What is the rationale for making hunting illegal in India

[gverma]

Hi
I understand that at this point of time Hunting is not legal in India. What is the rationale behind this ? I can understand there should be ban on hunting endangered species like lion and tiger, but why don't we have hunting seasons on more plentiful game such as deer in MP which I understand is destroying crops.
Anyone knows the reason we as a nation have put a complete ban on hunting.
Thanks
Regards
Gaurav

[Udhey Sidhu]

Gaurav,

This is a long pending debate, lot of people have been asking to make hunting legal, but we have to understand that in a diverse country like India, where religion, food & language changes every 200 kms there are a lot of complexities involved in making hunting legal.

I completely agree with you, and being a farmer myself, we have been losing lots of crops to the Deers & Blue-Bulls in Haryana & some parts of Punjab, keeping aside Rajasthan and a few other states, but it isn't possible to make hunting legal because these animal are sacred to some sections of the society in both these states, the "Bishnoi" religion and people strongly oppose it, and it's their right. There are a large number of people from this community in the states mentioned above. I personally believe their opposition to shotting such animals is reasonable enough.

Moreover, most of us don't realise that apart from having a National Bird and a National Animal, every state of India also has a State Bird & a State Animal, killing of these Birds n Animals is also illegal, and you could face imprisionment somewhere between 2-10 years!!! Keeping in mind the current voices asking for seperate states...should this happen, there will be close to 100 species we need to keep our distance from!!!!

However, the good news is that the government is recognising that some animals are quite a menace to crops and also multiply fast..result has been that shooting of wild-boar has been legalised, 2009 saw relaxation in some more rules in wild-boar game, you need to get a permission to go out and shoot wild-boars, though u can only shoot 2 at a given time.

Regards

[Amit357]

Hi Gaurav,the ban on hunting of the endangered animals like Tigers,Leopards,Rhinos,cheetals,etc,etc was 1st imposed in 1974 because they were on the brink of extinction.The ban on other animals like Axix Deer,Wild Boar,Barking Deer,Sambhar,blue bull all the game birds was imposed between 1988 and 2002 by diffrent states as per as their liking.You see the rational behind the ban was that shooting in those days was not a sport but a Butchery,pre 1950 it was done to please the Gora Masters who were plundering India's resourses and wildlife was also a part of that plunder.I remember visting a very famous lake in Rajasthan which still bore a sign saying that HRH alongwith His Highness so and so {dont wana take any name cause might stir up some contoroversy} shot 1892 Ducks and geese in a day's shoot.Further i have read articles about 1000 Sand Grouse and 1500 partridges being shot in a days shoot by hunting parties of 20 Guns.That time shooting an entire family of Tigers along with the cubs by HRH and His Highness as a gift to them by the Raja/Nawab of so and so.
Wildlife became unsustainable because of the pressure on them,no season was observed and it was a free for all.In 1974 a partial ban and in the late 80s a complete ban was put.Today wild life specially the prey animals have multiplied to the extent that they cause a lot of damage.This again is self created cause the predators have/are disappearing.PIg Bomb is gonna explode in certain states for sure as the population of Wild Boar is booming
Now to convice the authorities about this is well ,.Some states,Punjab,H.P,Maharastra due to certain political compultions have opened hunting of a cpl od animals after declaring them vermins,but the rest are still to follow.Mere Bharat Mahan,hoping for the best

[hvj1]

Nice post Amit

[jonahpach]

What ever and however well intentioned the reasons maybe, in real life and in actual practical application, the forest officials get to keep their designated forest areas as their personal fiefdoms and have a free hand in systematic plundering of forest resources. They will cut down entire healthy forests behind the veil of 'aforestation' (making way for teak/rubber plantations or whatever) Nobody really knows what happens to the original trees and and forests where these plantations have sprung up.
I for one (at least in the case of Mizoram) believe that the main culprit of loss of wildlife is entirely because loss of habitat due to mismanagement of forest resources by the Forest and Wildlife department. Any untouched area that gets 'protected' by the department immediately gets deforested within a couple of years of it being designated as such. Customarily Villages in Mizoram used to keep a designated forest area untouched as their cheif's hunting grounds. None of these 'hunting grounds' exit today after being 'adopted' by the forest department.
I maybe exaggerating a bit here, but I don't believe that hunting on its own can ever entirely be the cause of loss of wildlife resources in these modern times. A healthy untouched natural forest always manages to sustain its necessary compliment of flora and fauna. It is when humans creat an imbalance in the flora (illegal logging under the auspices of aforestation. Natural flora replaced by plantations) that the fauna gets to go away.

Jonah

[Amit357]

Thank HV,Jonah its not just in Mizoram,it was going on everywhere,recently scandals and scams have broken out in almost all states where forests were standing. A couple of Rangers and Guards got into trouble read suspended but when they told their superiors that they are gonna sing like canaries of the level of the rot, they were reinstated and transfered to better positions where they can plunder a natural resourse in a better way.Mere Bharat Mahan

[gverma]

So let me assume I have a license for rifle shot gun and pistol or even a tank and I wanna go hunting, but I stay in Delhi how will I even be able to take my guns to a place where wild boar ????

