With None to Protect, Deer in Damagundam Forest Fall Prey to Poaching
HYDERABAD: The handing over by the forest department of a large tract of forest area in Damagundam in Vikarabad district to the Indian Navy recently is learnt to have turned into a death warrant for wildlife, particularly deer that live in the forest with reports of poaching of Chital, or Spotted Deer – incidentally the state animal of Telangana.
“Ever since the forest land was handed over to the Navy by the government, it has been an open season for hunters,” a source said.
It is reliably learnt that in addition to Spotted Deer, also on the menu of the hunters are the Nilgai, Black Buck and Mouse Deer in the forest. Incidentally, Black Bucks are known to migrate into the Damagundam forest area after the monsoons from the Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka which is about some 50 km as the crow flies from the Damagundam reserve forest area.
There is an increase in the number of vehicles entering the forest in the evenings, and there is excited chatter in the nearby villages on how there is no forest department anymore in the forest. “Just this past week, at least two Spotted Deer were killed and a ‘dawat’ took place in Damagundam. There is also an increase in felling trees with no one to keep a watch on the forest,” the source said.
When asked about the reports of rampant poaching in Damagundam forest, a senior forest department official said that even if the land is handed over to the Navy, there should have been no let-up in protection and steps will be taken immediately to stop poaching in the forest.
It may be recalled that 2,900 acres of forest land near Damagundam and Pudur villages was handed over to the Navy by the government for the setting up of a very low frequency radar facility, and the foundation stone for the project was laid on October 15. The government had said that only part of the forest land would be used for the radar station and adjunct facilities and that the rest of the forest land handed over would be protected as it would be part of the naval station.