Deer carcass, traps found in Sunderbans

TNN | Feb 26, 2013, 01.52 AM IST Train to Sikkim poses jumbo threatSpotted pride under attackTrack survey after elephant deaths KOLKATA: In a late-night raid on Saturday, forest department officials have recovered 45 traps, made of thick ropes and meant to poach deer, from the forests of Jhila 4 in the Sunderbans. Carcass of a deer was also recovered from the spot, where the traps were laid. Sunderbans Tiger Reserve (STR) field director Soumitra Dasgupta said such raids are on since last couple of months. "We will continue the raids in days ahead. The traps were damaged. Though the body of a deer was found from the spot, it's not yet confirmed whether the herbivore had died after falling into one of those traps," said Dasgupta. He said forest teams are raiding the nearby villages to nab the culprits. This is the third time in last three weeks that the department has managed to damage such traps which are used in the forests to poach deer. Earlier this month, three deer poachers were held from the Lothian Wildlife Sanctuary and ten traps were damaged at the spot. Last week, a villager from Amtali under the Basirhat range was caught red-handed while feasting on deer meat at his home. The foresters also recovered more than a kg of deer meat from his residence. State wildlife advisory board member Joydip Kundu said that regular raids in the forest to track deer poachers is a good sign for long-term conservation in the mangroves. Echoing his view, another state wildlife board member Biswajit Roy Chowdhury said frequent raids are being conducted in the forests after a long time. tnn"This practice will also bring in transparency in the department's functioning," he added. Deer poaching is not a new phenomenon in the Sunderbans. After the tiger poaching case at Jhila in 2008, the last official report of big cat poaching in the mangroves, foresters had suspected that some deer poachers had shot the tiger in self defence. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Deer-carcass-traps-found-in-Sunderbans/articleshow/18683378.cms