Forest department has no database on wildlife offenders

MADURAI: In a recent conversation about tiger conservation, a wildlife official remarked that they hesitated to divulge information on the distribution of tigers and leopards as poachers had a wide network that followed most of the publications and planned their kills accordingly. But while the poachers seems to have an effective tracking system of their own, the department lags behind in the matter of keeping tabs on the offenders.
Unlike the police, the forest department does not have a centralised database to keep track of wildlife offenders and forest brigands. A system to maintain records on previous offenders- including their photographs, fingerprints, addresses and current whereabouts- is currently missing, though efforts are being taken to create a database. If the records are available, the department will be able to narrow down the suspects and bring the culprits to justice, forest sources said.
“In most cases, hardly any records are kept on forest and wildlife offenders,” said a forest official from the region.
Wildlife enthusiasts for long have been asking the department to keep a database on offenders like poachers and sandalwood smugglers. Some wildlife associations maintain their own databases.
“We have found that of late, elephant poachers from Theni are growing in number. Such crucial information can be derived from a scientific database,” pointed out secretary of Tamil Nadu Green Movement S Jayachandran.
Informed sources from the state forest department said the officials have been asked to collate information on wildlife offences and offenders in their divisions.
At present, some of the divisions and wildlife sanctuaries maintain the records locally. But if these are centralised, other forest divisions and headquarters can easily access the information and zero down on offenders. Deputy director of Periyar Tiger Reserve Sanjayan Kumar feels that a database should be available at the national level as well.
“The respective state governments are taking measures but there should be a nationwide database to keep track of wildlife offences,” he said.