Not a sporting matter

Actor Salman Khan’s protracted trial in the high-profile 1998 blackbuck poaching case is still alive in social memory. The pan-India traction ought to have generated social consciousness about the hazards of poaching, the sensitivities involved, and the stern legal implications. The arrest of international golfer Jyoti Randhawa, and a court-martialled former Navy officer, on charges of poaching in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve’s protected area, sadly, indicates this was not to be. Randhawa scored a bogey, straying the course from a gentleman’s game to the savagery of hunting. The offence was premeditated. In his possession were 80 cartridges, a telescope-mounted rifle and deer hide. He should have been acutely aware of his responsibility as a public figure. The fact that he owns a farmhouse in UP’s Dudhwa-Katarniaghat forest area heightens the irony. 

The patrol of vast tracks of reserve area is, undoubtedly, a challenge. Despite the stringent Wildlife Protection Act and the Indian Forest Act, the length and breadth of India continues to be plagued with instances of poaching. The majestic elephant, leopard, rhino, tiger, etc., are ever at risk from organised syndicates for their skin, bones, horn, ivory. Migratory birds fare no better. Flamingo, pelicans, and particularly Amur falcon in Nagaland, are regularly poached. Even more vulnerable are endangered species with a huge international demand. In 2017, Olympian shooter and Arjuna awardee Gurbir Singh Sandhu was convicted in a poaching case for possessing wild boar tusks. 

The leisure days of trophy hunting are long gone. In an awakened society, there is need for an affirmative response to wildlife conservation. A multi-lateral approach, supported by technology, is required to strengthen coordination. Synergy among conservation groups, forest officers, animal rights activists, and even local communities, will help take on this challenge. Nature strikes a balance. Any imbalance will tilt the scales heavily against our very survival. There will be a price to pay for this mindless adrenalin rush. And not just legal.