The incident of alleged poaching in Morni hills on December 31 has raised questions on the effectiveness of the Haryana Wildlife Department. On January 1, a middle-aged leopard was found dead after being shot in Baddiwala village. This is the second incident in the last one and a half years where a wild cat was found to be the subject of poaching in Morni Hills, which shares borders with the Himachal forest.
In May 2020, an adult leopard was found trapped inside a deep well in Tikri village of Morni, whose front right paw was missing. The leopard was rescued and shifted to Pipli Zoo, Kurukshetra, but died soon after. Preliminary investigation revealed that the leopard lost its front paw after stepping on a net set by the hunters. An FIR was registered but the culprits are yet to be identified and arrested.
“We are urging the local authorities, including the wildlife department and the police department, to keep a close watch on the activities of anti-social elements coming to the prohibited areas in the guise of tourists. Especially on weekends and holidays, the situation gets worse. Actually, to promote adventure activities the forest and wildlife department is making treks in restricted areas but there is no restriction and balance on the visitors. Strict monitoring is needed,” said a resident of village Baddiwala.
Veterinarians found a bullet in the stomach of the dead cat, declaring that the animal had died in a hunting attempt. The bullet was reportedly fired from a ‘capped shotgun’ (a gun used to intimidate wild animals with its loud explosions). Haryana PCCF (Wildlife), Jagdish Chander did not respond to calls.
Sources said, “Many farmers also prefer to have capped guns to scare away wild animals from their agricultural land. We are working from different angles to identify the culprits behind the death of the cat.” Deputy Chief Wildlife Warden, Shyam Sundar Kaushik said, “We have increased patrolling of wildlife guards in sensitive areas. Efforts are on to identify the culprits involved in the incident. We have decided to identify farmers and local residents living in Morni, who have a similar weapon.”
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