Rise in ‘Baheliya trap’ poaching in Satara, 5 arrested

Kolhapur: Five sugar cane cutters from Karnataka were detained on Tuesday night in Satara district's Karad tehsil on charge of laying a Baheliya trap, indicating a surge in such poaching activities in the area, coinciding with the ongoing sugar cane harvesting season.
A Baheliya trap is used by poachers to catch wild animals.
Mahesh Zanjhurne, the assistant conservator of forests, Satara, said, "On Tuesday evening, a leopard got trapped in a sugar cane farm of one Maruti Bondre at Kasar Shirambe village. When the police Patil informed us, our team immediately reached the spot and found that the leopard had freed itself from the trap but broke its nail in the process. When forest department personnel inspected the area, five sugar cane cutters, all from Bhalki village in Bidar district of Karnataka, were found possessing hunting equipment like a wire cage, two Baheliya traps, a pointed iron rod with a wooden handle."
After investigation, all the five people were detained by the forest department under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. "Further investigation in the case is on," Zanjhurne said.
In the last two years, several cases of Baheliya trap poaching have come to light. Wildlife warden for Satara Rohan Bhate said, "The iron trap hunting got its name from the Baheli community of Madhya Pradesh, which is known for hunting tigers and leopards by laying such traps. Similar traps have been found in the forest areas of Chandrapur and Tadoba in the northeast of Maharashtra. In the last two years, four such traps have been found at Khodshi, Tambave, Supane and Kasar Shirambe villages in Satara district."
Sawalaj gram panchayat in Tasgaon tehsil of Sangli district recently issued an advisory to local farmers to keep an eye on the workers coming from Nashik, as well as Bihar, to work in vineyards in the village. The gram panchayat stated that animals and birds were hunted by these workers in their free time for consuming meat, as well as for smuggling of their body parts. "The wildlife in our area is on the verge of extinction. Therefore, if any worker is found involved in hunting practices, legal action will be taken against the worker and the farm owner," it read.