|
CONSERVATION
CHALLENGES
Illegal
hunting and wildlife trade
Impacts of hunting
 |
| |
A
tiger killed in a snare set for catching smaller wildlife |
The impacts of hunting are ruinous. Random removal
of complex faunal assemblage disrupts the ecological process and
balance at several levels. The consequences of such human interference
on faunal assemblages are obviously negative. Several species
could be locally stamped out; hunting of herbivores would directly
affect carnivores that are dependent on them. Even if small populations
persist in an area, they could be "ecologically extinct"
that is no longer fulfilling their ecological role in the forest,
which affects the forest composition itself. The densities of
wildlife will be low in areas where poaching pressures are high.
Prey depletion is one of the most serious
threats to large carnivores whose population densities, survival
rates and chance of persistence are all strongly tied to the densities
of their principal prey. This massive elimination of the prey
will immediately eliminate large carnivores like the tiger that
are at the apex of the food chain. A tiger annually needs about
50-60 deer-sized animals for its survival. As a thumb rule for
every 50 deer hunted in a year there will be room for one less
tiger on this earth. The prey base, must therefore be protected.
Vast stretches of forests particularly in North East India which
show up 40%+ crown density in satellite imagery are actually bereft
of wildlife as it has been severely hunted out. Illegal hunting,
therefore is a major threat to wildlife in India.
Some Hunting techniques
used by poachers in Southern India
Source : Hunting for
an answer:
Is local hunting compatible with large mammals conservation in
India, M. D.Madhusudhan and
K. Ullas Karanth
| Hunting
Techniques |
Target
Species |
|
Active hunting method
|
Walk-and-see shotgun hunting
by
night using spotlights
|
Sambar,
chital, flying squirrel,
porcupine, civets, black napped hare
|
Sit-and-wait
shotgun at
fruiting trees/waterholes
on moonlit nights |
Chital,
pig, civets |
Sit-and-wait
shotgun hunting
at waterholes/fruiting trees in
daytime |
Chital,
muntjac, langur, bonnet
macaque, giant squirrel, piegeons,
hornbills, pheasants |
Bow and
clay shots by day
|
Primates,
giant squirrel, flying
squirrel, monitor lizard, birds |
| Hunting
dogs and nets by day |
Langur,
bonnet macaque |
Hunting
dogs and club/machete
by day |
Chevrotain, black-naped hare,
langur, mongoose
|
Physical
capture from rest-sites/
nests during daytime |
Flying
squirrel, palm civet, hornbills,
bird eggs/nestlings |
Smoking/digging
out burrows
in daytime |
Porcupine,
pangolin |
| Catapult in daytime
|
Giant
squirrel, birds |
| |
| Passive
hunting methods |
- Wire snares
- Baited explosives
- Scissor traps
- Deadfall trap
- Pitfall trap
- Bird lime
|
- Chital, pig, black-naped
hare
- Pigs
- Small rodents, small pheasants
- Black-naped hare, chevrotain,
pig
- Chelonians
- Frugivorous birds
|
|
|
Suggested readings :
Hunting of wildlife in tropical forests, Implications for biodiversity
and forest peoples, Elizabeth
L. Bennett, John G. Robinson, Biodiversity series - Impact studies,
September 2000
Hunting for an answer: Is local hunting
compatible with large mammals conservation in India,
M. D. Madhusudhan and K. Ullas Karanth
Other challenges:
>> Progressive
loss of habitat
>> Commercial
exploitation of forests
>> Removal
of dead and fallen trees
>>
Collection
of minor forest produce
>>
Livestock grazing
>>
Fire
>>
Unscientific management practices
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