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Stray dogs menace in National Park

DEHRA DUN: The Gangotri National Park, nestling in the Garhwal Himalayas and known for its rich biodiversity, is facing stray dogs menace.

The authorities are taking up the matter with the armed forces in the wake of death of a number of wild animals.

Perched along the India-Tibet border at a height of 10,000 feet, the Park is famous for snow leopards and barad deer (Ovis Nahura).

Concerned over the growing population of the strays that keep hunting wild animals, the Wildlife Department has sent notices to the Indian Army, ITBP and Border Road Organisation (BRO) asking their personnel to stop feeding the canine population.

“We are really concerned over the rising menace of stray dogs. So we have sent notices to Army, ITBP and BRO asking them not to encourage dogs inside the Park area,” said S K Chandola, Chief Wildlife Warden. Bhojwasa, Tapovan, Naga, Sonam and Neela Paani are the areas, which are most vulnerable to the canine prowling within the boundaries of the Gangotri Park.

Though exact number of animals being killed by stray dogs was not known, the situation became alarming when a leopard cub was recently killed by the dogs in Neela Paani area. Officials confirmed the incident regarding the killing of leopard cub and said the dogs have also attacked some army personnel in the area.

“We have reports that two to three army personnel were also attacked by these stray animals,” an official said.

Being a sensitive border area, the Army and ITBP keep their regular check-posts in the Park. Since these security personnel live in isolation, they encourage stray dogs by feeding them meat and other food.

The Gangotri National park was recently in news after Uttarakhand government decided to regulate tourist flow there. - PTI

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