Conservationists divided over royal visit to controversial Indian wildlife reserve

The royal visit by Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge to an Indian wildlife reserve on Wednesday has divided conservationists and human rights groups because of the park’s controversial policy of shooting suspected poachers on sight. Kaziranga park, which borders the Brahmaputra river in Assam, north-east India, has been held up by India and many conservationists as a model of how to protect endangered wildlife. Despite being under attack by armed poachers, who can earn $20,000 from a single rhino horn, it holds two-thirds of the world’s remaining one-horned rhinos and has the the highest density of tigers in any protected area in the world. It is also home to large breeding populations of elephants. But while its 1,200 guards successfully deter much poaching, Kaziranga has become notorious for its militaristic “shoot-to-kill” approach to conservation. According to Indian government records, 66 suspected poachers were killed by guards in the park between 2005-2012 and 500 people arrested. In that time, 134 rhino were killed and 70 rhino horns recovered. Six rhinos have been killed by poachers so far this year and 20 were killed in 2015. Prince William was said by Indian officials to have asked asked the forest rangers about the conservation challenges they face. The rangers told him that the poachers were using sophisticated automatic weapons, whereas the forest guards had old rifles. But, say local villagers and human right groups, many innocent tribal people who have lived in or near the park for centuries and have been accustomed to collecting wood or fruits from Kaziranga’s 430 square kilometres, have also been killed or shot on sight. In 2013 demonstrations were held in neighbouring towns after one local youth was killed and others wounded. No forest rangers have died. According to Survival International director, Stephen Corry, conservation in India is becoming militarised and local tribal peoples are being caught in the crossfire, evicted from wildlife parks to make room for animals and large-scale tourism, and shot if they enter areas they used to occupy. The fear is that the policy in Kaziranga will be spread across other tiger and wildlife reserves, says Corry. “Extrajudicial killings should have no place in conservation today. Why aren’t the big conservation organisations loudly condemning this kind of kneejerk brutality?” he said. In an interview last year with Indian wildlife magazine Sanctuary Asia, Bishan Singh Bonal, then director of Kaziranga and now head of the Indian National Tiger Conservation Authority, defended the policy. “[What has won the respect of the world at Kaziranga is] our determination and almost religious belief that protecting the rhino is the only reason to live. “It’s open war when poachers enter Kaziranga. If they see our guards, they fire to kill, so we have no option but to retaliate. Kaziranga’s field staff are under immense pressure. It is one of the states that offers immunity from prosecution when firearms are used by the Forest Department.” But international rhino conservation group Save the Rhino says killing poachers should only be used as a last resort. “A ‘shoot-to-kill’ policy should be used only as a last act and in self-defence. Anti-poaching rangers must first do all they can to avoid this. In the event of a contact (a ranger meeting a poacher), it would be much more beneficial if they were caught and arrested, giving the opportunity to recover valuable information about who has commissioned them to turn to poaching, information about the supply chain, and smuggling routes,” says the group on its website. Save the Rhino states that Kaziranga forest guards receive a cash bonus to their salary if they successfully wound or kill a poacher. “This stance has affected funding; indeed this policy caused the BBC Wildlife Fund to pull out of planned funding for the programme a couple of years ago,” says Save the Rhino. The fund, set up in 2007 to celebrate 50 years of the corporation’s famous Natural History Unit, was disbanded in 2012. “The first priority is to capture poachers alive and get intelligence of their smuggling routes. It is possible that in Kaziranga armed rebel groups are targeting rhino in Kaziranga to fund their independence struggles,” said Cathy Dean, international director of the Save the Rhino. The International Animal Rescue Foundation in South Africa says on its website that, like Save the Rhino, it only supports a shoot-to-kill when every last option has been exhausted or if the ranger/anti-poaching unit comes under such fierce firepower that their only method of defence is to take the poachers out. Resentment against Kaziranga park has built up in the surrounding area following a series of major park expansions in recent years. More than 20,000 people - most of whom are impoverished tribals who have lived in the low-lying areas for generations - are expected to be evicted. In addition, wild animals raid local community food crops. “Tribal peoples are the best conservationists and guardians of the natural world. Targeting tribes diverts action away from tackling the true poachers – criminal gangs selling to international markets. As the ‘eyes and ears’ of the forest, tribal people are best placed to prevent, catch and report poachers,” said Corry.