Shivaraj Bhatta, ecologist at the Department of National Parks and Nature Conservation who visited the blackbuck habitat last month, says that he saw the most bizarre poaching-related kills in his entire career at the Blackbuck Conservation Area, 36 kilometers from Bardiya National Park.
“One blackbuck was shot death but the poachers had only taken its tail. Another blackbuck´s entire stomach was cut out but the rest of the body was left behind at the spot,” says Bhatta.
Park officials say that another blackbuck had its ears cut off while yet another had only its belly button removed.
These four poaching incidents that took place in the first two weeks of May stunned locals who treat the blackbuck, or krishnasar in Nepali, with religious reverence.
The blackbuck is an endangered antelope which is found in Nepal only in Bardiya. Blackbucks live in grasslands outside the forests and their habitat was recently declared a Blackbuck Conservation Area, covering a 1,625 hectares.
The conservation area includes human settlements and the blackbuck which prefers to eat tender plants, usually comes for the crop at villagers´ farms. While some villagers find the blackbucks a nuisance, according to Tikaram Adhikari, warden of Bardiya National Park, most regard it as a lucky sign if a blackbuck nibbles at the crop in their farms.
“Villagers of the area share the belief that if a blackbuck eats some crop from their land, they will have a prosperous crop year,” says Adhikari.
Last month´s poachings have troubled the locals, who organized a day-long workshop to discuss the matter. According to Warden Adhikari, 400 people gathered at the conservation area expressed their shock at the incident and strengthened their commitment to preserving the animal.
While preservation efforts have been successful with the number of blackbucks rising from nine in 1975 to 215 in 2009, national park officials feel that they still don´t have the technical knowhow to investigate poaching activity and regulate it authoritatively.
“We only use a method of spying to locate the culprits but we don´t have a forensics department and thus lack modern investigative means,” says Bhatta, who is also the planning officer at the Department of National Parks.
No doubt the culprits behind the bizarre blackbuck poaching haven´t yet been identified. Warden Adhikari only has assumptions about who they are. Police have raided villages in the area for clues, but to no avail. Apart from creating a spooky feel among the locals, the incident has certainly shown that the blackbucks are vulnerable to poaching although conservation efforts have led to an increase their numbers.
kushal@myrepublica.com
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