Conservationists have called for a simpler system to be implemented to inform the Forest Department and Department of Animal Husbandry of poisoning events of domesticated animals, to prevent wildlife from inadvertently falling victim to accidental poisoning.
The issue has come to the fore following the suspected poisoning of a wild boar, that led to the death of two tigresses in Bitherkad forest range in the Nilgiris on Tuesday. Forest department officials suspect that the two tigers, which had consumed the already poisoned wild boar, died as a result of the effects of the poison.
Teams have been formed to find the persons responsible for poisoning the wild boar and causing the deaths of the tigers. However, conservationists claim that the means of reporting suspected poisoning events to the authorities itself is extremely complicated and discourages residents from doing so.
“The persons who notice any animals that die of suspected poisoning have to submit a complaint to the police, who will then inform the Department of Animal Husbandry to conduct a postmortem. Most people will not want to involve the police and even if they do so, are given the run-around,” said N. Sadiq Ali, Founder of the Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT).
One resident from Emerald in the Nilgiris, whose dog died from suspected poison that had been placed to kill wild boar entering a farm on August 19, was told by the police to submit a complaint, but was then informed on a number of times to return to the police station at later dates due to the absence of a police inspector, the person claimed.
“As neither the police nor officials from the Animal Husbandry Department turned up till Wednesday (August 21), I was forced to bury the dog, as I was scared that some wild animal could consume its carcass and die of poisoning, for which I will be blamed,” he said.
Nigel Otter, chairman of Worldwide Veterinary Service (WVS-India), said the procedure to report cases of poisoning itself discouraged most people from approaching the police. “When a person does report it, swift action needs to be taken so that a postmortem on the poisoned animal carcass can be carried out, and people using poison to kill wildlife can be quickly identified and tragic incidents like the deaths of the two tigers’ in Bitherkad can be prevented,” he said.
When informed of the incident, the Divisional Forest Officer (Nilgiris), S. Gowtham promised action and said that his field staff would immediately follow up on the reported case of poisoning in Emerald. “It is a very serious issue, and we will definitely look into it,” he said.