Equip Forest Guards to Protect Wildlife in India

Hello Supporter,

Wildlife Trust of India wishes you a very Happy Easter! In our last update, we had mentioned about providing support in the form of winter jackets to the forest guards at National Chambal Sanctuary. In continuation to that, this month we bring to you an update about their training sessions and seizures. We thank you all for your continued support. Happy reading!

India’s rich biodiversity of fresh water turtles and tortoises has been rapidly declining due to extensive poaching and illegal trade. The state of Uttar Pradesh is home to 14 of the 28 turtle species considered endangered in India. Some of the species being the Red crowned roofed turtle ( Batagur kachuga), Indian softshell turtle ( Nilssonia gangetica), Indian flapshell turtle ( Lissemys punctata), Indian Narrow-headed softshell turtle ( Chitra indica) etc. On the downside, the fertile Gangetic plains have accounted for 46% of turtle seizures, with Lucknow and Kanpur being major hubs for poaching activities. Recent trends also point out that most illegal trade transport occurs during the winter months, where the cold weather helps to mask the pungent smell of the large shipments and the cool temperature slows the metabolic rate of the animal making them move less and can go long periods without food and water. Confiscation numbers last winter ranged between 80 to 1583 animals per event. Around 20% of the turtles die in the first week due to the inhumane conditions in which they are packed in. To curb this trade and the Uttar Pradesh Forest and Wildlife Department (UPFWD)has been tirelessly keeping vigil since winter for any suspicious trade activities in the landscape.

TSA-India who have been consistently working with the officials and frontline staff of UPFWD, brought to WTI’s notice that the forest department lacked appropriate equipment and operational assistance in carrying out this long-term sting operation. As highlighted in our previous report, WTI with the support of GlobalGiving donors provided 70 frontline forest staff of Chambal Sanctuary and associated wetlands with winter jackets. To back the provision of appropriate field gear, the field team felt it was important to provide technical help to the frontline staff on how to tackle trade confiscations, triage and prosecution procedures on ground. Four one-day trainings for 208 frontline forest staff was conducted in fifteen Forest department divisions ((Kanpur, Kanpur dehat, Unnao, Lucknow, Amethi, Barabanki, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkar Nagar, Fatehpur, Etawah, Mainpuri, Auriayan, Farrukhabad and Agra) that are spread across four turtle trade sensitive zones of Uttar Pradesh forest and wildlife department. The trainings especially focussed on identifying turtle species, with a focus on the top traded species across the state and the primary veterinary care techniques for the turtles once confiscated.

These trainings have boosted the staff morale by providing the required skills and knowledge to carry out their duties. As a key outcome, of this endeavor, the department confiscated the highest number of turtles till date in the State of Uttar Pradesh. As per TSA records,since October 2018, there have been 20 seizures of turtles in north-central and eastern India. Of those, 85% (17 seizures) have been in the state of Uttar Pradesh.The Forest Department has found the support highly beneficial in the region and have requested for similar training programmes in the adjoining districts Gandak River and Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary.