Wildlife crimes galore as offenders face little or no punishment

Wildlife crimes in the country are on the alarming rise as the authorities concerned are unable to ensure punishment to the offenders, what experts and officials attribute to the weakness of the existing Wildlife Protection Act, reports UNB.
Among the 251 cases registered by the Forest Department under the Wildlife Protection Act from March 12, 2007 to April 5, 2015, only 60 have been disposed of by handing down or imposing fines on the offenders, officials at the forest department said.
As 35 cases are still pending, 156 have been resolved with the offenders yet to be unidentified or with the offenders giving undertakings not to commit such wildlife crimes in the future.
The forest department officials said two tiger poachers faced one year's imprisonment and a fine of Tk 50,000 each in a wildlife crime case in January this year, a very light punishment for crimes like killing a tiger.
Majority of the offenders who face trial get minor punishment in these cases, they added.
On January 19, 2015, members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in a drive arrested three members of tiger poachers' gang with skin of an adult tiger from the Kalabagan area in the capital. A mobile court sentenced two of the poachers - Alam Prodhan and Abul Kahar - to one year imprisonment and fined Tk 50,000 each. Another was fined Tk 50,000.
However, Section 36 of the Wildlife (Preservation and Security) Act, 2012 says that if anyone kills any tiger or elephant without obtaining any licence, he or she shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than two years and not exceeding seven years and also with a fine of at least Tk 0.1 million and not exceeding Tk one million.