IN THE 1990s, Budheswar Boro was a “poacher” at the Manas National Park (MNP), a UNESCO World Heritage Site forest stretching across 850-sq km on the Indo-Bhutan border in Assam. He lost his right hand in 1998 after a injured wild boar, which he had shot at, charged back at him.
Boro, 48, still carries a rifle and spends the day in the forest — but as a “conservation volunteer”. He is a member of the NGO Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society (MMES) and, along with three other former poachers, assists an official forest guard in keeping vigil inside the MNP.
For Boro, and scores of rehabilitated former poachers like him, every step towards redeveloping the MNP is a significant achievement.
Read more of this success story, and a story of change of hearts, in a report by Abhishek Saha published in The Indian Express...
