Traditional hunters lay down arms in Palamu Tiger Reserve, pledge to save wildlife

Ranchi: As a part of the ongoing 71st Wildlife Week celebrations, village hunters residing in fringe villages near the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) of Latehar district laid down their weapons used for hunting and pledged to protect forests. The innovative step, PTR officials said, comes a silver lining for protecting forest cover and preventing poaching.There are around 195 villages in the forest and fringe areas of PTR, and the dwellers are traditional hunters who often hunt animals in the tiger reserve. Despite strict actions in the past, they carried out with traditional hunting, which in turn resulted in declining numbers of animals in the reserve.“In search of a solution, the PTR (south) division took an initiative to establish a temporary temple of Keshra Chandi Mata, a forest Goddess, whom the tribals worship, as part of the wildlife week celebrations. As we connected their deity, thousands of villagers enthusiastically took part in the programme for the first time. They came in large numbers and performed prayers and traditional dances and songs,” PTR (south) deputy director Kumar Ashish told TOI.In a rare sight, 23 country-made guns, nine traps, and several slingshots were surrendered before the deity on Friday morning, leaving forest officials astonished.“On Friday morning, we got information from local eco-development committees about hunters anonymously surrendering their weapons. At first, we were shocked to know that a simple act of joining the villagers yielded a result that our several years of effort could not achieve. We are hoping that a larger number of villagers will come forward and lay down their weapons, helping in wildlife conservation,” Kumar added.