MEDAK: The Pocharam wildlife sanctuary with an area of 130 square km and spread over the borders of Medak and Nizamabad districts has become a deadly trap for rare animals. Porous fencing, lack of staff and security are posing a grave danger to the survival of very rare and magnificent animals.

The sanctuary, located just 14 km from Medak town, is named after the Pocharam lake. It was built during 1916-1922 by constructing a dam across the Allair, a tributary of the Manjeera near Pocharam village. While the forest has been reserved for the hunting pleasure of the Nizams, the bio-diversity in the region prompted the erstwhile Hyderabad state to declare it a sanctuary in 1952. While tigers perished due to unabated hunting, the sanctuary was left with the leopard, jungle cat, wild dog, wolf, jackal, sloth bear, sambar, nilgai (larger deer), chital, four horned antelope. Wide varieties of birds like peacocks, partridges, pigeons, quails and migratory birds like painted stocks, open billed stocks, spoon bills black ibis and flamingos used to visit the sanctuary.

Check-post closed

With the adjacent Pocharam lake and `Bhimeswar vagu', a stream passing though the sanctuary drying up, the animals inside the sanctuary are forced to come out of the periphery in search of food. Often such strayed animals fall prey to hunters in the neighbouring villages. One such nilgai, stuck in the lakebed and hacked by a hunter, is recovering in the sanctuary. With the check-post that could have put a tab on poaching and trafficking of endangered species is closed down, the Pocharam sanctuary became a hunting ground. The fencing erected by forest rangers is incomplete and faulty. Poachers have made their own escape routes.

Speaking to The Hindu, the range officer of Medak range, S. Sankaraiah, the recent animal census has shown that the number of leopards have come down from 18 to 12 in just one year. Even though the official numbers boast 12 sloth bears, 33 wild buffaloes, 189 deer and 201 nilgais, the odd visitor if at all has a chance to enter the gates might have to return disappointed.

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