BY Vishal Gulati

Shimla, Apr 8 (IANS): Fearing a rise in poaching in Himachal Pradesh with economic instability and vulnerability owing to COVID-19 pandemic, brave wildlife wing staff are working overtime to protect the species, officials said on Wednesday.

To trap poachers who want to take advantage of slack monitoring during the three-week national lockdown, authorities at the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), the country's richest biodiversity spot in the western Himalayas in Kullu district, have intensified patrolling and intelligence gathering, besides using camera traps.

"In the hour of the unprecedented coronavirus crisis, we have not only intensified patrolling in the GHNP and two wildlife sanctuaries in the park but also strengthened intelligence gathering along with the police," Divisional Forest Officer Suneet Bhardwaj, who is the in charge of the GHNP, told IANS over phone.

He said since there is a sparse movement of people owing to the national lockdown, the threat of poaching and snare trapping is mainly posed by the migratory labourers and locals who are settled in the GHNP's eco-zone.

"Most of the people are without jobs for nearly two weeks and they are running short of cash to sustain self, we fear hunting can turn out to be their favourite pastime to provide food for themselves and their families," he said.

"Our staff is working overtime to keep tabs on the poachers," he said.

Its eco-zone has 160 villages and hamlets, while the GHNP boundaries are connected to the Pin Valley National Park, the Rupi-Bhawa Wildlife Sanctuary and the Kanawar Wildlife Sanctuary.

Park Deputy Ranger Roshan Chaudhary told IANS that last week they apprehended a local poacher in the GHNP's Sainj Valley and seized a licensed gun, two cartridges and the least threatened Himalayan monal's crest from his possession.

Later the alleged poacher, a resident of Shakti village located some 22 km from the last motorable place, managed to flee while wildlife staff was bringing him to the Kullu town on foot.

The accused poacher was earlier employed as a wildlife watcher by the park authorities.

Officials apprehend that he was involved in the hunting of a musk deer too.

With the inclusion of two wildlife sanctuaries in the park, the total area, known as Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area (GHNPCA), spreads to 1,171 sq km.

The park, notified in the year 1999, is home to 203 bird species, including the western tragopan, the Himalayan monal, the koklas, the white-crested kalij and the cheer pheasant.

The famous mammals in the park are the leopard, the Himalayan black bear, the brown bear, the rhesus macaque and various herbivores like the goral, a small antelope, and the Himalayan tahr, a wild goat that lives on the steepest cliffs.

One of the most elusive species in the park is the snow leopard. It can be spotted in the highest portions, adjoining the Pin Valley National Park.

The park, which is totally untouched by road network, has four valleys -- Tirthan, Sainj, Jiwa Nal and Parvati.

To keep tabs on poachers, Himachal Pradesh has set up a wildlife crime control unit with its headquarters in the state capital.

Kinnaur, Kullu, Dharamsala and Chamba districts have been identified as sensitive zones, which is manned by a superintendent of police-level officer along with a divisional forest officer, range officers, deputy rangers and forest guards.