Govt committed to weed out illegal wildlife trade: Javadekar

Mumbai, Jun 5 () Stressing that the Centre was committed towards weeding out illegal wildlife trade, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar today said 'Sanjay Gandhi National Park' in the city was a perfect example of human-wildlife harmony. "There are so many villages within the Sanjay GandhiNational Park. There are 35 leopards along with differentspecies of other animals here. Yet, there has not been aninstance of man-animal conflict at the park."This is a case of human-wildlife harmony that has beenmade possible by many efforts that will continue in future aswell," Javadekar said at an event here.He said the Centre has signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding with the US for latest technology to help inarresting those engaged in poaching."The government is committed to weed out illegal wildlifetrade. Thus, we burn carcasses of animals, reptiles, snakes,etc. Our commitment is full and final towards the issue," hesaid."We have entered into an MoU with America to get thelatest technology to arrest those engaging in poaching," hesaid.Javadekar said in the last two years, there have beenstrong anti-poaching efforts due to which four poachers werekilled in Kaziranga National Park. He said poachers in otherwildlife sanctuaries have also been nabbed and cases againstthem are being pursued."We will encourage water and fodder augmentation in urbanforests and wildlife sanctuaries," he said. MM GKSRYSDM