MAWPHLANG: Incidents of hunting have increased in the Mawphlang area during the lockdown and locals have been alerted about any perpetration, said Tambor Lyngdoh of the Synjuk Ki Hima Arliar-Wah Umiam, a welfare society.
Lyngdoh said hunting is banned in Mawphlang since 1915 and wild animals in the adjacent forests find the locality a safe haven and often take refuge there.
Recently, a barking deer was killed in Mawphlang and a case was lodged against villagers. Lyngdoh showed the forested hills where the animal was hunted down and said, “The forest has a variety of herbs and villagers from Mawphlang often go there to collect the plants. That falls under Laitkroh village and the carcass of the animal was found there by a group of Mawphlang villagers a day after it was killed. The hunters were from a different locality.”
Lyngdoh informed the district forest official the next day and the carcass was sent for postmortem. The report had shown that the hunters used shotgun. “There were traces of gunpowder. I had also written to the Hima in this regard (hunting),” he said, adding that villagers in Mawphlang are aware of wildlife protection.
He also mentioned about the rescue of a cub of leopard cat in the village.
According to Lyngdoh, while the ban on entry of tourists to the area due to lockdown has resulted in Mawphlang sacred grove becoming more pristine, in contrast the rise in hunting of wild animals in the nearby areas is a cause for concern despite over a century-old ban.
“We are trying to address the issue by coordinating with the forest officials,” Lyngdoh said.
Conservation
The village also has separate rules regulating logging and the villagers use forest products judiciously.
Several villagers, mostly women, were seen walking many kilometers from the valley carrying firewood in cane baskets.
They said they only take the logs and branches of dead trees which are used as firewood.
“There is strict instruction not to fell trees,” Lyngdoh said.
