From CK Nayak
New Delhi: With rich forest and wildlife the Northeast is known as ‘Green Lungs of India’.
The region is one of the seven original biodiversity hotspots in the world, but most of its animals and birds are increasingly ending on food tables not only of the tribals who traditionally take such food but also of others including the large number of forces posted there.
There are startling revelations that armed forces also indulge in hunting for food and sports in the border region. The facts came to light in a recent research paper on hunting by three scientists – Nandini Velho, research associate at National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore and a doctoral student at Australia’s James Cook University, Krithi K Karanth, assistant director of the Centre for Wildlife Studies, Bangalore and William F Laurance, an eminent tropical scientist at James Cook University.
Their study shows that hunting was reported in 23 of the 28 states and 7 Union Territories, with 114 species of mammals reportedly hunted in the country.
But unfortunately, the paper said that hunting is most widespread in landlocked Northeast which is not often highlighted.
Besides pushing animals to extinction, hunting also changes the way they behave.
For instance, encounter rates (the chance of spotting an animal or signs of it) of day-time animals declined where guns were used to hunt them during the day.
Likewise, encounter rates of nocturnal animals reduced where guns were used at night.
According to the paper the last one-and-half year has seen an increase in hunting for meat, with a spike in demand in towns around protected areas. The trend has much to do with local economics with highly-priced domestic meat has spawned a market for wild meat, which is found to be cheaper.
While hunting happens across the country, the methods vary.
“Hunters in Uttaranchal used guns (42%) and snares (48%) in roughly equal frequency; in Himachal Pradesh hunters used exclusively guns. In Karnataka, most hunters (94%) used home-made muzzle-loading guns although use of snares was also reported,” says the study.
The paper said that certain communities such as the Nyishi tribe in Arunachal Pradesh have banned the use of locally-made traps called Komiya, which have often caused injuries to people, but allowed guns instead.
In the Himalayan state hunting is deeply embedded in the local culture. Tribals aren’t the only ones hunting in the Northeast.
“Army forces posted on India’s northern borders in the Indo-Myanmar/eastern Himalayan region are also reported to engage actively in hunting,” the paper said.
Government officers, too, are involved in hunting.
“A lot of the killings carried out by locals are either sold or gifted to officers,” it said.
The report says hunting is particularly widespread in Arunachal, which lies within the India-Myanmar and eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots. As many as 94 mammal species are reportedly hunted in these two regions.
Hunting in the Northeast gets a boost because the Southeast Asian market for wildlife trade is close at hand. After hunting an animal in Northeast India, it’s very easy to cut across the border to Myanmar where there is a ready market, the report said.
While neighbouring Tibet was once a large market for illegal animal products from India, there has been a marked drop in demand after the Dalai Lama forbade the use of such products amongst Tibetans. His is amongst several initiatives to curb hunting. In the Northeast, locals from tribes known for their hunting prowess have been roped in for wildlife conservation.
But at the same time not all exotic animals whose flesh is consumed in Northeast are killed. Many are run over by trains and speeding vehicles while some are bundles of flesh left behind by poachers interested in horn (rhino), tusk (elephant), hide (tiger, leopard and deer) and bile (bear).
In certain cases, carnivores are lynched and eaten to avenge the killing of cattle. Some tribes have traditionally eaten certain wild animals, not all, but even non-tribal people are partaking of such meat, another report said.
Elephants are killed in Meghalaya too, their meat sun-dried and smuggled out to Southeast Asia via Bangladesh, the report said.
Wildlife activists said that forest officials have been playing down the issue.
In areas where free exotic meat is available, chicken and mutton selling at Rs 200-300 a kg seldom serve as snacks with alcoholic binges, the report said.