Nine snow leopards killed by poachers since 2008, reveals RTI reply

Nine sw leopards have been poached and killed in country since 2008 and eight poachers arrested for crime, according to data obtained under Right to Information (RTI) Act.

se killings were reported from Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Presh, Uttarakhand and Delhi, according to data provided by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), under Ministry of Environment and Forests.

ida-based lawyer Ranjan Tomar h sought state-wise data on sw leopards killed by poachers in last 10 years and offenders arrested from WCCB, a statutory body formed to combat organised wildlife crime.

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"As per data available in records of bureau based on information from state forest and police departments, nine sw leopards have been killed and eight poachers have been arrested in last 10 years in India," WCCB said in a written reply.

Of nine cases, four were in Jammu and Kashmir -- one in 2010 while three in 2014. Two such deaths were reported from Himachal Presh in 2011, two from Uttarakhand in 2012, and one from Delhi in 2016, it stated.

sw leopard is a vulnerable species found predominantly in central and south Asia, according to International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which estimates ir number globally between 2,710 and 3,386.

In India, species is found in Himachal Presh, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Arunachal Presh.

Tomar h also sought to kw similar details about lion-tailed macaque, an endangered species endemic to western ghats, but bureau said it does t maintain such data.

WCCB said it conducts capacity-building programmes for forest and police officials of wildlife cases under provisions of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

It said it also carries out sensitisation and awareness programmes for officials of border guarding forces, customs, Central Industrial Security Forces, Railway Protection Force, Government Railway Police, judicial officers and or stakeholders like representatives of Panchayat Raj institutions and students on importance of wildlife and its role to combat wildlife crime.

" WCCB issues alerts and visories on poaching and illegal tre of wildlife after specific inputs and analysis of modus operandi of arrested wildlife criminals to state and central ncies concerned for preventive action," bureau said in reply.

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