KATHMANDU, March 17: While the government is mulling to destroy wildlife body parts stored as 'trophies' for more than 18 years at various sanctuaries across the country, security agencies and research and academic institutions have suggested preserving these for study, research and display instead of destroying the whole lot.
Even as the cabinet is all set to give its final consent for destroying the wildlife trophies and body parts as recommended by the Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MoFSC) and with the assistance of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), the authorities concerned remain unhappy and cite the lack of appropriate modules for the destruction.According to Krishna Prasad Acharya, joint-secretary at MoFSC, the Central Police Forensic Science Laboratory of Nepal Police, the Institute of Forestry in Pokhara, colleges with programs in wildlife and forests and other research-based institutions have sought some samples for study purposes and appealed for the preservation of the collected trophies for future reference.
"We have been mulling over their concerns and the government will take necessary measures before destroying any trophies," Acharya said. At this time, the authorities are more sensitive over the security of the trophies that are spared destruction, he added.
The authorities also face another complication, as some cases related to the trophies are yet to be settled and some of the parts could be fakes.
DIG Nawa Raj Silwal, director at the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), said, "It is really important to preserve the wildlife body parts and trophies for the use of security agencies, when investigating related cases in future." How can investigators compare samples with genuine parts from the past if these are not available," he questioned.
However, Rishi Ranabhat, an ecologist with DNPWC, said it was useless storing the wildlife trophies if storage standards cannot be met and related experts are not available.
"Unless we have a digital information system, a bar coding system, a secure storage building and effective disposal processes, attempts to manage the wildlife trophies will be useless," Ranabhat said.
But the regulations endorsed by the government in August 2015 are in place to manage the trophies, a government official said.
On the basis of these regulations, a 13-member committee has been formed lately to commence managing the wildlife body parts and trophies collected at Kashara, Chitwan
According to MoFSC, remnants of wildlife body parts and trophies collected from Parsa Wildlife Reserve, Bardiya National Park, Krishnasar Conservation Area, Rara National Park, Langtang National Park and Makalu Barun National Park,which were compiled in a list, were recommended for destruction a few weeks ago.
The list includes 369 rhino horns, 4,782 rhino hooves, skulls, skins and products made from horns, 69 tiger skins, 3 snow leopard skins, 2 clouded leopard skins, 184 elephant tusks, 36 musk deer pods, 352 pangolin scales, 439 kilograms of tiger and leopard bones and some tortoise scales. Preliminary investigations show that 16 rhino horns seized from poachers and traders are fakes and need further examinations.
Government bodies plan to make a quick visit to the storage site in the near future and destroy the stored items in the presence of national and international stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the Armed Police Force (APF) also established a wildlife conservation unit recently, that will remain active in wildlife protection.
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