India needs to rethink strategies to save its guardians of the wild

India’s forest rangers and their helpers, the sentinels who protect the wild from attackers, are losing their lives in the line of duty at an alarming rate. They leave behind family members who have also dedicated their lives to conserving nature and a gap in the country’s forest conservation efforts. 

India tops the list of unnatural ranger deaths globally. During June 2022 to May 2023, more than 40 rangers have been killed in the line of duty across the country, according to the International Ranger Foundation.  In most cases, they were the sole bread earners of their families.

The recent spate of deaths of forest guards in the eastern state of Odisha illustrates the nationwide crisis. 

Sakuntala Rout, 24, stares at nothingness just outside the rangers office in Baripada division, Similipal National Park, Odisha. The forced smile stuck to her face is discernible. As officers come and go, she is the gatekeeper to a meeting that discusses the recent deaths of forest rangers in the park, including that of her husband a few months ago.

Sakuntala was given a “compassionate appointment” at the rangers’ office as a clerk after her husband, Chandrakanta, was killed in an accident involving elephants. The day he died, Chandrakanta had promised that he would be back before time and they would be together for the evening prayer for Savitri Amavasya that commemorates the act of Princess Savitri, who was able to bring back her husband from the God of Death. This is a day when all married women across the state of Odisha would keep a fast the whole day, to pray for a long and healthy life for their husbands. It is customary that the first meal afterwards is fed by the husband.

Overnight, Sakuntala became a single mother of three daughters and a son who still believed that their father would come back to ring their doorbell. 

Family of Sakuntala Raut, who recently lost her husband, Chandrakanta (in photo), a forest ranger in Odisha. Photo: Madhumay Mallik

Sakuntala is not the only one facing this misery. In the past two months, two more forest patrolling staff have lost their lives, this time to attacks by poachers. “This has never happened before and we are still not sure about the reasons behind these attacks,” said Himanshu Sekhar Sethi, a forest guard at Kandadhenu Beat at Similipal Tiger Reserve. 

Just a month earlier, he was accompanying Bimal Kumar Jena on a regular patrolling exercise. About 100 metres from the beat office, they confronted a gang of poachers who had opened fire, hitting Bimal in the chest. “It took a while to gather my senses together and this was certainly out of the blue. When I came around, Bimal was already immobile on the ground. I think this incident would haunt me for the rest of my life,” added Himanshu. The attackers had fled.

Based out of beat offices like Kandadhedu, deep in the wilderness of Similipal National Park and Tiger Reserve, these forest guards spend months at length inside the jungle, away from their families. They don’t have access to electricity or a mobile network. Their only hope is the solar panels, which become barely functional on cloudy days. 

Each of these van rakshaks (forest guards) cover an average of 25 kilometres on foot every day, carrying their lunch boxes and a wooden baton for safety. 

The protection of our wildlife rests on their shoulders. But, across India, frontline forest staff are regularly targeted by poachers, timber smugglers, illegal miners, encroachers and even villagers. Added to this is the threat of wild animals like elephants, tigers, leopards and bears. 

The risk is not limited to rangers in uniforms. Across India, forest guards are accompanied by assistants, who earn their compensation as daily wage ‘temporary’ workers. They form a substantial part of the protection force that man our wilderness. 

In the event of their death, there isn’t a government pension scheme to back their families either. Sunaram Singh, who survived a poacher attack, was one of them. But his short stint with the department left him with a paralysing bullet injury in the leg, rendering him unsuitable for any kind of hard work for the rest of his life. 

His family comprises dependent, ageing parents, wife and three children under the age of four. “I hoped to get a desk job with the forest department but I am not qualified enough for any,” said Sunaram. With a limping leg and a lingering pain in his stomach where he was shot, he tries helping his father in the small farmland that they own. “With every passing day, I expect the worst,” he added.

The work that these frontline forest staff do is crucial for the safety of our tigers and elephants. They work with limited resources and are tasked with fighting back wildlife traffickers, who are better equipped and armed to fuel the illegal wildlife market. So, it is equally important that their safety is taken care of. 

The Van Rakshak Project (VRP) by Wildlife Trust of India is one of the few tools available to address the challenges of their job. Through VRP, frontline forest staff are trained and equipped to be better prepared for life in the wild. 

Since 2001, the project offers supplementary accidental insurance that aims to cover them from the occupational hazards they face every day. This is on top of the compensation the families receive from the forest department. WTI’s assurance fund has supported the next-of-kin of 235 forest rangers who have lost their lives in the line of duty, to date.

An immediate ex-gratia amount of Rs 1,00,000, disbursed within 24 hours, is aimed to help the families of Chandrakanta and Bimal to cover emergency needs. The scheme also supported 64 van rakshaks who have been grievously injured and six with permanent disabilities from accidents and injuries when on duty. 

Being a Van Rakshak is perhaps among the very few jobs with a high risk to life and the only one where you are in constant fear of coming face to face with the wild animal that you are trying to protect. 

Lipina Swain, who is appointed as a forest guard, now looks forward to switching jobs. In spite of having a postgraduate degree in political science, she had joined the forest department out of her passion for the wild. This was how she had met her husband Bimal Kumar Jena. 

Bimal died last December while trying to apprehend hunters carrying a dead barking deer and wild pig. “When I saw the photograph of the fawn, I couldn’t believe someone could kill such a tiny baby,” Lipina said.

Bimal was shot twice in the chest by handmade guns. The hunters are yet to be apprehended. “I don’t think I would be able to continue with the forest department. I am already preparing for my NET exams and want a fresh start for myself and my six-year-old daughter in a more secure employment,” she added.

India needs to rethink the strategies for protecting its frontline forest staff. Risks to wildlife and wild spaces are ever increasing. With depleting natural spaces, there is a rising conflict between man and animal for shared resources. 

Most places where these rangers work are remote without road connectivity or a mobile network. Rarely, there is a backup, depending on which part of the country you are in. A call for help might echo in the wilderness but won’t reach human ears. 

Every day is a battle that looks like an adventure to us. It’s not easy to man the wild. It’s time we invest more into protecting the protectors of our forests. We cannot lose more people like Chandrakanta or Lipina, who have devoted their lives to securing our natural heritage.

Madhumay Mallik is Assistant Manager (Communications), Wildlife Trust of India

Views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect those of Down To Earth

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