Declared the State animal in 2018, the natural habitat of the blackbuck, Dowleswaram, does not have even a single tracker to address existential threats such as poaching. On condition of anonymity, the wildlife activist told The Hindu: "Farmers in the blackbuck habitat from Dowleswaram to Ravulapalem have confirmed poaching by outsiders. Farmers in the islands of Pitchuka Lanka and others were found to be keeping track of the poachers. Until 2018-end, the territorial wing had deployed a single ‘Animal Tracker’, whose task is to track blackbuck poachers and update higher officials to swing into action, if needed. Community ReserveAccording to highly-placed sources, there is a proposal to declare a portion of the blackbuck habitat, particularly Pitchuka Lanka, into the ‘Community Reserve’.

Source: The Hindu January 25, 2020 15:11 UTC