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s t r i p e sBI-MONTHLY OUTREACH JOURNAL OF NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Volume 2 Issue 2 January-February 2011

The National Tiger ConservationAuthority has been strengthened anddecentralized. Three Regional Offices havebeen created (Nagpur, Guwahati andBengaluru), each to be headed by anInspector General of Forests and assisted by

an Assistant Inspector General of Forests. Further, theheadquarter setup at New Delhi has also been enlarged.The Government of India has revamped its tigerconservation efforts through the setting up of the NTCAby amending the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 in 2006.This was based on the recommendations of the Tiger TaskForce constituted by the National Board for Wildlife underthe Chairmanship of the Prime Minister. Thestrengthening of the headquarter setup and creation ofthree Regional Offices would facilitate the NTCA in closelyworking with the tiger States while monitoring andhandholding the implementation of Project Tiger in anongoing manner. At the regional level, this will help theStates in addressing the various ecological andadministrative issues relating to tiger conservation.

This issue also carries a feature on the second meetingof the South Asia Experts group on illegal wildlife trade.This was hosted in January, 2011 by the RoyalGovernment of Bhutan. Over 50 delegates participated inthe meeting including representatives from Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka, besidesseveral intergovernmental organizations and NGOs alsoattended the meeting. Amongst other things, thedeliberations focused on the work programme for SAWENand its operational structure, besides fund raisingactivities.

The importance of forensic science vis-à-vis wildlifecrime and related aspects has been highlighted.

The creation of Tiger Conservation Foundation for tigerreserves is a statutory requirement. As many as 30Foundations have been created by States. This whichwould facilitate ecological, economic, social and culturaldevelopment in tiger reserves with the participation ofcivil society. The rationale behind such Foundations hasbeen articulated in the issue.

Dr Rajesh Gopal / Member-Secretary, NTCA

EDITOR Dr Rajesh Gopal Member Secretary NTCA

EDITORIALCONSULTANT Ananda Banerjee

EDITORIAL COORDINATORS P Yadav

FEEDBACK Annexe No 5 Bikaner House ShahjahanRoad New Delhi [email protected]

All Photographs are byMichael J Vickers www.tigersintheforest.co.uk

s t r p e sn o t e f r o m t h e e d i t o r

Volume 2Issue 2

January-February

2011

WildlifeTradeSecondMeeting ofthe SouthAsia ExpertsGroup onIllegalWildlifeTradePg 6Management

The rationalebehind tigerfoundationsP13

iBI-MONTHLY OUTREACH JOURNAL OF NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

New Initiativedecentralization andstrengthening ofNational Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA)Pg 4

4 | January-February 2011 | STRIPES

NEW INITIATIVE

The Union Cabinet has approved the creation offour posts in the rank of Inspector General ofForests for the three Regional Offices and

Headquarters of the National Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA). This decision, in conjunction withthe recent decision to set up 3 regional offices of theNTCA in Nagpur, Guwahati and Bengaluru is expectedto give a major boost to India’s tiger conservationefforts.Welcoming the decision, the Minister of State (I/C),Shri Jairam Ramesh said: “This is a great step forward.There was a crying need for decentralization so thatwe can enhance the monitoring of our conservationefforts and improve the quality and timeliness ofsupport we give the field directors of our 39 tigerreserves across the country. There is no doubt that

today’s decision will strengthen the capacity of theNTCA to deliver on its mandate, and provide newteeth to our tiger conservation efforts.”

Further Details related to NTCA and the CabinetDecisionA. Background :The Government of India has revamped its tigerconservation efforts through the setting up of theNTCA by amending the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972in 2006, based on the recommendations of the TigerTask Force constituted by the National Board forWildlife under the chairmanship of the PrimeMinister. Under the enabling provisions of the saidAct, the NTCA has been constituted with effect fromthe 4th September 2006. The strengthening of the

DECENTRALIZATION ANDSTRENGTHENING OF

NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY(NTCA)

STRIPES | January-February 2011 | 5

Headquarter setup and creation of three RegionalOffices of the NTCA would facilitate guidance toStates and monitoring in an ongoing manner at theregional level for addressing the ecological andadministrative concerns relating to tiger conservation.

B. Implementation strategy and targets:The implementation at the national level would bedone by the NTCA Headquarter, assisted by the threeRegional Offices at Nagpur, Guwahati and Bengaluru,covering the 17 tiger States (39 tiger reserves).

C. Major impact:Close monitoring at the regional level resulting instrengthened tiger conservation

D. Expenditure involved:A recurring financial implication of `70.32 lakhs perannum.

E. No. of beneficiaries:This would benefit all the 39 tiger reserves falling in17 tiger States.

F. States / districts covered:17 States (39 tiger reserves).

G. Details and progress of scheme:Project Tiger is an ongoing Centrally SponsoredScheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests,launched in 1973. Over the years, the project coveragehas expanded from the initial 9 reserves (1,400sq.km.) to 39 reserves encompassing around46,388.22 sq.km. India has the maximum number ofwild tigers and tiger habitats in the world conserveddue to Project Tiger. The National Tiger ConservationAuthority provides a statutory basis to Project Tigerand has an overarching role as provided in theWildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

NEW INITIATIVE


WILDLIFE TRADE

The Second Meeting of theSouth Asia Experts Group onIllegal Wildlife Trade was

held from January 28-29, 2011 inParo, Bhutan. It was hosted by theRoyal Government of Bhutan'sMinistry of Agriculture andForests, supported by Bhutan'sWildlife Conservation Division,Department of Forest and ParkServices and the Government ofNepal's Department of NationalParks and Wildlife Conservation asinterim Secretariat. Fundingsupport for the meeting wasgenerously provided by theDepartment of State, USGovernment.

