Wednesday, May 18 2005 15:45 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: The Centre is not inclined at present to initiate a CBI probe into the rapidly vanishing tiger population in the project tiger reserves and national parks allegedly due to poaching and mismanagement by the forest staff.

This is stated by the Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoEF) in an affidavit filed in response to a notice by the Supreme Court on an application seeking to extend the probe by CBI into Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary to other sanctuaries and tiger reserves, which revealed that there were no tigers in the sanctuary in Rajasthan.

The magnitude of the problem staring at the face of the tiger population in India came to the fore with the Ministry admitting that as many as 122 tigers were poached and 238 cases of seizure of tiger skins and bones were reported in the five year between 1999-2003. Only 62 died their natural death.

Despite the hue and cry over the issue, the Centre feels that the Task Force of independent experts headed by Sunita Narain should be allowed to complete its task before any other agency was asked to investigate into it.

"The MoEF has constituted a panel of experts to monitor the tiger reserves on a set of criteria, based on the framework of the World Commission on Protected areas", the affidavit said.

"The monitoring work is nearing completion and the reports would provide a dispassionate appraisal of site specific problems, which may form the basis for taking up any investigation by an agency like CBI, if necessary," it added.

Responding to an application filed by environmentalist Ashok Kumar seeking CBI probe into all tiger reserve projects and national parks, the Ministry said, "As the matter is being looked into by the MoEF and necessary steps taken, the application does not call for any interference."

However, it suggested to the Court to issue a directive to CBI to take up investigation into the wildlife crimes, as and when requested by either the Centre or the States.

Referring to the large number of cases of seizure of tiger skins and body parts, the Ministry said, "International demand for the body parts and derivatives of tiger and some other wild animals foster wildlife crime, despite the fact that there is no indigenous demand for the same in our country."

It said villagers also resort to "revenge killing" of carnovores who attack the livestock.

However, it gave a glimpse of the large network of illegal traders, who have contact with international smugglers, operating in the country.

"More often, the revenge killings of carnivores resorted to by local people for loss of their livestock result in the smuggling of body parts of such animals by the middle men having links with notorious illegal traders based at large cities, who connive with international smugglers operating across the borders," the Ministry said.

The Centre said that that there was a general reluctance among the States, under whose territorial jurisdiction are the national parks and sanctuaries, to refer wildlife cases to CBI. "The States largely refrain from issuing authorisation for CBI probe, which is a limiting factor in containing wildlife crime at the national level," it said.