 leopard skins have been re-
ruption and poachers. skins, Singhvi said that if tigers and covered that is on an average 5 leop-

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