Stop the Hunting of Wildlife in India

Greeting to you from Wildlife Trust of India,

Hope you are doing well!

This email comprises an update on our project ‘Stop the Hunting of Wildlife in India’. Along the updates, we send to you our heartfelt gratitude for your generosity and for your trust in the work we do to protect wildlife. It is through such acts of kindness that we are able to implement our conservation initiatives and work towards our vision of a secure natural heritage of India.

Every year, between November to April, thousands of migratory birds (including waders, passerines etc.) are hunted for meat in and around Murshidabad district of West Bengal. The birds are trapped using mist nets, which are very fine nets strung between poles and placed within bird habitats. These nets are nearly inconspicuous in their surroundings, which means unsuspecting birds fly into the traps and get entangled in them. The birds trapped include several vulnerable species such as – bristled grass birds, ferruginous ducks, black-headed ibis, black-tailed godwit and common pochards.

Through a Rapid Action Project, which had previously gathered intel on such hunting activities in the region, we removed mist nets laid across a 16 km stretch in the reporting period. 343 trapped birds, including short-toed larks, oriental sky larks, and Bengal bush larks, were rescued and released in their habitat. This capture technique might sound uncomfortable for the birds, but fortunately mist-netting is claimed to be relatively less harmful for the entangled individuals. Hence, rescue and release of trapped birds shows high success in terms of rehabilitating our tiny, winged friends back into the wild. In the previous phase of the project, mist nets across a 4 km area were removed and 33 birds were saved.

The team also assisted the Forest Department in arresting two poachers caught in possession of 24 live larks. Commercial hunting is a bane for wildlife and we believe the push-back is critical to keep such activities in check. While our team is working hard for this, through regular monitoring and vigilance, we once again thank you for funding the initiative. The chirrups of free, wild birds make us happy, and we know it is the same for you.

Warm regards,

Team WTI

Hello and greetings from Wildlife Trust of India!

Hope you are doing great.

With this email, we are sharing the updates for our project titled 'Stop the hunting of Wildlife in India'. We are so honoured and grateful for your support as you chose to donate for the project among so many wonderful causes out there. This means a lot to us. Thank you so much for believing in our work.

Today's updates are from three regions - Malda, Birbhum and Murshidabad - in West Bengal. 

Tribal communities of West Bengal organise “hunting festivals” between January and June in which nearly 40,000 – 60,000 hunters participate annually. they organize "hunting festivals".

Previously in 2019, with the help of a Rapid Action Project, our on-ground partner monitored two districts - Howrah and East Medinipur – for wildlife hunting. Based on the inputs from the survey, the railway authorities and police intercepted nearly 600 hunters with arms and 34 people were arrested. Further, with inputs from local communities of the two districts, hunting festival dates and locations were recorded. Based on this an ‘anti-hunting calendar’ was prepared for the first time in the region. The data has helped the Forest department authorities in monitoring hunting activities in Howrah, East and West Medinipur districts.

This year, we are replicating the project in Murshidabad, Malda and Birbhum districts to prevent hunting of migratory birds. As per the inputs from an informer network, more than one lakh migratory birds are being hunted in the region using mist nets. The hunted birds include vulnerable species such as Bristled grassbird (Chaetornis striata), Ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca), Black headed ibis (Threskiornis melanocephalus), Black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) and Common pochard (Aythya ferina).

To address the hunting threat to these birds, a volunteer network has been formed who will patrol targeted areas and dismantle the installed nets/traps. So far, the team has successfully removed hunting nets from an 8-km stretch and released 33 live birds. The Forest Department is actively involved to take appropriate legal action against the people engaged in the activity.

Further, consultative meetings with the locals and sensitisation drives were conducted to dissuade hunting. Anti-hunting signboards have also been installed around hunting hotspots. We hope this Rapid Action Project will be successful in reducing hunting of migratory birds in Murshidabad and adjoining areas.

Warm regards,

Team WTI