header banner

374 held in wildlife, forest-related crime

alt=
By No Author
KATHMANDU, Sept 9: The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) has said 374 people involved in illegal trade of wildlife and forest products have been arrested in the last one year.



After the establishment of National Crime Control Coordination Committee led by the forest minister two years ago and central-level and district-level wildlife crime control bureaus, authorities have geared up activities to control crimes related to wildlife. [break]



"Controlling illegal trade has become possible due to effective coordination between the security agencies and others authorities. We will continue such efforts," said Krishna Prasad Acharya, Director General, DNPWC.



The government has already formed such bureaus in twelve districts. Each bureau comprises representatives from district-level government offices concerned and security agencies.



The department has said it is currently working to set up similar units in seven other districts. Districts have been ranked for prevalence of crimes related to wildlife and the units work accordingly.



A meeting of the crime control bureau has also decided to use modern technology and sniffer dogs to track down peachers . "Last year a drill was carried out in Chitwan National Park using Nepal Police dogs and it was found very promising, so we are planning to use this method in the future," added Acharya.



Nepal is one of the transits for the trade of wildlife body parts from India to China. Also, poaching of wildlife inside the country has become a major headache for the wildlife authorities with limited resources to fight the crime.



"Although we have been working with limited resources, we have found that our coordinated efforts are much effective so the department is enthusiastic about controlling the crime," said Dr Maheshwar Dhakal, ecologist at DNPWC.



Related story

The wildlife lesson

Related Stories
SOCIETY

World Wildlife Day: Wild buffaloes in country's on...

World Wildlife Day: Wild buffaloes in country's only wildlife reserve in crisis due to domestic cattle
SOCIETY

KMC arranges 374 beds for the helpless in 52 priva...

KMC_20220922170116.jpg
ECONOMY

374 small industries in Makwanpur shut in 10 month...

Industry_20230218090240.jpg
The Week

Celebrating and conserving wildlife

CNP_219.jpg
OPINION

A troubling nexus between crime and politics

BhutaneserefugeeSCAM_20230517134152.jpg