'Golden Jackal Ambassadors' programme expanded in Tenkasi district to conserve Madras hedgehog also

The Tenkasi Forest Division has proposed to expand the 'Golden Jackal Ambassadors' programme, which was introduced a year ago in the district to increase its population and to conserve Madras hedgehog, 'mulleli' in Tamil, also.

As the population of golden jackal rapidly dwindled due to indiscriminate construction activities being taken-up inside the forests closer to residential areas after clearing the trees and the shrubs, the Tenkasi district forest division launched the 'Golden Jackal Ambassadors' scheme in the schools and colleges in November last.

The students and the volunteers, after undergoing comprehensive training and awareness sessions on conserving wildlife, were badged as 'Golden Jackal Ambassadors' to disseminate the messages on conserving golden jackal, rescuing and treating the injured golden jackals and releasing them back in the forests after due rehabilitation.

"Since this programme has yielded the results - increasing the golden jackal population - we intended to have this scheme expanded to conserve Madras hedgehog also as the spiny mammal is getting killed for a range of reasons," said District Forest Officer R. Rajmohan.

He says the lack of awareness among the public on conserving small animals like golden jackal, Madras hedgehog, mongoose, ant-eater, tortoise, snakes, monitor lizard etc. had led to the sharp fall in the population of these animals and the reptiles. Hence, the forest department has proposed to create awareness among the public through the school and the college students, volunteers, local youth and the villagers after training them properly on conserving Madras hedgehog, a nocturnal animal playing vital role in balancing the ecosystem like the golden jackal.

When the Tenkasi Forest Division organised a survey across the district, 867 persons from 38 villages had replied that they had spotted Madras hedgehog and 53% of them had informed that they had seen the animal during the monsoon seasons.

"While the shrinking habitat of Madras hedgehog, killing of this animal by speeding vehicles, illegal hunting and the hunting of this animal for preparing traditional medicines etc. are the prime reasons behind the fall in the population of Madras hedgehog, lack of awareness on conserving it is also a reason behind its killing. After the 'Golden Jackal Ambassador' scheme was introduced in the district through the students, volunteers and the villagers, we started receiving alerts from them whenever they happened to see the hunting of golden jackal. Eventually, it gave us the opportunity to conserve them and the population has increased in Tenkasi district. Hence, we're now expanding this scheme to Madras hedgehog too by training these stakeholders, who in turn will disseminate the conservation message to the public," Dr. Rajmohan said.

In the first step, the 'Forest Guard Brother / Forest Guard Sister' will be nominated for every school and college to meet the students regularly for training them on wildlife conservation and create awareness on tree planting and environment conservation. The Assistant Conservator of Forest and the District Forest Officer will also visit the schools and colleges at regular intervals to take this mission to next level like data collection, organising awareness campaigns in villages etc.

The participants will be trained on identifying golden jackal, Madras hedgehog, monitor lizard, mongoose, a range of birds, butterflies etc. Based on the survey outcome, the next course of action will be planned and executed in the areas to conserve the spiny animal.

"While the 'Golden Jackal / Madras hedgehog Ambassadors' will create awareness, the Village Forest Committees functioning in the hamlets closer to the forest will coordinate with the students in awareness creation and the conservation of these two animals," Dr. Rajmohan explained.