The meeting was attended byover 50 participants, includingrepresentatives from thegovernments of Bangladesh,Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepaland Sri Lanka . Inter-governmentalorganizations represented at themeeting included the CITESSecretariat, ICPO-Interpol, theGlobal Tiger Forum (GTF), theProgram Co-ordination Unit of theAssociation of Southeast AsianNations Wildlife EnforcementNetwork (ASEAN-WEN PCU) andthe World Bank. Non-governmental organizationsrepresented at the meetingincluded TRAFFIC, WWF andNational Trust for NatureConservation. Please see attachedparticipants list (Appendix IV).

The meeting was officiallyopened by the Honourable

SECOND MEETING OF THESOUTH ASIA EXPERTS

GROUP ON ILLEGALWILDLIFE TRADE


WILDLIFE TRADE

Minister, Dr. Pema Gyamtsho,Minister, Ministry of Agricultureand Forests, Royal Government ofBhutan. Different sessions of themeeting were chaired by theHonourable Minister; Mr Md. AbuNaser Khan, Deputy Conservatorof Forests, Wildlife and NatureConservation Circle, Governmentof Bangladesh; Mr S.P. Yadav,Deputy Inspector General ofForests (NTCA), Government ofIndia, also representing the GTF;and Mr. Krishna P. Acharya,Director General, Department ofNational Parks and WildlifeConservation, Government ofNepal. Assistance was provided bythe technical facilitators fromTRAFFIC: Mr Sabri Zain, Mr JamesCompton and Mr. Samir Sinha.

The meeting began with anoverview of the objectives of themeeting, viz:■ Review progress on theimplementation of the Road Map,including ongoing activities relatedto regional cooperation on lawenforcement, capacity buildingand fundraising activities.

■ Develop and agree upon a workprogramme for SAWEN and theproposed SAWEN Secretariat,including a Work Plan for the next6-12 months.

■ Agree upon a governance andoperational structure for SAWENand the SAWEN Secretariat,including the operational structurefor information exchange amongthe South Asia focal points andTerms of Reference for theSecretary-General of SAWEN.

■ Agree upon a fundraisingstrategy and fundraising activitiesfor SAWEN.

■ Formally launch the South AsiaWildlife Enforcement Network.

This introduction was followed

by a presentation on the outcomesof the First Experts Group Meetingby Mr. Krishna P. Acharya, DirectorGeneral, Department of NationalParks and Wildlife Conservation,Nepal. He outlined key decisionssuch as the roadmap for SAWENthat was agreed to at the Firstmeeting, proposals on thestructure of a permanentsecretariat and the TOR of itsSecretary General. He noted that aFinal Report of that meeting hadbeen finalized and circulated to allmember country focal points.

He also highlighted otheractions that had beenaccomplished since that meeting,including the role played by theGovt. of Nepal in functioning asthe interim SAWEN secretariat. Thelist of focal points from membercountries had also been updatedand the Government of Nepal hadalso made a presentation at theInternational Tiger ConservationForum that was held in StPetersburg, Russia, in November2010 to highlight SAWEN in Tigerrange countries. The interimSAWEN secretariat had alsoassisted the Government ofBhutan in planning andcoordination for the SecondExperts Group meeting.

Country PresentationsThe meeting proceeded withcountry presentations fromBangladesh, Bhutan, India, theMaldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.Each of the country presentationsprovided updates by focal pointson recent and ongoing activitiesin member countries. Manypresentations also providedoverviews of national andregional issues related to wildlifetrade management and illegalwildlife trade; a description ofkey agencies involved in wildlifelaw enforcement and theirresponsible mandates; successesand challenges in wildlife lawenforcement; and the country'sexpectations of a regionalnetwork for wildlife lawenforcement in South Asia.Highlighting the formation of theSri Lankan Wildlife EnforcementNetwork (SLaWEN), thepresentation by Sri Lanka showeda clear example of how countriescould move ahead with nationalinter-agency networking onwildlife crime.

It was noted that many of theissues and priorities identified inthe country presentations neededto be reflected in the WorkProgramme of SAWEN.


WILDLIFE CRIME

The killing of 10 Asiatic Lions at three differentplaces near to Gir Sanctuary, no seizures, no eye-witnesses only one clue picked up from the

scene of crime-a matchstick box with a brand nameChameli (manufactured in Madhya Pradesh). It's achallenging case for Mr. Keshav Kumar the then I.G.Pand his team. But assisted with the intelligence inputsabout the modus operandi of some of the notorioustribes involved in poaching of Felids, from WPSI, andpresence of Madhya Pradesh based same tribalpersons in villages near to the crime scene,investigative team recovered spears and animal trapscarried traces of flesh, blood and hair of the poachedlions from the pits near to their camping sites. Theteam even collected clotted blood of lions from thenail clippings of the accused persons. DNA fingerprintof one particular animal, whose flesh was found on theequipment and the nails, led to the conviction of 30persons for a period of three years by the courts. Isn'tit that the above statement by Prof Edmond Locard inaction?

Forensics which is playing a vital role in convictingthe criminals of human crime is going to play a majorrole in the days to come in solving the wildlife crimestoo and it is high time that the forest officials tooshould be trained in this science so that criminals ofwildlife are caught and get deterring punishments fortheir gruesome crime. In this regard a small attempt isbeing made through this article to apprise wild lifersabout some of the concepts of Forensic science andhow they can help the investigators in solving thecrime.

