Increasing feral dog attacks on rare species of birds in the cold desert aread of Ladakh have become a serious problem. The issue was discussed on Friday in a high-level meeting that was convened in Leh by the principal secretary Pawan Kotwal.
Issues regarding the attack of feral/wild dogs on rare species and birds of Ladakh were discussed in the meeting. Principal Secretary emphasized that these dogs are a threat to several resident and migratory ground-nesting birds in Changthang area of Ladakh.
Inability to tackle this problem may lead to severe endangering of critical bird and mammalian species, he said.
He said the issue has been discussed in the Board of Wildlife and three Army officers have been appointed as Wildlife Wardens and now they are equally responsible for the protection of Wildlife.
While emphasizing on the issue, Kotwal added that the management of kitchen leftover and food waste at army camps and hotels, by disposing them in biodigesters could be effective way to control the population of stray dogs. In this regard, it was stated by the Principal Secretary, that the organic waste composting machine piloted successfully by SECURE Himalaya Project in Chushul may be replicated in other armed forces camps and densely populated villages of Changthang.
As suggested by Lieutenant Governor, RK Mathur, the possibility of breeding pure-bred Ladakhi dogs to be trained and used by the armed forces and other security forces (as guard dogs) must be explored in consultation with the Animal Husbandry Department.
The point with respect to the development of pure bred dogs, Colonel Sinha added this point has been practically followed in Kashmir valley as the local dogs of the Kashmir valley have been adopted by the Army.