|
Similipal National Park, an enchanting wildlife sanctuary in Orissa, India, is under heightened security. The 2,750-square kilometer (1,062-square-mile) park is the target of a hunting spree by local tribesmen. Celebrating an annual tribal ritual, they will take to the forests of the sanctuary in a two-month-long hunt.
Akhand Shikar, or Mass Hunting, begins each year on April 15 to coincide with a festival called Pana Sankranti. Tribesmen pay tribute to their dead, eat, drink, and celebrate. Akhand Shikar has been the biggest threat to wildlife in the sanctuary for decades. The event continues till the end of May, sometimes stretching up to June.
The different tribes who inhabit the area consider hunting during this period to be particularly fortunate. Armed with bows and arrows, and even guns, they plunge into the forests of the sanctuary. They dodge the security guards and hunt all animals at will.
The government has succeeded in decreasing the hunting during the past two years through tighter security. However, the practice refuses to die out.
A Threatened Wildlife
Rich in biodiversity, the sanctuary attracts thousands of tourists every year. People gather to feast their eyes on the majestic herds of elephants and deer, packs of boars, and sloth bears. The tigers, however, are not so easy to spot since getting close can be risky.
Among the reptiles, muggers (freshwater crocodiles) are the most famous inhabitants of Similipal. The sanctuary is the first in the state of Orissa to have bred them in captivity.
However, the tradition of Akhand Shikar continues to threaten the rich biodiversity of the park. The buffer area of the sanctuary is divided into three forest divisions. According to Solaram Marandi, the divisional forest officer of the Baripada forest division, authorities are boosting security this year. They have set up as many as 58 anti-poaching camps.
Each camp has at least one forest guard and three volunteers of Sabuja Vahini (Green Brigade). This is a force of volunteers created to guard the wealth of Similipal, particularly during Akhand Shikar.
For the past two years, the government has sought help from retired army personnel to beef up security. An armed police force has been kept ready to help if needed. The retired army men act as the strike force. They pounce upon the tribal hunters when informed about their movement within the forests.
The Right to Hunt
Though the hunters have been arrested several times in the past, their spirit remains unbroken. They insist on carrying out the tradition of mass hunting, which has deep roots in tribal culture.
"Hunting has been part of tribal life for generations. We depend on it for our survival," justified Damodar Mahant, a tribesman from Amdali village in the Similipal area. "What is wrong if we kill a few animals to celebrate a festival? The government is out to kill our culture and tradition though it cannot provide us employment."
Kaluram Murmu, a fellow tribesman, echoed Mahant's views. Marmu feels that the government's efforts to stop Akhand Shikar will never succeed. He thinks the key is to ensure permanent employment to the tribesmen's families. That way they will not depend on hunting for their survival.
As it is, the tribesmen residing in the area are extremely poor. Their only source of livelihood apart from hunting is making leaf plates and ropes from wild grass. But with no proper marketing outlets for these products, the revenues barely suffice for living.
Under the circumstances, their hunting instincts have sharpened over the years. They eagerly await Akhand Shikar, which is, by far, the biggest annual hunting event in the area.
However, Marandi thinks the scale of hunting has come down considerably following strict security arrangements. More than 200 armed tribal hunters were arrested in the area in December 2005. Equipped with guns and arrows, they had killed two sambar deer and a barking deer.
"Ever since that arrest, the scale of hunting has come down. However, stray hunting during the period still continues," admitted the forest officer.
Drunk Hunters
| "Tribal hunters these days act as the agents of poachers. They have found an ideal cover-up for their corrupt activities in Akhand Shikar." said Bibek Patnaik. |
The loss to wildlife is not the only threat that Akhand Shikar poses. The ritual, accompanied by drinking and feasting, has also been a threat to the flora of Similipal. The hunted animals are cooked on large bonfires inside the forest. The threat of forest fires always lurks in the background.
Deepak Pani, secretary of Gram Swaraj, an NGO campaigning against Akhand Shikar, says small patches of forest have been destroyed several times in the past. Fortunately, however, there has never been a big fire. "In fact, up to the year 2000 when the government started taking the threat seriously, the tribal hunters used to set fire to thickets and bushes in which the animals were hiding to flush them out. That made for easy hunting but in the process patches of vegetation were destroyed," said Pani.
As hunting parties gorge on cooked meat, dancers sway to the beat of drums in wild celebration. Wine flows freely during the Shikar. Considering that the hunters are generally drunk, forest guards and security men are often wary of confronting them.
Laxman Tudu, a forest guard, admitted that "it would be foolish to take on the hunters when they are fully armed and drunk. Only big raiding parties can take such risks but most anti-poaching squads consist of four to five men."
The rise in the human population in the vast sanctuary area has made guarding it even harder. According to forest department officials, the human population in the four villages in the core area of the sanctuary went up from 394 to 576 between 1981 and 1991.
However, the increase was bigger in the buffer area of the sanctuary. In the 61 villages in the buffer area, humans increased from 8,249 to 9,697 during the same period. Containing the hunting instincts of such a huge population has been a Herculean task, admit officials.
Raising Awareness
The state government has tried every trick in its bag to wean the tribesmen from the gory tradition of hunting. Using acts ranging from coercion to persuasion, the officials have failed to achieve success. Arresting and booking violators of the forest and environment laws is not the only approach the government is taking. It has also sought to educate the tribesmen about the ill effects of hunting. Working with NGOs, the government is organizing awareness campaigns.
Gram Swaraj and Mayurbhanj Swechha Sevi Sammukhya (MASS), two NGOs active in the Similipal area, organize meetings in villages to educate the tribesmen. They try to persuade them to stop the Shikar. Pani says his organization has been trying its best to convince the tribal priests to lead tribal members in abandoning hunting. The priests, called dehuris, lead the hunting parties during Akhand Shikar.
"We also contacted the heads of tribal villages, called majhi hadam. They wield a lot of influence on their fellow tribesmen as well. Slowly, the understanding that Akhand Shikar would destroy their forest resources seems to be dawning on the tribesmen. But the tradition has deep roots among them. It would take some time to go," said Pani.
Over the years, the Shikar ritual has undergone many interesting changes. Some of these changes were shaped by the sheer fancy of individual tribes. The Santhal tribesmen, for example, engage in hunting only for a day after the Pana Sankranti festival. For the rest of April and May they organize shooting competitions in villages and honor the winners.
A Poacher's Heaven
However, most other tribes still engage in hunting throughout April and May. This makes these two months the hardest for the forest and wildlife officials.
Many suspect that the tradition of Akhand Shikar is being backed by organized gangs of poachers. However, no proof of this has come to light yet. They are suspected of providing arms and money to the hunters.
"Tribal hunters these days act as the agents of poachers," explained Bibek Patnaik, team leader of MASS. "They have found an ideal cover-up for their corrupt activities in Akhand Shikar. This is why the Shikar these days sometimes extends right up to June. The longer it is, the better for the poachers."
Marandi did not rule out the possibility of poaching gangs backing the Shikar. However, he says he has no concrete evidence to prove the charge so far.
As it is, Similipal is notorious for poaching and illegal hunting of different animals. According to official statistics from the Forest and Wildlife Department in India, 12 elephants, 13 sambar deers, 4 wild boars, and 6 barking deer were killed in the sanctuary area from 1992 to 1997.
Ever since then, more incidents of poaching have taken place such as the December 2005 killings. Despite their best efforts, the authorities have not been able to stop the trend. The tradition of Akhand Shikar only compounds their woes.
|
