Every year during the winter season wild meat is seized from across the state by the forest officials.
A few days ago, a patrolling team of the Daporijo forest division in Upper Subansiri district conducted an operation against hunting and selling of wildlife meat in Daporijo town market, and seized a number of wildlife carcasses.
Similar cases were reported from other parts of the state too. The tribal society for years has been consuming the mild meats and always used the traditional method of hunting. Hunting was done only for self consumption.
But with the availability of modern weapons, the people have started killing wild animals in large scale. The wild lives are depleting at a much faster rate. Today, hunting is done for commercial purposes. Poachers are active all over the state. There are people who are ready to pay them handsomely. This has led to large scale hunting of wild animals. Similar is the case with fishing too. People use modern techniques to do large commercial fishing. At this rate, after a few years, the forest and rivers of Arunachal will lose many of its wildlife species. The environment and forest department has failed to stop commercial hunting and fishing. In many cases it is the villagers who have been found to be effective in banning the illegal hunting and fishing. The department needs to involve NGOs and local villagers more in its effort. Once the local people are made stakeholders, they will feel a sense of responsibility. Further, there is a need for better coordination between the forest department and the district administration.