What is Forensic science?French Scientist, Edmond Locard, believed that whentwo objects came into contact with the other, each of

these objects would leave or transfer particles to theother. This became known as "Locard's ExchangePrinciple". Based on this principle only the impressionevidences (such as fingerprints, footwear impressions,and tire tracks) are picked up from the scene of crime.

With the passage of time Forensic science hasbecome a multi disciplinary science, with manybranches of science like-toxicology, serology,entomology, odontology, radiology, osteology,photography, ballistics, anthropology, biology,engineering, DNA finger printing etc are actively beingused for cracking the crime. Instruments like VideoSpectral Comparator (for identification of alterationsin the documents), Electrostatic Document Analyzer(used for studying the indented impressions on thesubsequent pages produced by pens/ pencils duringwriting) are extensively being used by the forensiclabs. Digital forensics is another rapidly developingarea of forensic examination.

Death of Wild Animal and Forensic Science:All living things have to die one day. Death in humanscan be due to natural and unnatural reasons. Civilizedsociety is always concerned with unnatural reasons ofdeath like accident, suicide, murder etc.

Among animals the death can be attributed tonatural and anthropogenic reasons. Sometimes evennatural death amongst wild animals raises concernespecially if the animals die due to acute infectionsfrom the diseases (like anthrax, avian influenza; footmouth disease, canine distemper etc) as these deathscan be attributed to bad management of the park. Likewise death due to drowning can also be treated asmanagerial lapse.

Some of the causes of unnatural death amongstwild animals are: Trauma due to intra and inter

"Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves, even unconsciously, will serve as a silentwitness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, theglass he breaks, the tool mark he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects.All of these and more bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is notconfused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It is factualevidence. Physical evidence cannot be wrong, it cannot perjure itself, it cannot be wholly absent. Onlyhuman failure to find it, study and understand it can diminish its value." Professor Edmond Locard (1877-1966) (Source: "Wildlife Crime: A guide to the use of forensic and specialist techniques in the investigation ofwildlife crime" published by DEFRA, U.K

Forensic Science in controlling Wildlife crimesR. Hemanth Kumar, Conservator of Forests (Varanasi circle, Uttar Pradesh)


WILDLIFE CRIME

specific fighting, road accidents, electrocutionincluding lightning strike, poisoning, shooting,drowning etc.

Whenever death occurs it's important that thewildlife manger should try to get answers for 5 W's,they are: What? When (did the animal died)? Who(killed it)? Where (did the animal died)? Why (theanimal dead-reasons for death)? Ascertaining themcan be of great importance to the wildlife managers as

it helps the managers in improving the managerialimpetus and in solving the wildlife crime, whatever thecase may be.

In this article I tried to explain mainly two W's theyare: When and Why? - and how forensic science canhelp in answering these two important questions.

(A) When did the death of animal took place: It is very important to estimate the probable time ofdeath (TOD) / postmortem interval to link it with thecrime. However, this subject belongs to veterinarianand he will estimate the TOD. But as an investigatingofficer it is also important that he has a roughknowledge of this. This knowledge will help him for aquick and scientific investigation. For example, if thesuspect has entered the vicinity within 24 hrs andanimal has died 48 hrs earlier, than there is no linkbetween suspect and death of the animal.

In humans while calculating Time of Death factorssuch as dead body's temperature (algor mortis),lividity (livor mortis-discoloration stains), stiffening ofthe body (rigor mortis), degree of putrefaction,adipocere (body fat saponification), and maceration(tissue softening due to the presence of liquid) help inroughly ascertaining the time of death.

In humans the dead body roughly looses onedegree Fahrenheit per one hour, however, factors suchas the air temperature surrounding the corpse, bodyfat content, or drowning will cause the estimate to varygreatly

Livor mortis, which means literally "the color ofdeath", is the discoloration of the skin caused by flowof blood into the venous spaces under the influence ofgravity. Simply put, it is the blood pooling or settlinginto the lowest portions of the body. Anywhere fromone-half to one hour after death livor can begin to beseen and it. Anemic and starvation conditions delaythe process.

Rigor mortis is a more common indicator of Timeof death. Under normal environmental conditions, themuscles will stiffen (not contract) with a set patternand rate. This is caused by dead muscle production oflactic acid fusing with the myocin in the muscles andforming a gel. This gel causes the stiffness. Thesmaller, shorter muscle groups of the face and neckare affected first, and the stiffness gradually works itsway down the body to the legs. Rigor can begin to setin fifteen minutes after death or fifteen hours after.Rigor mortis disappears after some time. Rigor mortisalso gives a rough idea about time of death.

Degree of putrefaction, adipocere (body fatsaponification), and maceration (tissue softening dueto the presence of liquid) etc also give a rough ideaabout the time of death.


WILDLIFE CRIME

Now-a-days Forensic Entomology is playing a vitalrole in determining the time of death. Once a personor animal has died, insects colonize it very rapidly. Thesuccession of inhabitants in terms of species and lifecycle stages (larva, pupa, and maggot stages) areclearly understood and it helps in determining thetime of death.

Similar practices are used even in dead wild animalsfor determining the Time of death. In the pastcomputer programs have been developed but recentinvestigations have shown that these programs(CompuTOD) were erroneous. Newer concepts andimproved computer programs (NeuralTOD) based onstudying of neural networks for inferring Time sinceDeath was developed by researchers.

Some of the interesting articles on these conceptsare mentioned below:

1. "CompuTOD, A computer program to estimateTime Of Death of Deer" by Cox, R.J., Mitchell, S.L., andEspinoza, E.O., Journal of Forensic Sciences, JFSCA Vol.39, No 5, September 1994, pp1287-1299.

