Census teams list challenges for Abohar wildlife sanctuary

Raj Sadosh

Advertisement

Abohar, June 19

The teams (numbering 13) which conducted a census in the open wildlife sanctuary in Abohar earlier this month have observed current and impending challenges with respect to the long-term suitability of the habitat of sanctuary to sustain viable population of blackbucks.

The major ones are putting up of barbed wires including the deadly cobra wires with bladed-edged iron wire mesh on the periphery of agricultural fields to avoid crop damages from stray cattle and the substantial rise in the population of stray dogs leading to an organised hunting by them in packs. The fencing of agriculture fields with the barbed wires also restrict the free movement of blackbucks, putting them under stress, besides causing severe and fatal injuries especially from cobra wires. The injured animals are very easily predated upon by dogs, a report released today by the Punjab Biodiversity Board and Punjab State Council for Science Technology said.

The report claimed that the population count of blackbuck stood at 3,273, indicating continued peaceful co-existence of this Schedule 1 and “near threatened” species with the humans in the sanctuary area. The population of blackbucks has been found to be considerably stabilised despite of the increase in the human population and habitat fragmentation due to the change in the land use and cropping pattern in the sanctuary. The male/female sex ratio recorded as 35:65 (male: female) and a herd with 219 members was also seen. A high density of blackbucks was found in Dutaranwali, Rajanwali and Khairpur villages of the sanctuary.

It has been found that the population of stray cattle in the sanctuary areas was also rising as farmers from nearby districts prefer to abandon their unproductive cattle there. The growing population of stray animals also competes with Blackbucks for the already shrinking open grass lands, resulting in their migration to adjoining areas outside the sanctuary.

The blackbuck was notified as the state animal of Punjab in 1989 and its presence in the state is confined to the Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary.

Notably, the Akhil Bhartiya Jeev Raksha Bishnoi Sabha had told the state government officials that the district administration had a few months back issued a notification to ban the sale and use of cobra wires in the district under Section 144 of the CrPC for protecting wild animals in the Abohar wildlife sanctuary but so far, no legal proceedings have been initiated against the erring farmers despite the deaths of three bikers and a dozen blue bulls.