By SANTOSH MOHANTY
Leopards will be wiped out from Odisha forest reserves soon unless immediate foolproof measures are initiated by the forest department to contain killing of the wild animal.
Reports said the Special Task Force (STF) has seized as many as 25 hides of grown up leopards last year from traders and poachers active in different forest regions. Poachers arrested by forest officials revealed that the leopards are hunted from Athamallik, Boudh, Kandhamal, Nayagarh and Athagarh forest regions in Odisha.
They said the skins are sold at very high prices in national and international markets and added that an inter-state racket is active to carry out the trade with utmost precision.
Bidyadhar Naik, a leopard hide trader from Kandhamal district who was nabbed by STF recently, admitted that the poachers are targeting leopards as the number of tigers and dwindling. He said earlier Royal Bengal Tigers were hunted down as their skins were more lucrative than leopards.
STF sources said a power syndicate is active in West Bengal and North Eastern States of India and added that the hides of leopards are smuggled to China, Nepal and Bangladesh. They said the skins are in high demand in China.
Odisha forest officials posted in Wildlife Sanctuaries are allegedly hand in glove with the animal hide traders who influence these officials in a number of ways. Social activists associated with nature organizations in Angul alleged that how come the forest officials posted at wildlife forest ranges could not arrest poachers when the STF could. They said the forest officials must take the responsibility of saving the lives of leopards when these species are fast becoming extinct.