2. "The Application of Neural Networks to InferringTime Since Death In Deer" by Espinoza, Edgard O.,Mitchell, Stuart, Cox, Robert, and Stockdale, Michael

(B) Why (how) the animal is dead?As already mentioned the death of animal can be dueto a variety of reasons. Forensic science can help us indetermining the exact cause of death, how forensicscan help us, in brief is described below.

Death Due to Poisoning:Often wild animals are killed by Humans for a varietyof reasons, the main reason being Man-AnimalConflicts. Poisoning water holes, spreading grainscoated with poison, poisoned arrows/ spears/ needles,poisoning carcass are some of the most commonpractices of wild life crimes.

Wild animals are killed by using poisons fromplants like Abrus precatorius, Nux Vomica, Calotropis,Castor seeds, Chemicals like Arsenic, Aconite (MeethaJahar), Copper Sulphate, Mercury compound, Lead,Organo-phosphorous/ Aldrin (Insecticide/ pesticides),Fishing poison (waterhole poisoning by any poison),Zinc phosphate (Rat poison) and animal proteins likesnake poison etc.

The branch of Forensic science that deals withpoisoning cases is Forensic toxicology. It mainly dealswith the study of effect of chemicals (drugs/ poisons)on human body. The first comprehensive work onforensic toxicology was published in 1813 by MathieuOrifila. He was a respected Spanish chemist and thephysician who is often given the distinction of "fatherof toxicology."

Forensic toxicology labs can help us in identifyingthe poison used for killing of the animals, which canhelp the investigators in cracking cases. Forensictoxicology helped the investigators in coming to aconclusion that the killers of 7 elephants from Corbettnational park (in year 2001) belongs to the dreadedLisu tribes (originally belongs to Myanmar, but settledin Arunachal Pradesh), who used arrows laced withdeadly poison named Thiodine, a pesticide used in thetea gardens of North-East.

An interesting article on poisoning is mentionedbelow

"Investigating Wildlife Poisoning cases" by RichardK. Stroud, Frank Kuncir, International Game Wardenwinter 2005 pp: 8-13

Death due to ShockDeath of wild animals can occur due to shockemancipated from inter and intra specific fights, dueto accidents, due to electrocution (includes lightening),from object injuries (beating with sticks, lathi etc) orfrom deep lacerated injuries caused by sharp knife,arrows, bullet injuries etc and due to drowning.

Investigators of the wildlife crime might have somebasic knowledge in this regard; for example they mightknow that■ A whitish cut injury (tissues are not red) on thedead animal is because that the cut is made after thedeath of the animal, ■ Reddishness (ecchymosis) of the cut injury tells usthat the cut was made while the animal is still alive,■ Reddishness (ecchymosis) underneath the skin andskin charred like corn flakes tells us that the animaldied due to electrocution etc.

Poachers do use fire arms for killing the animals.


WILDLIFE CRIME

The branch of forensics that helps us in determiningdeath due to it is Forensic Ballistics. When arms andammunition are seized, it is the forensic ballisticswhich can reveal the arm and ammunition used in thecrime by detailed analysis of arm and firedammunition.

Citations of some of interesting articles on this areas given below

1. "Arrow versus Gun shot: Tips for fieldinvestigators" featured article published inInternational Game Warden, Spring 2007 (page 20 to23)

2. "Shot Pellets: An Overview" By: Mary-JacqueManni, Edgard O. Espinoza, Rhoda M. Ralston, RichardK. Stroud, Michael D. Scanlan and Steven J. Strauss,

AFTE Journal, Vol 26, No 3, July 1994, PP 223-241

Death due to diseases:Death due to diseases is quite common amongst theanimals, but whenever highly endangered animal liketiger dies it becomes big news. As a manager of theprotected area it is our moral responsibility to see thatthe park/ sanctuary/ wilderness areas are free fromdiseases. If the vector load is very high then theanimals become susceptible for various diseases thatwill lead to higher rates of mortality. Some of the mostcommon dreaded diseases of animals are: Anthrax,Clostridial infections, Leptospirosis, Spaphylococcosis,Tuberculosis (all bacterial diseases), Rabies, Foot andmouth disease, Canine distemper, Infectious felineenteritis (all viral diseases) etc.

Tests on tissues (kidney, liver, heart, lungs,muscular tissues etc) taken from the dead animals and

Serum (from blood/ saliva/ vomiting/urine etc) of liveanimals can be studied for the disease causingorganisms (Forensic Serology) so that remedial actionscan be taken up.

Park authorities can think of formulating diseasestrategy plans for each and every individual diseaseand implementing it, as it is being done in thecountries like Australia. This country has formulateddisease strategy plans for each dreadful disease; theycall these plans as-- Australian Veterinary EmergencyPlans (AUSVETPLAN).

The book, by the author of this article, titled "ModelDisaster Management Plan for Zoological Parks ofIndia" published by Central Zoo Authority, has achapter on Animal Disease Emergencies andPreparedness, it stresses on, among other issues,importance of disease surveillance, disease riskanalysis, risk profiling, risk communication, riskmanagement etc. This book can be accessed onwww.cza.nic.in/publication.html

Apart from it the authorities can think offormulating the following protocols■ Protocols for dealing with Zoonotic diseases■ Protocols for collection, storage, and transportationof various samples taken from dead animals

Other aspects of Forensics:There are many fakes for the major and minor animalproducts in the market. Forensic Odontology &Osteology helps in differentiating real teeth and bonesfrom fakes. Similarly forensics helps investigators indifferentiating real organs from fake organs, helps indetermining the ingredients in TCMs, conductingGenetic analysis of dead animals that can help innabbing of culprits (as it was done on Gir Lions) etc.

