This story is from May 10, 2016

Explosives used to kill wild boars in Satkosia

Use of explosive materials to hunt the wild boars has again come to the notice of the authorities of Mahanadi Wildlife Division under Satkosia Tiger Reserve.
Explosives used to kill wild boars in Satkosia

Bhubaneswar: Use of explosive materials to hunt the wild boars has again come to the notice of the authorities of Mahanadi Wildlife Division under Satkosia Tiger Reserve. The wild boar is one of preys of the tiger.
This came to the fore on Saturday with wildlife field personnel arresting three poachers at Atalsara in Boudh district on Saturday with sharp weapons and dynamite, an explosive material that is blended with dough and thrown in forest to kill wild boars.
Forest officials said it is a chocolate bomb, which explodes when the boars eat it, killing it instantly. The arrested poachers are Prafula Chanda, Ajit Dalabehera and Karafulla Dalabehera.
In June, 2015, two poachers were arrested for killing a wild board in similar fashion. Boar meat weighing four kg was seized. The legs of the boar were separated. The duo was booked under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, for killing a scheduled species.
Acting on a tip-off, the patrolling team swooped on the poachers. They had entered the core area with the explosive material, which was seized. "Since, we have strengthened collection of intelligence inputs by involving villagers, the poachers were apprehended before harming the animals," said divisional forest officer (Mahanadi division) Anshu Pragyan Das.
"To prevent prey animals from straying into human habitations, we are not laying salt licks there," she said. Salt lick is a place where animals can go to lick essential mineral nutrients from a deposit of salts and other minerals.

The senior wildlife officer said from the recent seizure they were sure that dynamite was mixed with the dough to kill the animals. "We were not sure about the kind of explosives the poachers were using to make chocolate bombs. We were under the impression that they were using cracker powder," she said.
Last week, the patrolling team arrested a person at Narasinghpur for entering buffer area of Mahanadi gorge during night. Two weeks ago, the field staff arrested two persons of Baisipalli for deliberately igniting forest fire in the foothills.
During the summer, inspection at water bodies and salt licks will continue as poachers keep an eye on those areas to hunt animals, she said.
The officials said instances of dynamite being used for fishing have also come to the light.
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