03/18/09
Neel Gai being hunted in Nagar Parkar
Link: http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=165128
Neel Gai being hunted in Nagar Parkar
Experts say poaching goes unchecked in the region
Sunday, March 01, 2009
By Jan Khaskheli
Karachi
The endangered blue bull, popularly known as the Neel Gai, is reportedly being hunted down in the Thar Desert along the Pakistan-India border, The News has learnt.
Reports indicate that a Neel Gai was recently found dead in Nagar Parkar, Thar Desert. The Neel Gai inhabits a small green patch in the region, but its poaching is rampant there, causing a growing concern for wildlife activists. �Two years ago, there were about 250 Neel Gai in the area, but now the number has drastically declined given the relentless poaching,� said Qambar Khoso, a local activist who is working on a wildlife conservation project. The water ponds and greenery appeals to the animal, he said. The Neel Gai survives on natural feed and wild plants that usually grow during the monsoons. �The only cultivated crop which the Gai is known to destroy is the Jawar (another monsoon crop),� he explained.
Nagar Parkar is the only green valley in Thar that attracts several endangered wildlife species. The local people, said Khoso, are generally wildlife-friendly and do not kill or disturb the natural habitat of the species there. It is perhaps for this reason that several species of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects, which have almost been wiped out from other parts of Sindh, can be found in Nagar Parkar. �There is a huge forest of devy (Prosopis juliflora) in the area, where these �guest� animals can be seen,� explained Khoso.
Around 13 small villages here have been targeted by poachers, who allegedly kill the animals in connivance with the local administration. �When the animal herds wander on cultivated land, the poachers kill them instantly. They also trap calves, which they present to their friends in the city as a gift,� Khoso added.
Sindh Wildlife Conservationist Hussain Bux Bhagat, however, rejected these claims, pointing out that the figure for the population of Neel Gai has risen. He claimed that there are not more than 20 Gai in the area. According to Bhagat, he received information from officials that a Neel Gai was found dead near Nagar Parkar. �The Gai was ill and died a natural death. We have asked the SWD deputy conservator to probe the death of the animal, and we are waiting for the report in this regard,� he explained. Bhagat said the area is protected, and thus poaching is out of the question. The Neel Gai, he added, is an inter-migratory animal inhabiting the borders, so any sort of violation is just not possible there.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Mansoor Qazi, Zoo and Aquarium Director, told The News that the Karachi Zoo has moved around 17 Neel Gai to Safari Park in the last 13 years. Answering a question, he said there is a need to make a wildlife conservation management plan so that other such animals and birds can be saved. Qazi said that in order to protect the environment, the issues of the local people should be resolved on a priority basis. Most indigenous people are poverty-stricken and destroy wildlife and cut trees so that they can survive. They need to be told that what they are doing is wrong. He said that wildlife conservationists around the world are establishing artificial habitats for wild species to protect them. �And here we are, destroying them ruthlessly,� he lamented.
The Neel Gai is not native to the Pakistani habitat, and migrated from India via the Rann of Kutch and settled in Nagar Parkar. This is the only part of Sindh where it is found. However, some wildlife conservationists say that a small population of them was found in Multan and Bahawalpur areas in Punjab many years ago.
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