The Chinese Medicinal Plant Authentication Centre(CMPAC), coordinated at Kew, has developed a rangeof resources to assist both enforcement officers andthe traditional Chinese medicine community withherbal identification, substitution, and relatedconcerns of herbal quality and safety. Apart fromusing the packaging to identify which species arepresent in the medicine, CMPAC has collated areference collection of some 250 species taking theform of over 1,500 samples, including all CITES listedmedicinal species. (Source: "Wildlife Crime: A guide tothe use of forensic and specialist techniques in theinvestigation of wildlife crime" published by DFRA(Department for Environment Food and Rural Areas,U.K.)

Some of the interesting articles on this aspect ofForensics are given below:

1. "Bear and Cat Claws. Identification Notes forWildlife Law Enforcement" by Sims, M.E. and B.C.


WILDLIFE CRIME

Yates. 2001, M-01-1. National Fish &Wildlife Forensics Laboratory,Ashland, OR.

2. "Bear Claws--Real and Fake.Identification Notes for WildlifeLaw Enforcement" by Yates, B.C.and C. Sims 2001, M-01-2. NationalFish & Wildlife ForensicsLaboratory, Ashland, OR.

3. "Identification of Mid-size CatSkulls: Identification Guides forWildlife Law Enforcement" by Sims,M.E. 2005No. 7. USFWS, NationalFish and Wildlife ForensicsLaboratory, Ashland, OR.

4. "Tusk or Bone?: An Exampleof Fake Walrus Ivory in the WildlifeTrade. Identification Guides forWildlife Law Enforcement No. 10"by Sims, M.E. and Baker, Barry W.2006. USFWS, National Fish andWildlife Forensics Laboratory,Ashland, OR.

5. "Distinguishing Real vs FakeTiger Penises. Identification Guidesfor Wildlife Law Enforcement No. 6"by Yates, B.C. 2005USFWS, NationalFish and Wildlife ForensicsLaboratory, Ashland, OR.

6. "The forensic analysis of soilorganic by FTIR" by RJ. Cox, H.L.Peterson, J. Young, C. Cusik, E.O.Espinoza, Forensic ScienceInternational 108 (2000) 107-116

7. "Applied wildlife genetics inenforcement and management" byPeter A. Dratch and Steven R. Fain,National Fish and Wildlife ForensicLaboratory, 1490 East Main Street,Ashland, Oregon 97520 USA

8. "Recommendations for animalDNA forensic and identity testing"by Bruce Budowle, Paolo Garofano,Andreas Hellman, Melba Ketchum,Sree Kanthaswamy, Walther Parson,Wim Van Haeringen, Steve Fain,Tom Board, International JournalLegal Med (2005) 119: 295-302

Thus forensics is playing a vitalrole in nabbing the criminals ofwildlife. It's high time that thewildlife managers should updatetheir knowledge. Investigating

officers assisted by clues team,forensic team and well establishedlabs will definitely pose a potentthreat to the culprits of wildlifecrime.

It will be appropriate if we usethe knowledge archived by otheragencies to the benefit of wildlife ofour wilderness. In this instance Iwould like to mention an excellentwork done by Prof. Abdul Basith,Prof. Jayathangaraj, Dr. M. Raman,Dr. B. R. Latha, and Dr. S. Ramesh ofDepartment of Wildlife Science,Madras Veterinary college, whodocumented a book titled-"ColorAtlas on Parasites of CaptiveAnimals" (it's a CZA publication). Itcan be a useful reference book forthe Forensic laboratories and thereis no need for the forensicscientists to reinvent the wheel.

Similarly authorities can comeup with books like "Wildlife Crime:A guide to the use of forensic andspecialist techniques in theinvestigation of wildlife crime"published by DFRA, (Departmentfor Environment Food and RuralAreas) U.K for our own country too.

AN INTERESTING NOTEOF REMOTE PATROL:Technologies developed byAmerican Army during VietnamWar are used in Republic ofCongo's Nouabale- NdokiNational Park.

Whenever the metal (gun)carrying poachers enters thepark, the park authorities getmessages in the form of fax,SMS, email etc. It's possiblebecause of TailGuard, a hiddenmetal detector that is bringingmilitary technology to the fieldof conservation. With satellitelinks it can alert authorities'miles away, the detectors can actas eyes and ears for the parkpersonnel.

Remote metal detectors werefirst used in Vietnam War byAmerican Military in order toknow about the troopmovement, at that time anairplane would have to circlenear by to pick the signal, butwith the advent of satellite andinternet technology, suchinstruments have becomeubiquitous and more versatile.The TailGuard is a 25 centimeterlong cylinder that can be buriedin the ground on routesfrequented by poachers. Whensomeone carrying a metalpasses within a few meters, heor she trips a magnetometer thatsends a radio signal to a nearbysatellite uplink which can thenalert authorities by email, fax,SMS etc. The device can even telldirection and number of peoplein the group. [Source:Conservation Magazine; April-June 2007 (Vol. 8, No 2](http://www.conservationmagazine.org/2008/07/remote-patrol/)-an interesting development inconservation isn't it?


MANAGEMENT

THE RATIONALE BEHIND TIGERCONSERVATIONFOUNDATIONS

Pramod Krishnan and S P Yadav

The genesis and growth of official wildlifeestablishment in India has been based stronglyon the ‘Protected Area (PA) centric’

conservation logic. As a result, it was largely, notmandated to involve in the dynamics taking place inthe surrounding landscape, which had critical andtenuous linkages with the integrity of the PA. Notwithstanding, a few isolated efforts aiming atlandscape level interventions (initiated throughcertain donor driven projects like IndiaEcodevelopment Project), by and large the officialconservation machinery in India remained alooffrom what was happening outside their ‘territory’.This resulted in the ‘splendid isolation’ of our PAs-both physically and intellectually, from the nationalmainstream.

