Hundreds of deer, sambhar and wild boar as well as migratory birds are reported to have been killed by poachers in the dense forests of Orissa and the meat sold on the sly for the Hindu festival of
"Chadhakhai" celebrated in the state Saturday.

With mutton prices ruling at Rs.140-150 kg most people in rural areas are unable to afford it and prefer the cheap game meat sold by poachers in villages bordering forests.
 

For millions of Oriyas who fasted, prayed and ate frugal vegetarian fare for a month in October-November, the festival is incomplete without a mandatory non-vegetarian fare on "Chadhakhai".
 
Fish, poultry and meat are in demand on this day and thousands of goats and sheep are slaughtered.

Ikbal Khan who sells goat meat at a market in Bhubaneswar said: "We have already sold about 200 kg of goat meat within three hours since Saturday morning."

"The demand for chicken has also gone up today," Ramesh Sahu another meat seller said. "I have already sold 70 kg of chicken this morning," he told IANS.

More then 100,000 goats and chickens must have been killed across the state Saturday, besides over 1,000 endangered animals such as deer, sambhar and wild boar, said Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of the Wild Life Society of Orissa.
 
He said poachers kill the animals in anticipation of the festival.
 
"Even migratory birds are not safe from bullets in the numerous lakes and rivers of the state where they have arrived for their winter sojourn," Mohanty told IANS.

"Such meat is available at Rs.60-80 per kg in innumerable villages and little towns near forests." Sale of game meat is illegal in the country.
 
Mohanty said he had heard reports of game meat being sold Saturday from some areas near forests, including in the tribal districts of Sundergarh, Phulbani, Koraput and Bolangir.
 
The sellers took care to sell the game meat to known buyers on the sly and avoided the local forest and police officials, he said.
 
Poachers hunted game in many forest areas including, Simlipal, Dhenkanal, Baisapalli, Deogarh, Badrama, Phulbani, Satkosia, Rairakhol, Ghumsur, Angul, and Narsinghpur, he said.
 
"Ripening paddy and other crops in forest villages attract wild animals during this time of the year," Mohanty said.

Orissa's wildlife wealth has shrunk due to lack of efforts by the state government to curb widespread poaching, he said. Wildlife sightings in the forest and sanctuary areas have become extremely rare over the last five years due to widespread poaching, Mohanty alleged.
 
"The hunters are well identified and can easily be tracked down and apprehended if forest officials make sincere and committed efforts," he said.

However, a state wildlife official denied any endangered animal had been killed.

"Although isolated incidents of the killing of endangered animals were reported in the past 24 hours, we don't have any information on mass scale killing.

"No such killing has come to our notice," he said.

--Indo-Asian News Service