Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): Despite the arrest of a poacher from the Kuno National Park, located in the Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh, poaching activities are going on unabated. Security inside the sanctuary and on the fringes has been beefed up. A German Shepherd dog Illu has also been deputed inside the national park after providing seven months of training to the canine.
The German Shepherd Ilu, along with five other canines, were provided training as part of the 'Supper Sniffer' squad. The trained dogs are being used in several sanctuaries for tracking wildlife animals. Despite all these arrangements, poachers are eyeing cheetahs. One poacher was caught by the Forest Department team in Kuno Sanctuary recently. The arrested poacher was caught with a hunting gun by the forest department officials. He was sent to jail under the Wildlife Protection Act, of 1972.
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A team of forest guards was keeping an eye on the entry and exit of the Hathedi area in the sanctuary. A poacher was arrested when he was crossing the Hathedi area to enter the park. DFO Prakash Verma said, "Our teams were searching for the accused. Some human activities were going on inside the park. Someone was sneaking into the park. Finally, the hunter was caught by our team. The arrested made a confession in which he stated that he was not involved in recent poaching activity. We recovered a hunting gun. He had kept the gun in a hiding place. The action was initiated against the accused under the Wildlife Protection Act. The bail was not granted to the accused. He entered the Kuno National Park through the Hathedi entry point."
Setting aside rumours of shifting cheetahs from the Kuno national park, Verma, said, "At present, there is no such plan. Under the project, Kuno Sanctuary will not have more than 20 cheetahs. But, the decision on shifting excess cheetahs will be taken later on."
