• Indian State OKs Shooting Tiger Poachers On Sight
    29 replies, posted
[quote] NEW DELHI (AP) — A state in western India has declared war on animal poaching by allowing forest guards to shoot hunters on sight in an effort to curb rampant attacks on tigers and other wildlife. The government in Maharashtra says injuring or killing suspected poachers will no longer be considered a crime. Forest guards should not be "booked for human rights violations when they have taken action against poachers," Maharashtra Forest Minister Patangrao Kadam said Tuesday. The state also will send more rangers and jeeps into the forest, and will offer secret payments to informers who give tips about poachers and animal smugglers, he said. No tiger poachers have ever been shot in Maharashtra, though cases of illegal loggers and fishermen being shot have led to charges against forest guards, according to the state's chief wildlife warden, S.W.H. Naqvi. But the threat could act as a significant deterrent to wildlife criminals, conservationists said. A similar measure allowing guards to fire on poachers in Assam has helped the northeast state's population of endangered one-horned rhinos recover. "These poachers have lost all fear. They just go in and poach what they want because they know the risks are low," said Divyabhanusinh Chavda, who heads the World Wildlife Fund in India and is a key member of the National Wildlife Board, which advises the prime minister. In many of India's reserves, guards are armed with little more than sticks. India faces intense international scrutiny over its tiger conservation, as it holds half of the world's estimated 3,200 tigers in dozens of wildlife reserves set up since the 1970s, when hunting was banned. Illegal poaching remains a stubborn and serious threat, with tiger parts in particular fetching high prices on the black market because of demand driven by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. According to the Wildlife Protection Society of India, 14 tigers have been killed by poachers in India so far this year — one more than in all of 2011. The tiger is considered endangered, with its habitat shrinking more than 50 percent in the last quarter-century while its numbers declined from an estimated 5,000-7,000 in the 1990s, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Eight of this year's tiger poaching deaths in India occurred in Maharashtra, including one whose body was found last week chopped into pieces with its head and paws missing in Tadoba Tiger Reserve. Forest officials have also found traps in the reserve, where about 40 tigers live. Naqvi said encounters between Maharashtra's forest guards and poachers were rare because poachers generally hunt the nocturnal big cats at night. He said the state's offer to pay informers from a new fund worth about 5 million rupees ($90,000) would likely be more effective. "We get very few tips, so this will really help," he said. But conservationists said the fact that poachers are rarely seen has more to do with low ranger numbers, and that increasing patrols around the clock would help. Dozens of other animals are also targeted by hunters across India, including one-horned rhinos and male elephants prized for their tusks, and other big cats like leopards hunted or poisoned by villagers afraid of attacks on their homes or livestock. A recent study on hunting in India noted 114 species of mammals were being actively hunted across the country, with dozens of birds and reptiles also under attack. "There has been an onslaught going on in India," said William Laurance, a conservation biologist at James Cook University in Australia and one of the three authors of the study, which was published in Biological Conservation journal in April. "It's a serious threat to wildlife, along with habitat encroachment and forest degradation. A lot of species are clinging to survival in remote areas." It's unclear whether Maharashtra's example in targeting poachers will be followed by other states, though tiger poaching has also been a major problem in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in recent years. The hunting of male elephants for their tusks has skewed the sex ratio, and there are now about 100 female elephants for every male in the south. According to the April study, some of the most rampant hunting is occurring in the eastern Himalayas, where high numbers of army troops are deployed and some hunt for sport, and in the northeast near the porous border with China and Myanmar, where hunting is a way of life and sometimes an economic necessity for tribal communities. "The remarkable thing in India is that there is still anything alive at all with 1.2 billion people," Laurance said. "As populations grow, an increase in hunting pressure is a classic thing that happens."[/quote] [url]http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=153366654[/url] May not be the best solution, but at least it solves the problem.
Poaching Poachers
Grab your rifles gent's we're going for a free for all in India!
Fucking do it, this is the right way. My father is friends with a woman that lives and runs her own elephant preserve in Botswana, and this is the only way she runs a tight ship. She hires out several men, and together they patrol the property in search of anyone that might wish to do harm to her elephants. Now, we believe every word she said to us because she had photos, but she swears that prison sentences and fines aren't going to keep others away. She's never fired the first shot, because when the spotlight hits a group of poachers, they're [b]always[/b] the first to fire. [editline]24th May 2012[/editline] Fucking scumbags.
This is a good strategy; tigers are rare enough already. If this were taken to the next level, though it probably shouldn't, poachers would end up with bounties for being tagged and brought in; better coin if taken alive. But bounties are kinda dodgy anyways, so probably don't implement that; hunting other people for coin probably isn't kosher.
