KATHMANDU, Jan 13:
Case-1
Human-Tiger Coexistence Amidst Rising Tiger Population
Police in Sunsari district arrested two poachers--Ram Dayal Babaria and Shrawan Babaria -- both from the Banjara community-- in possession of tiger skins on 26th December, 2015. Two others implicated, identified as Kala and Suman, are still at large.
Case-2
Police in Bardiya on 21st May, 2015 arrested a poacher identified as Jassu from Maharagadi-4 of Bardia, in connection with the tiger skin trade. Three others allegedly involved in poaching --Kala, Hajara and Aamir-- have been absconding. These individuals also belonged to the Banjara community.
Case-3
Police in Kanchanpur seized a tiger skin at Dodhara on 15th January 2015, another tiger skin at Belauri on the 19th of the same month and yet another one at Tribhuwan Basti, Punarbas in the same district on 28th February. In all three cases also, the poachers were from the Banjara community.
While the Asian big cats are under serious threat from human activities, Nepal's own big cats are under immense threat from the Banjara community among others, according to a recent study of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police.
"The involvement of the Banjara community in the poaching of big cats in Nepal and trading in body parts is a new trend in wildlife crime in this country," said the DIG Hemanta Malla, director of CIB.
About a week ago, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India (WCCB) forwarded information to CIB on the Banjara community, indicating the organized involvement of the community in poaching and trading in tiger skins and other such activities.
A study on wild cat species shows that out of 40 such species, 16 are considered vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered due to loss of habitat, human conflict, loss of prey and increasing global trade in wildlife trophies.
According to the CIB study, the Banjara community became active in Nepal after the death notorious wildlife trader Sansar Chand. Chand's strong network for wildlife smuggling in South Asia could not be handled by members of his family--his brother Narayan Chand, wife Rani Chand and daughter Seema Chand. The late Chand, who was under trial for several wildlife crimes, died of cancer in March 2014 while undergoing treatment.
During the CIB investigation, the arrested members of the Banjara community disclosed that they became active in Nepal after the monopoly of Chand's network collapsed following his demise.
Preliminary investigations show that there was massive involvement of the Banjara community in wildlife crime, mainly tiger poaching and trading, in the last few years. The authorities are yet to ascertain the total number of big cats killed in Nepal.
In a major CIB operation titled 'Operation Wild Eagle', some nine tiger skins were seized from different parst of the country. DNA tests proved that most of the skins were of tigers from Bardiya National Park.
"We were in the dark about the origin of the tiger skins and the poachers but now we are sure about the involvement of the Banjara," the investigators said.
As part of efforts to curb such crimes Nepal Police units in different wildlife crime-probe zones -- Bardiya, Banke, Bara Parsa, Sarlahi-- have issued a special alert against the activities of the Banjara community, which is to be found in temporary settlements in the Nepal-India border areas.
The Banjarja are said to belong to the Roma gypsies who migrated from Europe 2,300 years ago to the deserts of Rajasthan. Their traditional attire is considered convenient for hiding wildlife body parts.
"They have a very strong network and have started trading on their own," police investigators said on the basis of information from India's WCCB.
They are more active from November to February and scatter across their targeted poaching sites after holding their annual meetings in Hariyana or Punjab. Police said the Banjara poach only wildlife with claws and they use traditional weapons such as fanshi, fanda, khaka and also poison. Traditionally, the males of the community do the poaching while the children and females hide and transport the contraband.
"All stakeholders need to join hands to fight the new trend in wildlife crime and save the tigers, whose numbers in Nepal are now down to 198," DIG Malla said. Police suspect that some kingpins from Nepal and Tibet are also involved with the Banjara community.
Security agencies are worried about the porous border and the increasing demand in China, Vietnam and Western countries for wildlife parts at a time when the big cat population in India is also in decline.
