Forest guards told to shoot poachers on sight after rash of tiger killings
India hits back against hunters who sell body parts to Asia for use in traditional medicines
by Andrew Bundcombe
Confronted by the killing of at least eight tigers in the state so far this year, officials in the western state of Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai, have told forest guards they will have the same legal protection as police officers who have to use their guns on duty.
According to a report in The Indian Express newspaper, the state’s Forest Minister, Patangrao Kadam, told officials this week that he wanted to do whatever was required to protect the guards. “Human rights groups come in the way if there is any such action, but there is a need to save the tigers,” he said. “If the staff spot poachers committing an offence, they have been given orders to shoot on sight. They should sound a warning asking them to surrender, but if the poachers fail to do so, they should be shot.”
The orders giving forest guards legal protection should they need to use weapons were apparently first issued in 2006, but reports suggest that a number of guards felt uneasy about using their guns. Most of the guards are poorly trained and badly paid and there had been cases where guards had been charged for firing a weapon…
(read more: The Independent) (image: Wildlife Protection Soc. of India )
