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Bhutan's
Nature - Animals
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Bhutan Nature Animals |
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Wild
dogs attackes mules in Gasa |
October
2003
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Wild
dogs have killed 24 mules, six cattle and two yaks since the beginning
of this year in Gasa, the country's northernmost dzongkhag.
"The
number may be higher because some incidents go unreported," the deputy
warden of the Jigme Dorji Wangchuck national park, said.
The
park warden reported that although there were numerous wild dog attacks
on the domestic animals in the past the problem was aggravated this year.
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"The people of Gasa are traumatised by the number of mules the wild dogs
killed this year," he said. "Wild dogs are native animals found in almost
all parts of the country."
The
wild dogs, according to Gasaps, hunt during the day in packs of seven to
eight dogs.The cattle and other domestic animals that are left free in
the forest to graze are easy victims for these wild dogs. Cattle herders
have reported that when they tried shooing the wild dogs away, they were
snarled at and had to retreat for safety.
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Farmers who saw the wild dogs
described them as looking more like the domestic dogs, only wilder and
aggressive.
The
forest officers in Gasa do not know the wild dog population but have plans
to do a population survey soon. According to the deputy warden the people
of Gasa are exasperated with the continual problem and threats posed by
wild dogs. "They want some kind of compensation for the loss of their domestic
animals or they want to do away with the wild dogs once and for all," said
Phuntsho.
Although
wild dogs are not listed in schedule-I of the forest and nature conservation
act, 1995 as protected animals, their presence was necessary in the forest
ecosystem to maintain the ecological balance, said a nature conservation
division official. "They maintain the prey population." Gasa dzongkhag's
livestock sector is introducing an insurance scheme for the horse owners.
The scheme, according, Phuntsho said, would provide some financial assistance
to the farmers who have lost their horses to wild dogs.
In
the mid-70s, the government initiated a mass poisoning of wild dogs that
traumatised farmers and killed their cattle. Most carnivores were killed
and soon forgotten.
But
after nearly 22 years, the wild dogs made a come back in January this year
killing cattle and domestic animals in the lower Kheng region in Zhemgang.
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