Comparison of wildlife in Nagaland
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With growing human population, increased accessibility to remote forests and adoption of modern tools, hunting has become a severe global problem, particularly in Nagaland, a Northeast Indian state. While Indian wildlife laws prohibit hunting of virtually all large wild animals, in several parts of North-eastern parts of India that are dominated by indigenous tribal communities, birds and 3,567 mammals were sold in Tuensang market alone, which fetched about Indian Rupees () 18.5 lakhs/ year. Temporal variation was observed with respect to various taxa sold; molluscs: almost all through the year; amphibians: June-August; and birds and mammals restricted to October-February. We suggest monitoring of all major markets of Nagaland to examine trends in exploitation of wild animals. However, considering the traditional dependency of people on wild resources, as well as their cultural sentiments and livelihoods, any interventions for wildlife conservation should have the involvement and support of local inhabitants.
North-eastern India, a part of the Indo-Myanmar faunal sub-region, is one of the 34 global biodiversity hotspots [11] and is home for about 225 tribes. Their culture and customs have an important role in understanding biodiversity conservation and management in the region [12]. Nagaland is a special category state of the Indian Union, and the Indian Constitution provides privileges such as allowing Tribal Councils of the state to try criminal and civil cases of their area and to impose fines according to customary law. Insurgency activities were common in the region for several decades, and are currently under control due to a peace agreement in 1975 between the Indian Government and local leaders.
Nagas, the local communities, are not a homogenous group, but a composite of at least 18 major tribes, which hunt animals largely for their food, medicine and ritual uses. About 93% of natural habitats (largely forests) in Nagaland are owned and managed by individuals, clans, village and district councils and other traditional community institutions; the rest is owned by the state government [13]. People of Nagaland practice slash-and-burn (Jhum) cultivation. The state-driven approach of declaring Protected Areas for conservation of species and habitats, where anthropogenic exploitation is prohibited or restricted, is therefore of little conservation value in the region.
The combined effects of degraded forests and excessive hunting, particularly of birds with air guns, the rapid decline in animal populations, the drying up of water resources and the declining availability of wood and wild vegetables resulted in a self-evolved change in resource use as early as the 1950s in many villages in Nagaland. The idea of Community Conservation Areas (CCA) was therefore mooted by the community. Self-imposed restrictions on hunting, extraction of timber and non-timber forest products are being practiced in several places at community level in Nagaland, including in Tuensang district. Conservation efforts initiated by local communities of Nagaland are being strengthened by Kalpaviriksh, Pune and SACON, Coimbatore, India.
In India, quantitative data on the exploitation of wild animals by local communities are scarce [14– 20], and relatively few studies have examined hunting patterns in Northeast India [1, 21–25). Here, we report on the quantity and variety of wild animal meat sold in a market in Tuensang town of Nagaland based on weekly samples drawn from May 2009 to April 2010. We further discuss the implications of this exploitation on biodiversity conservation.
Data collection
We carried out surveys in Tuensang daily market once a week between 0730 and 1100 hrs (Indian Standard Time) from May 2009 to April 2010 (total = 52 surveys). Because hunted animals were brought to the market from nearby villages before 1000 hrs, the sampling was restricted to the forenoon. No fixed day was followed for sampling, to avoid bias, if any. For instance, sampling only on Sunday may overestimate the number of animals sold, as most of the people of this region consume non-vegetarian food on this day. The number of live and dead wild animals and price of each species/ taxon for sale during each survey were recorded. Digital photographs of birds and mammals were taken where identification of species on the spot was difficult. We compared the digital images with those available in books on the birds and mammals of the Indian subcontinent [29–31]. In a few cases, species identity was confirmed in consultation with experts in the field. Identification of amphibians and molluscs was restricted to broad taxonomic level. Prior to the initiation of the work, the vendors were briefed on the purpose of this work by the team, especially by C L (one of the authors of this work), who is from one of the local tribal communities of Tuensang.