Bengaluru: A couple of weeks ago we were cock-a-hoop about tiger numbers increasing in the country. Now, we are a worried lot as we are losing tigers regularly to poisoning and poaching. Natural deaths do occur due to territorial fights. But death through poisoning is threatening the very existence of our flagship species. It has become a regular occurrence over the last five years.
Unlike in the past, people don't need guns to kill the world's most majestic animal. They just need DDT, which is available across the counter in most village hamlets adjoining our tiger habitats. The moment a tiger or leopard kills their cattle or goats, people spray DDT on the half-eaten carcass. The tiger succumbs when it eats the poison-laden meat.
As records manifest, we lost a robust four-year-old tigress at the Kundhakere range in Bandipur to poisoning recently.
The news of losing two eight-month old cubs in Nagarhole tiger reserve to starvation is disturbing. It was fortunate that another emancipated cub was rescued and taken to the Mysore zoo. Had the mother of the cubs been alive, this would not have happened. Intriguingly, there is no trace of the mother. Its carcass has not been found as yet. Was it poisoned? Was it poached? The Karnataka Forest Department has no clue.
It was with the intent to suppress poaching that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) created the Special Tiger Protection Force. But the state of the STPF in Karnataka is as precarious as that of the tiger. While the tiger is being persecuted by poachers and enraged farmers, the STPF personnel are being harassed by their bosses.
You may ask why so? If you read what follows you will understand their predicament.
It is shocking that the STPF staff were made to sign a bond which implies that that they are not entitled for transfer until they turn 40. The average age of the STPF range forest officers, deputy range forest officers, forest guards and watchers is 23. That means they can't seek a transfer for 15 to 17 years.
These are woes that the NTCA and KFD need to address before a whole lot of some of them quit their jobs in frustration. As it is, as a demoralized lot they have not been able to perform their duty to the best of their ability.
1. They are unhappy that they have been made to sign a draconian bond, which compels them to work in the STPF until they are 40 years old, while their batch mates who are part of the regular wildlife force sign a bond only for five years.
2. They are depressed that their batch mates, culled from the 218 personnel that were absorbed by the KFD in 2010, get transfers when they ask for one.
3. They are hurt that they have to work under the orders of their batch mates who comprise the regular wildlife force. They feel ridiculed that a batch mate, who trained alongside them, commands them, though both are of the same rank.
4. More significantly they are perturbed that prospective brides are not willing to marry them as they have signed the draconian bond which binds them to the "no transfer clause until they are 40".
5. Lack of proper ammunition when they are up against poachers and better work environment are other issues that rankle the STPF.
When the STPF plight is thus, how can we expect the force to save our wildlife and forests?
(Joseph Hoover is a well known wildlife photographer and conservationist. He is also a member of Karnataka Wildlife Board)
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