The recent spate of poaching of rhinos in Kaziranga has raised plenty of eyebrows. Particularly the picture of a rhino fighting for life, after its horn is brutally axed, was so revealing that even the people who are not normally interested in wildlife also began to feel that something somewhere is wrong in protecting the rhinos and we the people of Assam have a stake in their protection.

Everybody understood that it is a crisis situation and something has to be done. Wild life lovers, NGOs, general public and forest department – all have shown their concern. So far so good. But trouble began when everybody started a blame. In the process irresponsible remarks were made against forest officials by NGOs and some officials tried to belittle the NGOs. Similarly, certain print and electronic media – in order to make the story more sensational tried to make the forest guards and other officials responsible for the mayhem.

For God’s sake, do not think that it is a brief for the forest officials. But due to long association with wild life in general and Kaziranga in particular, I can vouchsafe that the forest guards and other officials in Kaziranga are by and large sincere and have very rarely compromised their duty towards conservation. Those who are associated with Kaziranga National Park know that Parama Lahon, as director of the Park, motivated a whole band of ill-equiped, ill-nourished and nearly forgotten forest guards and others towards real conservation. That sincerity and enthusiasm for conservation is still there among the forest officials of KNP. Particularly, efforts of a person like Dharani Dhar Boro, the present range officer of Kohora range is grudgingly acknowledged by all and sundry.

Many people in Assam do not have a clear idea about what is happening and whom to blame. To me, a large portion of the blame should be apportioned to us – the general public including NGOs and the media in Assam. It is because we have failed to create enough awareness among the people for conservation. This is borne out by the fact of recent arrest of the poachers. Contrary to common belief, these poachers are neither Bangladeshis who settled illegally in the park area nor they are the extremists across the neighbouring Karbi Anglong. They are very much a part of our society and legal residents of a Assamese village. To me, this is a very alarming tendency and we all should address this situation.

For this I think it is high time that we stop mud-slinging and genuinely think of ways and means to address the grim situation. One of my suggestions is that intelligence network in all the sanctuaries should be strengthened. So government should consider providing source money to forest officials to gather worthwhile intelligence. Further, since the protection job is definitely in the hands of forest department, NGOs and others should try to strengthen their hands. Recently one NGO (Kaziranga Wildlife Society) has done this by appealing to the public to inform about stray rhinos by giving the phone numbers of different range offices of Kaziranga National Park.

The Kaziranga Wildlife Society has distributed leaflets with a gruesome picture of a hapless dying rhino whose horn had been brutally cut down by poachers after it had strayed away from its safe haven. The society has appealed to the public to inform the nearest forest outpost or range outpost whenever they witness any suspected straying rhino which is in danger of being poached. The phone numbers given in the leaflets are Burapahar -94351-93602, Agaratoli - 03776-268032, 94352-93773, Bagori - 03672-28463, 99542-46233, Kohora - 03776-262428, 262494, 94351-52364, 94351-52829, Kaziranga National Park - 03776-268007/268086, 94351-02039/94350-53434.

But the most significant step has to be taken by the forest department. Department should weed ont incompetent or corrupt official from Kaziranga wildlife sanctuary with an iron hand. Because, Kaziranga belongs not only to forest department but to all of us in Assam and North-East, or rather to the world as a whole, for the national park is known globally as the abode of one-horned rhinos.

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source: the Assam Tribune, 8th Mar'' 2008