Assam is undoubtedly a bright spot of biodiversity not just in the country but also at the global level with over 2000 Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and over 100 Royal Bengal Tigers among several other endangered wild species in Kaziranga Tiger Reserve as well as in other wildlife areas of the state. Because of these extremely rich bio-resources, the State also remains a prime target of wildlife poachers, smugglers and traders who have now extended their nefarious activities on cyberspace as well.
In light of this, TRAFFIC in partnership with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Police Radio Training School (PRTS), Indore and WWF-India organized a cybercrime monitoring workshop at Kohora range of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve. During the workshop thirty forest officials from five wildlife divisions i.e. Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, Nagaon Wildlife Division, Bishwanath Wildlife Division, Mangaldoi Wildlife Division, and Sonitpur Wildlife Division learnt the skills for cyber monitoring, and investigation tools and techniques.
Illegal wildlife trade is one of the most significant threats to wildlife and has now grown to spread its wings across cyberspace. This has been a major concern in wildlife law enforcement in the country considering that the internet users are increasing every day resulting in a growing expanse of a network of poachers, traders, and consumers on this platform. To deal with this, TRAFFIC in collaboration with WWF-India, NTCA and PRTS had launched a new program titled ‘CyberCLAW’ through which specialized training is conducted for the forest officials for combating wildlife crime on cyberspace. The workshop in Kaziranga was the second in the series with the first one having been organized on 26-27 December 2018, at Corbett Tiger Reserve for the forest officials of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
(Image Courtesy: India Today)
