New Delhi: Those of you who have read Mr. B.K. Sharma’s article in Sanctuary Asia, April 2004 would agree that he has extensively covered current and past problems relating to wildlife crime in India . He has traced well the overall scenario, the laws relating to wildlife crime and the species affected. There is a misconception in the minds of many in society that in wildlife crime it is only an animal that is killed and that is not as significant as other crimes. Mr. Sharma, in this article has explained the reasons why wildlife trade should be curbed. As a DIG in CBI he is well aware of the nexus between wildlife trade, narcotic and the gun-running mafia.

There has been a failure on part of the government by not establishing a specialized agency for combating city-based wildlife trade though such a recommendation was made in Subramanian Committee Report of 1994. Mr. Sharma has pointed out that the basic task of compiling and disseminating wildlife crime statistics has been shirked by the government.

No doubt NGOs including Wildlife Trust of India do compile seizure data but in the absence of government authorization, the data remains non-authenticated. A database needs to follow a rigorous protocol to be authentic. For instance, elephant mortality database which has been maintained by WTI since 1998 follows such a protocol. When the totality of wildlife crime remains incomplete and unofficial due to absence of such data, then resource allocation to combating wildlife crime also remains poor. The impact of wildlife crime on status of species cannot be accurately assessed. There is a need to quantify the impact to determine the placement of species in schedules of Wildlife (Protection) Act, CITES Appendices and IUCN categories of threat.

Mr. B.K. Sharma has hands on experience and training in combating wildlife crime and it is to be hoped that his views will be taken into account by decision makers.