Of late, Forest and Wildlife Department (FWD) isfinding it increasingly difficult to withstand themounting pressure on the forests in the context ofthe rapid changes taking place in the demographic,socio-political and economic landscape outside.Caught between the multiple demands, ranging fromthe livelihood concerns of the local people to thedevelopmental aspirations of the national psyche,FWD has entered into a crumble zone. The commonperception about FWD as an anti-developmental oranti-people department compounds the problem.

It is now increasingly realized that the era of PAcentric conservation logic is getting outdated. Evenin situations, where the core PAs have been relativelywell protected, the adjacent areas without adequateconservation inputs are acting as the ‘draining and


MANAGEMENT

sinking zone’ for the protected core population.These ‘black holes’ have become the zones ofnemesis for many of our endangered flora andfauna. Coupled with routine developmentalpressures, excessive subsistence dependency,shrinking habitats and vanishing corridors, rapidinvasion of alien species, organized wildlife crimesyndicates, and inadequate institutional support toface these issues, the picture is complete.

Task Force recommended the following actionsurgently to strengthen the conservation efforts,particularly tiger conservation, in India.

a) Reinvigorate the institutions of governance.b) Strengthen efforts geared towards protection

of the tiger, checking poaching, convicting wildlifecriminals and breaking the international tradenetwork.

c) Expand the inviolate spaces for the tiger byminimizing human pressure in these areas.

d) Repair the relationships with the people whoshare the tiger’s habitat by building strategies forcoexistence.

e) Regenerate the forest habitats in the fringes ofthe tiger’s protective enclaves by investing in forest,water and grassland economies of the people (TTFReport, 2005).

Taking a cue from this, in a very practical sense,a three pronged strategy is now being evolved forsecuring our remaining wildlife habitats. Firstly,earmark maximum possible areas as inviolate zonesfor conservation. Secondly, identify and delineatethe buffer zones around TRs, where co-existentagenda shall be the main management paradigm andthirdly, a ‘beyond buffer agenda’, where the focus

LIST OF TIGER RESERVES WHERE TIGER CONSERVATIONFOUNDATION HAS BEEN CONSTITUTED

Sl. No. Name of Tiger Reserve State1. Corbett Uttarakhand 2. Buxa West Bengal3. Sunderbans West Bengal4. Kaziranga Assam5. Nameri Assam6. Manas Assam7. Namdapha Arunachal Pradesh8. Pakke Arunachal Pradesh9. Dampa Mizoram10. Achanakmar Chhattisgarh11. Udanti-Sitanadi Chhattisgarh12. Indravati Chhattisgarh13. *Kanha, Satpura, Pench,

Bandhavgarh, Panna & Sanjay-Dubri Madhya Pradesh14. Tadoba-Andhari Maharashtra15. Pench Maharashtra16. Melghat Maharashtra17. Ranthambhore Rajasthan18. Sariska Rajasthan19. Similipal Orissa20. Satkosia Orissa21. Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Andhra Pradesh22. Dandeli-Anshi Karnataka23. Bhadra Karnataka24. Bandipur Karnataka25. Nagarahole Karnataka26. Periyar Kerala27. Parambikulam Kerala28. Mudumalai Tamil Nadu29. Kalakad Mundanthurai Tamil Nadu30. Anamalai Tamil Nadu* State level Foundation, not reserve specific.


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shall be to engage the production sectors formainstreaming the elements of conservation inharmony with the core conservation agenda of thePAs. This approach requires substantial amount ofefforts and resources. The pertinent question hereis, whether the Wildlife establishment in India, in itspresent form, is adequatelycapacitated to squarely addressthese tasks? If not, then what arethe alternatives?

Clearly, Forest Wildlife Division(FWD) is at cross roads. It is acrisis as well as an opportunity forFWD to adapt to the changingscenario. From being a‘Department’ it has to grow intoan ‘Organization’. It is imperativethat FWD undergoes an internalrestructuring process byexploring new avenues along withits time tested processes andmechanisms. Striking strategicpartnerships and formingappropriate supportiveinstitutional mechanisms are veryimportant in this churningprocess. Formation of appropriatepara governmental institutionswith the mandate of assistingFWD in its endeavor to face thechallenges of conservation iscritical to this strategy. There havebeen examples of this kind in thecountry. The lessons from PeriyarTiger Reserve, Kerala show thatmulti-stake holder participationand establishment of supportiveinstitutions like PeriyarFoundation, can go a long way inrevitalizing the FWD.

From the foregoing discussion,it is evident that the wildlifeestablishment requires strongreinforcements to tackle thepresent and new generation issuesrelated to wildlife conservation.The conceptual origin of tigerfoundations are based on this premise.

Role and core characters of the foundationThe main aim of the foundation is to facilitate andsupport the Tiger Reserve management inbiodiversity conservation efforts through multi-

stakeholder participation in consistent with thenational and state Policies, Acts, Rules andLegislations. The scope of the foundation is not thePA alone but the landscape in which the PA isembedded.

The foundation is proposed as a Governmentowned Public Trust combining theauthority of the Government andflexibility of a good NonGovernmental Organization(NGO). Thus, the foundation isenvisaged as a “Governmentowned NGO”, and can be called asa GONGO. This amalgamation ofauthority and flexibility is the corevalue of this new organizationalstructure. Essentially, it is a paragovernmental arrangement. Touse an analogy, if army is the maindefence of the country, paramilitary forces perform the vitalsupplementary functions. So,while the job of the FWD can becompared to that of a green armysafeguarding the biodiversity,foundations shall act like aparamilitary force assisting theFWD in various aspects of itsfunctioning.