[Amit357]

Hi Gaurav,1st lets not assume if you have a license,cause i dont know whether you have it or not,1st you get the license,then you buy the rifle/Shotgun,then you apply for an All India endorsement,then you PM me or one of the other eminent IFGns in the states where hunting wild boar is permitted and i am sure we all wouldnt mind taking you for shoot,but 1st do all of the above ,i am sure by the time you have an All India endorsement on your Arms license,hunting will be open in a lot many states.But if you wanna shoot now PM all the IFGns in the following states,1Punjab,2 H.P,3.Maharastra and am sure they will invite you now

[eljefe]

of the other eminent IFGns in the states where hunting wild boar is permitted and i am sure we all wouldnt mind taking you for shoot,but 1st do all of the above ,i am sure by the time you have an All India endorsement on your Arms license,hunting will be open in a lot many states.But if you wanna shoot now PM all the IFGns in the following states,1Punjab,2 H.P,3.Maharastra and am sure they will invite you now

thats a bit of a sweeping statement amit357...would lead to raised eyebrows -mine included-about eminent IFG ians -being made eminent only for their hunting??

[nagarifle]

heck man if you come to shoot in my neck of the woods, you would get beaten up by local youths and your gun would be used as fire wood for sure.

[Amit357]

Hi nag/jefe,under line as below,Pleaseeeeeeeeee,record the sarcasm involved in the post,dont wanna raise any eyebrows,but sometimes it make me wonder about the gun owning gentry of our country.,i dont wanna say whats on everyones lips,but do you JEFE feel that no one hunts in our country, people who own,GUNS,Rifles have them for the feel good factor or for shooting on the range,how many of us have for that matter seen a shooting range.I own a cpl of pieces of land in HP and Punjab and love to use my Shotgun and Rifle on wild boars in the season with proper papers from the wildlife authorities,my friends also come there. Dont own the land or jungle around it,its for everyone and the blessings i get from the farmers in that area warms my heart.We all have fun,love to use our weapons and everybody is happy. :twisted:and Nag we love our guests whether invited or uninvited and dont beat them.Punjabi hospitality is famous for that.So next season drop in ,will take you around and you can see for yourself .Clay Pigeons dont charge at shooters wild boars do,that what tells you what a gun/rifle is for.

[seejay]

overall, it's a very sad situation. i've seen the fish farmers on the shrimp farms lay some real nasty fish hook traps for marauding birds. (it makes me sometimes wonder whether we are treading on the animals' space and not the other way around). If the rules were made more user-friendly, then properly licensed hunters using safe methods of shooting could more properly dispatch the game after checking whether it is some endangered species or not. Traps do not discriminate nor do they kill humanely. On the other hand, a farmer's profits for the year may go down in a few nights. what other option does he have ? Nowadays, shooters do not want to take the risk even when the farmers invite them to do some varmint ridding on their land. What else can a farmer do ? Very few own guns and if some do, most are not really well versed in shooting or for that matter, safe shooting. Proper, trained hunters operating with a licence seems to be the only answer. However, correct me if I am wrong.

[eljefe]

Amit, read my lips-what was said, not implied was -contact eminent IFG ians...so how you do your hunting -with the proper papers or whatever, keep on doing it ,but what are you trying to address by asking me -Do I feel no one hunts in our country ? I couldnt care two hoots what gun owning gentry did.
What I DO care about is your sweeping statement about contacting any eminent IFG-ians -like hunting is a criteria for an IFG member to be labeled "eminent'? Why should there be 'sarcasm' involved in labeling eminent IFG-ian's as the contact people for 'varmint' hunting? I dont know how the labeling was done, but last I checked, hunting wasnt on the checklist...
PS Thanks for telling Naga and me about guns/rifles and charging wild boar, I have had my share of charges, last one was a cape buffalo, and Naga has been in interesting places, in interesting times, and has used a whole load of interesting weaponery.
I would have sworn guns were those thingies mothers in law use to fly on

[Amit357]

Hi Eljefe,i didnt mean eminent IFG ns as posted on the Blog,i ment all the IFG ns are eminent people and contacting anyone in that part of the country through an IFG ns would help him.I didnt mean People who are rated Eminent in the Blog.All the people who are here are eminent,thats me also,as far as experinces go i might be coming to your side of the world coming Spring {thats your autmun},then will talk about charging experinces,till then .
PS; I dont mean any disrespect to anyone,was just comenting on the way things can be.In North America people meet through blogs and hunt fish and dance just because they met there,thats how one thought it would be but then maybe one expected too much .

[eljefe]

Thats quite ok, some of the few people I label ' friends' ,I met the poor unfortunates on IFG-ask them
stay safe.