Similipal poachers
Similipal Tiger Reserve is drowning in poachers. This year alone, more than 100 have been apprehended—two just arrested, seven more surrendering after AI cameras exposed their hunting attempt. Authorities proudly announce “confidence-building measures” and promises of de-weaponizing villages. But the reality is clear: Similipal is crawling with armed men who treat tiger forests as hunting grounds.
The latest names—Mara Sing, Gobinda Soren, Champai Sing, and others—are not just villagers with country-made guns. They are part of a larger system where poaching is normalized, tolerated, and too often forgiven. Even elephant tusk smugglers walked free for 18 months before arrest. That delay cost lives.
Tigers here face snares, bullets, and shotguns while officials negotiate with sarpanches and wait for “voluntary surrenders.” This is not protection. It is appeasement.
One hundred poachers in nine months should be a scandal, not a statistic. Arrests are not enough. Convictions are needed. Without them, Similipal poachers will keep hunting, and tigers will keep dying. That is the rotten legacy of tiger poaching.
The Similipal poachers article:
Based on Times of India, India.
Photo via Times of India.