Primarily, foundation is notenvisaged as an implementingagency competing with FWD orother existing agencies orinstitutions in the implementationprocess, and thereby duplicatingthe efforts. Rather, it has to be asupporting institution. Thefoundation is expected to take upa variety of roles which requireprofessional inputs and expertise.These may range from identifyingand understanding the underlyingsocio-economic and ecologicaldynamics in the landscape,monitoring of various attributesof the PA, ensuring thecontinuation and sustainability of

various ecodevelopment activities, preparation ofspecific project proposals, conducting capacitybuilding and skill enhancing programmes for staffand villagers, mobilizing resource for PAmanagement, research etc. In other words, with theestablishment of the TR Foundation, each tiger

OBJECTIVES OF THETIGER CONSERVATIONFOUNDATION(a) to facilitate ecological,economic, social and culturaldevelopment in the tigerreserves;(b) to promote eco-tourism withthe involvement of local stake-holder communities and providesupport to safeguard the naturalenvironment in the tigerreserves;(c) to facilitate the creation ofand or maintenance of suchassets as may be necessary forfulfilling the above saidobjectives;(d) to solicit technical, financial,social, legal and other supportrequired for the activities of theFoundation for achieving theabove said objectives;(e) to augment and mobilizefinancial resources includingrecycling of entry and such otherfees received in a tiger reserve,to foster stake-holderdevelopment and eco-tourism;(f) to support research,environmental education andtraining in the above relatedfields.Section 38X of the wildlife(Protection) Act, 1972


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reserve is expected to get an inbuilt supportingmechanism within the PA itself. Since thefoundations also have representation from thepublic, it is a much more democratic body and theaspirations and sentiments of the local communitiesare also considered in its functioning.

Another key feature of the foundation is itsflexibility in terms of resource mobilization, selfreliance, finance, operations and staffing. Systems ofindependent and hassle free resource mobilizationmechanisms can be easily dovetailed into thefunctioning the foundation. These range fromlevying environmental user fees and recycling ofgate receipts to receiving specific project assistancefrom various donors. These resources, that come asadditionality over the existing financial instrumentsof the FWD, can become quite handy and ease out alot of pressure on the resource constrainedGovernments.

The resources thus generated can be ploughedback into the landscape for various activities withfocus on conservation community welfare, capacitybuilding etc. The foundation can also play a pivotalrole in the landscape by acting as a fulcrum forconvergence of various sectors and thus generateconsiderable synergy in the landscape. It makes FWDa developmental agency as well and its functioningmainstreamed into the national developmental andpoverty eradication process. This will also removethe perpetual stigma attached to FWD as an anti-developmental agency!

In addition, the foundations can also act as the‘think tank’ for the PA along with maintaining the‘institutional memory’ for the PA and landscape.Further, some of the ‘trickier’ programmes likerelocation of villages from PAs, which require greatamount of conceptual, organizational, operationaland financial responsibilities can be implementedthrough the foundations rather than directly by theFWD themselves.

The foundations can collaborate and strikestrategic partnerships with other organizations andagencies like Wildlife Institute of India and theCrime Control Bureau. This collaboration shall bemutually benefiting and invigorating to all theparties. The potential of this institutionalarrangement with forward and backward linkagesbetween field units and apex organizations areimmense.

Perceived organizational structure of the foundationAs discussed earlier, the foundation has to imbibe

the good characters of both government and NGO,thereby amalgamating the virtues of both-authorityand flexibility. The proposed two-tier organizationalprofile of the foundation has been designed withthis fact in mind. It is presumed that the GoverningBody of the foundation represents the ‘government’.In other words, the Governing Body takes all majorpolicy decisions of the foundation. By keeping ForestMinister as the Chair, it is presumed that it has thehighest level of ownership. The Governing Body alsohas representation from public, thus making it amore representative entity of the society.

The Executive Committee of the foundation is the


corner stone of its functioning and characterized byflexibility in functioning. It is chaired by the FieldDirector, who is the ex-officio Executive Director ofthe Foundation and is responsible for its day todayfunctioning. The decision making in the foundationis largely through a process of collective deliberationof the Executive Committee. Practically, theefficiency of the foundation depends to a largeextend on the efficiency of the functioning of theExecutive Committee.

The foundation shall also have various advisorybodies to assist it in its functioning, depending onthe requirements.

Resources of the foundationConservation obviously has a cost. Sustainablefinancing of PAs is going to be one of the majorchallenges before the PA managers in the times tocome. The Plan assistance received from the federaland state governments alone would not be adequateenough to meet the costs of PA management in thetimes to come. Institutions like, foundations aremandated to generate additional revenue for have toplay an important role in this regard. Foundation ismandated to generate resources for PA managementindependently. The Developmental assistanceobtained from the Government is obviously one of


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sources. The 2006 amendment to the Wildlife Actalso provides for the recycling of gate receipts inTRs through the foundation. In addition, foundationcan solicit resources at local, regional, national andinternational levels, in tune with the existing rulesand procedures in vogue in the country. In short, asample kitty of resource generation for thefoundation includes the following.

1. Developmental assistance received fromGovernment (central and state)

2. Gate receipts3. Project support from donors4. Other Governmental agencies5. Institutional fees generated through research,

training and consultancies6. Payment for ecosystem services. A part of the resources generated by

thefoundation can be earmarked and kept aside as‘trust fund’, which is a very popular and powerfultool of conservation financing in many parts of theworld. In addition,resources from a resource surplusfoundation can be used to cross subsidize otherresource deficient PAs in the state.