Everyone everywhere should make a law like this.
Probably not best to publicise this so much, now the poachers will know to shoot the guards on sight aswell.
[QUOTE=ThePunisher1;36080761]Probably not best to publicise this so much, now the poachers will know to shoot the guards on sight aswell.[/QUOTE] I think the idea is to raise the stakes. Poachers willing to risk fleeing from poorly equipped rangers may not be so willing to risk it if those forest rangers can simply shoot them.
snip snap snappity snap
[QUOTE=ThePunisher1;36080761]Probably not best to publicise this so much, now the poachers will know to shoot the guards on sight aswell.[/QUOTE] They do that anyway. Now the rangers don't have to wait for the poachers to shoot first.
[QUOTE=Lamar;36080848]Killing people who want to kill animals, boy we are great. Round of applause for everyone who thinks so.[/QUOTE] Wait is that your avatar
[QUOTE=shian;36080976]Wait is that your avatar[/QUOTE] I think it's a dick with shades.
I'm glad, since tigers are close to being wiped out. And a lot of poachers are complete dicks, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to kill someone to get to a animal. I've heard plenty of stories of people being shot at by poachers, and not being a ranger. And more of the reasons people like to hunt tigers (or other rare and endangered animals) are for stupid snake oil remedies. Some people go out to kill tigers JUST for their penis as a aphrodisiac, which has been scientifically disproven. Same with people who kill certain rhinos in Africa, to just take their horns.
Rangers should get high-end rifles.
[QUOTE=Lamar;36080848]Killing people who want to kill animals, boy we are great. Round of applause for everyone who thinks so.[/QUOTE] You do realize that tiger poachers also open fire on people as well and are quite dangerous individuals, right?
[QUOTE=Pandamox;36081081]You do realize that tiger poachers also open fire on people as well and are quite dangerous individuals, right?[/QUOTE] Generally any poachers are dangerous individuals.
Now [I]this[/I] is what I call the most dangerous game.
[QUOTE=Pandamox;36081081]You do realize that tiger poachers also open fire on people as well and are quite dangerous individuals, right?[/QUOTE] No I did not realize this. Thank you for your insight, I've changed my mind.
For a second I thought the title was talking about Indiana, makes a lot more sense now. On one hand I feel bad for anyone that is killed for poaching a tiger, there really is no easy way to deal peacefully with poachers.
Maybe the tiger poacher poachers will get confused for tiger poachers and get shot by tiger poacher poacher poachers who'll get confused for tiger poachers and get shot by tiger poacher poacher poacher poachers who'll get confused for tiger poachers and get shot by tiger poacher poacher poacher poacher poachers who'll get confused for tiger poachers and get shot by tiger poacher poacher poacher poacher poacher poachers who'll get confused for tiger poachers and get shot by tiger poacher poacher poacher poacher poacher poacher poachers who'll get confused for tiger poachers and get shot by tiger poacher poacher poacher poacher poacher poacher poacher poachers. And then the universe will explode. [editline]24th May 2012[/editline] the word 'poacher' looks really weird after typing that
My state, best state. :3 Also, Tigers are pretty much one of our national symbols, so protecting them at all costs should be a given. [editline]25th May 2012[/editline] [QUOTE]India faces intense international scrutiny over its tiger conservation, as it holds half of the world's estimated 3,200 tigers in dozens of wildlife reserves set up since the 1970s, when hunting was banned.[/QUOTE] Wait, what? Are there really only that many left? ;___;
It's a shame poachers lack long-term perspective. If the numbers of a species have dwindled down to a mere few thousand GLOBALLY, you'd think everyone would stop and think about the implications...
This is brilliant, the world needs more tigers and less poachers!
Reminds me of a short story I read in 7th grade about two guys hunting each either.
[QUOTE=Zarjk;36088811]Reminds me of a short story I read in 7th grade about two guys hunting each either.[/QUOTE] The Most Dangerous Game.
[QUOTE=Hunt3r.j2;36092426]The Most Dangerous Game.[/QUOTE] Boring story
[QUOTE=Sir_takeslot;36081087]Generally any poachers are dangerous individuals.[/QUOTE] [img]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3097/2743288262_2fca6f9924.jpg[/img] The man who did this is a bad motherfucker.
Like i said before poachers fuck shit up officers and rangers fuck them up
Oh shit, I've always dreamt of doing this. brb signing up as a park ranger in Maharashtra
This is the best solution. Make it a life or death game. Gear up the rangers with some good gear to save their lives also.
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