BHUBANESWAR: The Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) authorities have sought the help of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) to track those behind the latest elephant poaching in the national park.Regional Deputy Director of WCCB Chaturbhuj Behera will arrive on Monday to assist the STR officials in the investigation into elephant killings. Three pachyderms __ all females __ were found dead in Ektalia forests under Karanjia Forest Division on Friday. The forest officials hope that villagers staying in fringe areas could provide vital clues about the incident which has come as a shocker to the STR. “Behera is a fine interrogator and we expect his assistance will come in handy for us,” said a national park official.According to preliminary investigation, poaching was the main cause behind the killings since the tushes of one of the elephants were missing. Of the three elephants found dead, one was about 40 years of age while another was a calf and the third one, a sub-adult.Despite the poaching, the STR is all set for a mid-November opening of the national park to the visitors. “The killings have no bearing on allowing tourists into the park. We just want to ensure that the facilities as well as roads are ready,” sources said.Of the 900-km road network, tourists can ply on 130 km (in buffer zone), while another 530 km stretch is located inside the core area of the STR. Road repair work got stretched beyond the deadline this year because of the extended monsoon, which has damaged the roads leaving them unpliable and prompting the STR authorities to work overtime.According to a recent order of the Supreme Court, core areas of tiger reserves must remain out-of-bounds for the tourists. Accordingly, the tourist facility at Chahala, located inside the core zone, will not be opened. The core area of STR is spread over 1,194.75 sq km while the buffer zone is measured at 1,155 sq km.
Comments
0 comment