GUWAHATI: Gauhati High Court judge Justice N Kotiswar Singh, while participating in a consultation programme, said wildlife crimes must be tackled efficiently by framing charges under NDPS Act in courts to ensure adequate punishment of the guilty. He added that there is a need for setting up specialized teams of wildlife crimes investigators in the police force as well as forest officials.
Addressing a consultation on wildlife conservation organized jointly by Aaranyak and Assam State Legal Services Authority (ASLSA) at Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Sunday, Justice Singh said it was indeed very difficult to deal with wildlife crimes as both police and forest personnel haven’t been given any specific training for it.
“Most cases related to wildlife crimes must be convincingly supported by seizure (like cases under NDPS Act) in the court of law to ensure adequate punishment to the guilty. Hence, there is a need for having specialized teams of wildlife crime investigators in the police force as well as among forest officials,” Justice Singh added.
Justice Singh, who is also the executive chairman of ASLSA, said the society as a whole must remain awake to the need and challenge of protection of wildlife as human beings have the responsibility to protect all other species thriving on the planet.
“Prevention is the best policy in respect of protection of precious wildlife on this beautiful earth where intelligent human beings are responsible for preservation of living species,” he said.
Justice Tasi Rabstant from Jammu and Kashmir High Court said, “We have to realise how important is the presence of wildlife for ecological balance. All lives on the earth are interrelated and interdependent. The main enemy of wildlife is no one else but human beings. It is needs tremendous coordination among society and wildlife protection agencies for effective conservation of wildlife on this earth.”
DFO (Kaziranga) Ramesh Gogoi said it is indeed very challenging to protect wildlife and cooperation from fringe area villagers is of prime importance. “Forest personnel entrusted with multi-tasking and dealing with legal provisions vis-à-vis wildlife crime cases remains a big challenge,” he added.
The DFO also highlighted growing intolerance among people and ‘mob mentality’ towards straying wildlife in the state which, he said, it makes the task much more difficult for forest personnel. Aaranyak chief executive officer Bibhab Kumar Talukdar made a power point presentation to highlight global scenarios on wildlife crimes and its impact on Assam and the rest of the NE.