IED used to kill animals
Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2012 12:06 pm
No hunting allowed but this is happening.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 519737.cms
The Punjabi passion for "skaatch and meat" in winter is satisfied in a horrific way. Poachers booby-trap fields and game trails at night with low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that blow off the jaws of wild animals tempted by the coating of maize and kneaded wheat flour. Wild boars that ravage agrarian tracts are the most common victims, sambhars, barking deer, jackals, dogs and cattle have also fallen prey.
"IEDs only require correct placement and all that a poacher has to do is to inspect the spot in the morning and take the animal if it is worth eating. Explosive devices are made from commonly procured materials like ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, glycerine and even urea. Some poachers even improvise the chemical mix by adding coal used by 'dhobis' for ironing. A dash of Diwali cracker 'masala' is used to trigger the blast once the animal starts to gnaw at it," said Gurmit Singh, member, Punjab State Wildlife Advisory Board, and former chief wildlife warden.
Nikhil Sanger of the Wildlife Conservation Society has often come across animal carcasses blasted by IEDs. He says some explosive devices are triggered by the action of saliva on chemicals contained in the IED. The device is tied up with jute or gunny bag strings, but a wily poacher may even give it an outer layer of jaggery to lure boars.
"I came across a boar whose lower jaw had been blasted off. Yet, the animal staggered a 100 yards before it died. It must have died a very agonising death. A boar is a very tough animal, but its jaw has some very vulnerable bones that are ripped off by the impact of this explosive. In the Nurpur-Bhaddi jungles of Nawashahr in Lower Shiwaliks, I came across a pair of sambhars, whose mouths had been blasted off. Poachers had even sawed off the antlers of a dead male sambhar. I knew of a pet Dobermann that once swallowed this IED after it strayed into the fields and the device went off in its stomach after the liquids reacted to IED chemicals," said Sanger.
Boar pickle is a much sought after delicacy in Punjab, with supplies surreptitiously reaching VIPs in the administrative, police and political circles. Retired Haryana Wildlife Inspector Sadaram, who has a rich field experience of wildlife conservation in Lower Shiwaliks, says "Communities like Sikkligars have certain elements which make and use these explosives. Boars are the prime target. Even those tribal communities sitting by the roadside and selling all kinds of indigeneous cures, lizards/bats and 'jaddi-booti" among others in bottles use these devices for poaching. It is a very cheap method and presents no danger to the poacher.''
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 519737.cms
The Punjabi passion for "skaatch and meat" in winter is satisfied in a horrific way. Poachers booby-trap fields and game trails at night with low-intensity improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that blow off the jaws of wild animals tempted by the coating of maize and kneaded wheat flour. Wild boars that ravage agrarian tracts are the most common victims, sambhars, barking deer, jackals, dogs and cattle have also fallen prey.
"IEDs only require correct placement and all that a poacher has to do is to inspect the spot in the morning and take the animal if it is worth eating. Explosive devices are made from commonly procured materials like ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, glycerine and even urea. Some poachers even improvise the chemical mix by adding coal used by 'dhobis' for ironing. A dash of Diwali cracker 'masala' is used to trigger the blast once the animal starts to gnaw at it," said Gurmit Singh, member, Punjab State Wildlife Advisory Board, and former chief wildlife warden.
Nikhil Sanger of the Wildlife Conservation Society has often come across animal carcasses blasted by IEDs. He says some explosive devices are triggered by the action of saliva on chemicals contained in the IED. The device is tied up with jute or gunny bag strings, but a wily poacher may even give it an outer layer of jaggery to lure boars.
"I came across a boar whose lower jaw had been blasted off. Yet, the animal staggered a 100 yards before it died. It must have died a very agonising death. A boar is a very tough animal, but its jaw has some very vulnerable bones that are ripped off by the impact of this explosive. In the Nurpur-Bhaddi jungles of Nawashahr in Lower Shiwaliks, I came across a pair of sambhars, whose mouths had been blasted off. Poachers had even sawed off the antlers of a dead male sambhar. I knew of a pet Dobermann that once swallowed this IED after it strayed into the fields and the device went off in its stomach after the liquids reacted to IED chemicals," said Sanger.
Boar pickle is a much sought after delicacy in Punjab, with supplies surreptitiously reaching VIPs in the administrative, police and political circles. Retired Haryana Wildlife Inspector Sadaram, who has a rich field experience of wildlife conservation in Lower Shiwaliks, says "Communities like Sikkligars have certain elements which make and use these explosives. Boars are the prime target. Even those tribal communities sitting by the roadside and selling all kinds of indigeneous cures, lizards/bats and 'jaddi-booti" among others in bottles use these devices for poaching. It is a very cheap method and presents no danger to the poacher.''