In an innovate wildlife conservation project, Madhya Pradesh will receive a 10 per cent royalty on every Barasingha (swamp deer) legally hunted in the United States and the money will be used to conserve the species in state’s Kanha National Park.This has become possible thanks to a US laws which mandates that royalties have to be paid to the animal’s country of origin to obtain a license to hunt it. The barasingha was brought to the US from Madhya Pradesh more than a hundred years ago but, ironically, the antler proliferated in its adopted country but faces a threat to its survival in India.The idea was first mooted by US-based NGO Safari Club International Foundation (SCIF), which funds and manages conservation projects in North America, Africa and Europe. “The project marks the first time SCIF will use funds generated by a non-native species to assist with conservation efforts for the same species in its natural habitat,’’ the SCIF said in a letter to the MP forest department, adding that “there is a potential for several thousand dollars to be generated annually”.Once the proposal is approved, the SCIF will collect 10 per cent US trophy fees from individuals participating in the project and send the fund to MP for the conservation of Barasinghas. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest HS Pabla told The Indian Express that a detailed proposal had been sent to the foundation. According to Pabla, using trophy hunting to raise money is an important management tool which is already being used by many countries. Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India dean VB Mathur said conservation and wildlife management needs resources and innovative projects like these should be taken up on a pilot basis. “As long as they don’t violate any laws or public sentiments, such public-private projects should be encouraged,’’ he said.“India is still wrapped in the 1970s approach focusing only on protection. There is a need to evolve with times because the earlier conservation efforts have failed in most cases,” a senior forest department official said. In India, the Barasingha was found across most of north and central regions but with the destruction of its habitat, the antler is now seen in isolated protected areas of MP, UP and Assam. But at the same time in the US, the antlers have become a menace for farmers by multiplying in thousands.
