• by IPS Correspondents (new delhi)
• Saturday, November 12, 1994
• Inter Press Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 12 (IPS) - WHILE SEARCHING A HOUSE FOR MILITANTS IN THE INSURGENCY-HIT NORTHERN INDIAN VALLEY OF KASHMIR RECENTLY, SECURITY PERSONNEL STUMBLED ON A CATCH OF ANOTHER KIND.

THEIR HAUL COMPRISED TIGER AND SNOW LEOPARD SKINS, VALUED AT MORE THAN 645,000 DOLLARS IN THE CLANDESTINE INTERNATIONAL MARKET FOR WILDLIFE PRODUCTS.

THE BIG CAT FUR WAS AWAITING SHIPMENT TO THE SMALL HIMALAYAN KINGDOM OF NEPAL WHICH IS THE MAIN TRANSIT POINT FOR SMUGGLING SOUTH ASIAN WILDLIFE GOODS OUT OF THE REGION.

DESPITE TOUGH CONSERVATION LAWS, TIGERS, ELEPHANTS, RHINOCEROS AND OTHER RARE SPECIES ARE BEING RUTHLESSLY HUNTED IN INDIA AND NEPAL TO FEED THE GROWING FOREIGN DEMAND, SPECIALLY IN EAST ASIA.

IN RECENT YEARS, SOUTH ASIAN NEIGHBOURS HAVE BECOME THE MAJOR SOURCE OF TIGER AND RHINOCEROS PARTS FOR THE EAST ASIAN MARKET AND ONE OF THE MAIN CENTRES OF THE FUR TRADE IN ASIA. WILDLIFE SMUGGLERS USE THE UNGUARDED HIGH HIMALAYAN PASSES FROM NEPAL TO TIBET TO TAKE THEIR WARES TO EAST ASIA.

MUCH OF IT IS SOLD TO WESTERN BUYERS IN NEPAL ITSELF, WHERE A TIGER SKIN RUG WITH ITS STUFFED HEAD CAN BE HAD FOR ANYTHING UP TO 10,000 DOLLARS.

THERE ARE SCORES OF SHOPS SELLING ILLEGAL WILDLIFE PRODUCTS IN KATHMANDU ALONE, MANY OF THEM OWNED BY KASHMIRI TRADERS WHO HAD FLED THEIR HOMES TO ESCAPE THE MILITANCY. MOST WILDLIFE GOODS SOLD IN NEPAL ARE OF INDIAN ORIGIN AND SMUGGLED ACROSS THE 1,500 KM OPEN INDO-NEPAL BORDER.

IRONICALLY, INDIA AND NEPAL WERE AMONG THE FIRST TO SIGN THE CONVENTION ON TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES (CITES) WHICH BANS TRADE IN THREATENED SPECIES OF WILDLIFE.

TWO DECADES AGO, INDIA BEGAN THE WORLD'S FIRST SYSTEMATIC EFFORT TO SAVE THE TIGER IN ITS NATURAL HABITAT. 'PROJECT TIGER' RESERVES NOW COVER THREE PERCENT OF THE COUNTRY'S AREA.

NEPAL HAS 14 NATURE RESERVES IN THE HIMALAYAS, COVERING 10 PERCENT OF ITS AREA. SOME OF THESE SANCTUARIES ARE CONSIDERED MODELS IN SUSTAINABLE PARK MANAGEMENT AND HAVE SAVED THE ASIATIC ONE-HORNED RHINO AND OTHER ANIMALS FROM EXTINCTION.

IN MARCH, NEW DELHI HOSTED A MEET OF 14 ASIAN COUNTRIES WITH TIGER POPULATIONS, TO CHALK OUT AN ACTION PLAN TO PROTECT SURVIVING BIG CATS, TWO THIRDS OF WHOM ARE IN INDIAN FORESTS. NEPAL IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE ONLY 200, HAVING LOST A THIRD OF ITS TIGERS IN JUST FIVE YEARS.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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