Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 4 Jul: Three bird hatchlings with their eyes yet to open were left orphaned and to die without food after their parents were killed by an unknown hunter in an undisclosed area in Upper Subansiri district.
Sippi-VI village Gram Chairperson Koje Rebi Dasi, who witnessed the heart-wrenching incident, told this daily that the local people have long been involved in wild bird and animal hunting in the district, and that “the local authorities have failed to curb the problem.”
He said that the people, “especially the youths of rural areas in Chetam and Nilling circles,” openly hunt birds with airguns in the wee hours.
Dasi said that it is a common sight to see people with airguns on the roadsides and the jungles in those areas.
Expressing grave concern over rampant killings of wild birds, especially during the breeding season, he appealed to Daporijo DFO Boken Pao to take appropriate measures to stop the hunting spree among the people.
The panchayat leader said also that he, along with four other like-minded people will soon meet the DFO to apprise him of the rampant hunting going on in many pockets of the district, and to urge the DFO to take action against the hunters, “including seizure of the weapons used to hunt and arresting them under appropriate sections of the law.”
Another resident of Dasi village, Dosh Dasi, informed that birds, deer and wild boars are the most hunted animals, and that the hunted animals are sold in the market clandestinely for hefty sums.
Environment & Forest Minister Mama Natung launched the Airgun Surrender Abhiyan in 2021 to prevent rampant killing of wild birds and animals in the state.
Over 2,000 airguns and a few rifles have so far been voluntarily surrendered by the people, who vowed not to hunt birds and animals.
Arunachal has more than 500 species of birds, including some indigenous species which are not found anywhere else in the world. But the number of birds in the forests is declining due to rampant hunting.