Relationship between Foundation and ForestDevelopment AgenciesOver the last two decades, large number ofEcodevelopment Committees (EDC) and similarother grass root level conservation organizationshave been established in several PAs of the country.At many places, these institutions have beenfederated into Forest Development Agencies (FDA).However, it may be noted that the mandate of thefoundation is much broader than FDAs. Ideally, a

vertical integration of these three institutions withEDCs at the lower rung, FDAs in the middle andfoundation at the Apex are the most suitable model.

Threats to the foundationFrom the fore-going discussion, it is evident thatflexibility in management options is one of the keycharacters of the foundation. However, this optionof flexibility has to be utilized adequately andefficiently by the PA authorities to obtain optimalresults from the foundation. Similarly, this flexibilityin functioning has to be supported by innovationand ownership. Obviously, it requires mindsetchange from the practitioners. In the absence of thisrequired mindset change, the foundation maybecome yet another unwieldy and redundantinstitution.

Another potential threat for foundation is theconflict that can emanate between the foundationand park management. That is precisely the reason,why the Field Director has been chosen as theExecutive Director of the foundation. It will insulatethe institution from any potential power clash thatmay develop at the level of top management infuture.

Another area of concern is the possibility ofundesirable politicization of foundation by vestedinterest groups. The best remedial option in thisregard would be the formulation of clear cutpolicies, guidelines and procedures on thefunctioning of the foundation in the form of an‘Operational Manual”. Perhaps, the Ministry has totake a lead in preparing an indicative and genericOperational Manual.

Conservation milieu in India is undergoingmassive changes. This was triggered by the rapidchanges taking place in the over all socio-politicaland economic scenario, which has its forward andbackward linkages with conservation. One of themain challenges before FWD is to capture themoment and realign and reposition itself bypositively reacting to the changes. This will equipFWD to face the conservation challenges in the timesto come. A good beginning in this regard has beenmade with the 2006 amendment to Wildlife(Protection) Act, 1972, which provides for certainradical institutional changes within the wildlifeestablishment. However, it is the wisdom anddexterity of the practitioners, that shall decide theefficacy of this most ‘potentially sweeping reform’,that conservation history has witnessed during thelast few decades in India.

LIST OF TIGER RESERVES IN INDIASl. No. Year of creation Name of Tiger Reserve State1 1973-74 Bandipur Karnataka2 1973-74 Corbett Uttarakhand3 1973-74 Kanha Madhya Pradesh4 1973-74 Manas Assam5 1973-74 Melghat Maharashtra6 1973-74 Palamau Jharkhand7 1973-74 Ranthambore Rajasthan8 1973-74 Similipal Orissa9 1973-74 Sunderbans West Bengal10 1978-79 Periyar Kerala11 1978-79 Sariska Rajasthan12 1982-83 Buxa West Bengal13 1982-83 Indravati Chhattisgarh14 1982-83 Nagarjunsagar Andhra Pradesh15 1982-83 Namdapha Arunachal Pradesh16 1987-88 Dudhwa Uttar Pradesh17 1988-89 Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tamil Nadu18 1989-90 Valmiki Bihar19 1992-93 Pench Madhya Pradesh20 1993-94 Tadoba-Andheri Maharashtra21 1993-94 Bandhavgarh Madhya Pradesh22 1994-95 Panna Madhya Pradesh23 1994-95 Dampa Mizoram24 1998-99 Bhadra Karnataka25 1998-99 Pench Maharashtra26 1999-2000 Pakke Arunachal Pradesh27 1999-2000 Nameri Assam28 1999-2000 Satpura Madhya Pradesh29 2008-2009 Anamalai Tamil Nadu30 2008-2009 Udanti-Sitanadi Chattisgarh31 2008-2009 Satkosia Orissa32 2008-2009 Kaziranga Assam33 2008-2009 Achanakmar Chattisgarh34 2008-2009 Dandeli-Anshi Karnataka35 2008-2009 Sanjay-Dubri Madhya Pradesh36 2008-2009 Mudumalai Tamil Nadu37 2008-2009 Nagarahole Karnataka38 2008-2009 Parambikulam Kerala39 2009-10 Sahyadri Maharashtra

In-principle approval has been accorded for creation offive more tiger reserves are as under:-Sl. No. Name of Tiger Reserve State1. Ratapani Madhya Pradesh2. Sunabeda Orissa3. Pilibhit Uttar Pradesh4. Biligiri Ranganatha Temple Karnataka5. Mukundara Hills Rajasthan

(including Darrah, Jawahar Sagar andChambal Wildlife Sanctuaries)

Further, the following areas have been suggested, by the National TigerConservation Authority to States, for creation as tiger reserves are givenbelow:-Sl. No. Name State1. Satyamangalam Tamil Nadu2. Nagzira-Navegaon Maharashtra3. Bor Maharashtra4. Suhelwa Uttar Pradesh

Published and printed by Inder Mohan Singh Kathuria on behalf of National Tiger Conservation Authority. Published at Annexe No 5, Bikaner House, Shahjahan Road, New Delhi - 110011 and

printed at Astha Packaging, 122 DSISC Sheds, Okhla Phase I, New Delhi - 110020

STRIPES | BI-MONTHLY OUTREACH JOURNAL OF NATIONAL TIGER CONSERVATION AUTHORITY,A STATUTORY BODY UNDER MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

VOLUME TWO FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION ISSUE TWO

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