CANACONA: In separate petitions Shristhal BMC and NGO Goenkar appealed to the police, forest and Canacona MLA & Deputy Speaker Isidore Fernandes to intervene and put an end to the cruel killing of animals through the use of snares, lethal traps and explosive devices in the jurisdiction of the forests in Canacona.
The use of explosive devices illegally has attained larger proportions allege wild life enthusiasts from the area.
The petitions had taken cognizance of reports of a dog’s mouth shattering to pieces after she chewed an eatable stuffed with an explosive device, causing her instant cruel death.
The chilling incident was reported at Gulem forest in Canacona on Wednesday and has brought to the fore the under belly of these activity which till November was undertaken unnoticed.
Shristhal BMC demanded that the incident be investigated and for the booking of the miscreants involved in procuring the device and setting up the device on the path, which wild boars from the area use.
They demanded necessary steps from the authorities to avoid such unwanted incidents, which create danger to the life of animal as well as human also.
They extended their willingness to provide aid to the authorities to sensitize the people to create awareness in order to avoid such cruel incidents in future.
NGO Goenkar pointed out that farmers practising cultivation on the fringes of the forests keep explosive devices to tackle the menace of wild pigs.
By doing this, they lamented that the farmers are not only harming wild pigs, but also other animals, including endangered animals they mentioned. They added that the use of bombs to kill animals, be it domestic or wild is a crime and they expect the authorities to go all out to educate the farmers and to investigate from where these explosives are sourced from.
Meanwhile environmentalist Alex Carpenter said he will be drafting a letter, which will ask for action from the forest department and government on the root causes of this issue, which is the conflict between men and animals.
He stated that the authorities have to demarcate area around Karmal Ghat as a conservation and wildlife reserve, to safeguard the area and provide resources, food, water and habitat for nature as it is a lack of these necessities that drives wildlife to raid crops.
“I will also request the authorities to conduct proper sensitization and engagement with locals so they understand the issue and provide information on how they can mitigate these issues, such as helping to maintain native forest species, removing invasive species, non cutting of trees along rivers to conserve water,” Carpenter said.