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ELECTROCUTION OF WILD ANIMALS- A CAUSE OF CONCERN |
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by Anishka Jha | 04-07-2017 00:35 0 |
Few days back I came across a mind boggling news in national daily of UAE. It was regarding large scale electrocution of animals in India in order to trap them. Stringent laws by the government of India against poaching of animals has led to hunting becoming very difficult in many parts of India but this has given rise to the use of easier methods of poaching animals. Electrocution is turning into the preferred method to trap wild animals across India. Wildlife lovers and experts say that while poisoning, shooting, foot-traps (snares) and even explosive-traps are among some of the popular poaching methods in Indian forests, electrocution is on the rise because it goes mostly undetected and animals die quickly. According to experts, while shooting is risky and poisoning often harms cattle, leading to an uproar from the villagers, electrocution is a silent way that mostly goes undetected. Among these incidents, the most recent ones include two elephants, one tigress, two leopards and one sloth bear were killed due to electrocution in different areas on India. Only strong intelligence and active surveillance can stop animal being electrocuted. Sometimes, elephants get electrocuted accidentally while reaching out to leaves when they touch the loosely hanging wire. Wires often hang loose due to the long distance between the electric poles in forests. Electrocution is a method in which a wired trap or fence, mostly powered by a high tension electric line passing nearby in the forests, is used to kill the animals, either for poaching or to protect fields from herbivores. The electric wires are either placed on the preferred routes of the animals or passed through the water bodies used by animals. Wildlife experts say instances of electrocution are on the rise and despite the 2005 guidelines of the Supreme Court?s Central Empowered Committee (CEC) to the State Electricity Boards and Forest Departments to strengthen security to prevent poaching by electrocution, nothing much has been done. According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), while every year at least 20 elephants die due to electrocution, 43 elephants were killed in 2016 itself. Animals are an indispensable part of the flora and fauna of our ecology. Human life cannot sustain without wild life around them as it balances our food chain. The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 provides for the protection of wild animals, birds and plants. However comprehensive measures are needed to spread awareness against poaching of animals especially amongst the native local people. Inputs- Gulf News, photo credit - Gulf News
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8 Comments
thanks for sharing
Posted 06-02-2018 21:19
good information
Posted 06-02-2018 21:19
Interesting! Out of curiousity though, is electrocution still being used in India to 'trap' said animals?
Posted 15-08-2017 21:36
Another sad result of human greed... Thanks for highlighting the issue Anishka. It is unfortunate that such actions go undetected and unpunished. Let us hope that our patrols and authorities can control such activities. Stringent control on poached items can help to deter poachers.
Posted 22-07-2017 01:52
Oh! I can't even imagine the pain suffered by animals during this electrocution (however short duration it may be and however silent killing it may be). We have no right to kill these innocent animals. We must live in harmony with all the creatures in this ecosystem. I agree with you that animals, birds all are an important part of our ecosystem and such killing leads to ecological imbalance and will subsequently affect us too adversely. Thanks for raising such a serious issue here. I hope something is done soon enough to stop this.
Posted 13-07-2017 01:33
This is something that we all should look into. Animals indeed are our friends. Several such initiatives by several organizations have been taken place to strengthen the bond between animals and humans like the first Lego league. Thanks for updating my information anishka.
Posted 06-07-2017 17:21
Poaching is terrible. Very sorry for poor animals.
Posted 05-07-2017 20:57
Heard new thing.
Hope it's not in use in Nepal.
Will probably search more about it.
Thanks anyway.
Posted 05-07-2017 01:12