In the forests of Middle Andaman, the signs had been there for years. Strips of yellow nylon rope tied tightly around tree trunks. Footprints leading off into silence. And sometimes, the terrible sight of lifeless deer caught in snares, their bodies left to decay in the undergrowth.
People in nearby villages noticed. They knew what was happening. But for a long time, there was nowhere to go with this knowledge. No station nearby. No one on duty after dark. No forest thana.
That changed in January 2024.
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The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Forest Department quietly brought back to life an old, unused Forest Station in Rangat. Officially inaugurated by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of the Andamans, Admiral DK Joshi, it didn’t come with any loud headlines or blitz. Just a team, a commitment, and a promise to never let the forest go unguarded again.
The Rangat Forest Station was inaugurated in January 2024 by Lt Governor Admiral DK Joshi after being revived by the Forest Dept
Since then, this station has stayed open 24×7. And in just one year, it has cracked over 100 forest and wildlife crime cases, intercepted smugglers, rescued trapped animals, and brought new hope to communities who once felt powerless to stop the damage around them.
A station that never sleeps
Before the Rangat Forest Station reopened, the forests of Middle Andaman had little protection once the sun went down. Offenders came and went. Wild animals disappeared. Trees were cut and smuggled under cover of darkness. Forest guards were left with no means to act in real-time, especially at night.
That changed when the once-abandoned station was brought back to life in January 2024.
Strategically located along NH-4, the 24×7 Forest Station now works much like a police thana — but for the forest. It operates round the clock, with separate holding cells for male and female offenders, all monitored by CCTV. For the first time, forest officials can detain suspects on the spot, even during late-night patrols.
Within just one year, this modest outpost has registered over 100 cases — ranging from illegal tree felling, especially of precious species like Padauk, to timber smuggling from Diglipur to South Andaman, and the poaching of wild species, including the Andamanese Wild Pig and deer for venison. Wildlife seizures from across the division are brought here for legal processing under the Indian Forest Act (1927) and the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
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The 24×7 Forest Station enables real-time response; patrols led by DFO Qayum now cover deeper, high-risk forest zones.
But the work being done here goes beyond enforcement — it reaches the heart of community survival.
“The division has far more importance than others,” Dr Abdul Qayum, then Divisional Forest Officer for Middle Andaman, tells The Better India, “since a major chunk of the indigenous Jarawa tribe lives in the jungles of Middle Andaman, especially in the Kadamtala area. Hunting by outsiders was somehow impacting the food sources of this tribe, who are culturally protected and allowed to hunt. Illegal hunting was making it harder even for these indigenous communities to find food sources such as the Andaman Wild Pig.”
To address this, the Forest Department launched a captive breeding programme for the Andaman Wild Pig at Chidiyatapu Biological Park.
So far, 24 wild pigs have been bred under this programme. Of these, eight — three males and five females — have already been released into the forest for the Jarawa community. This effort has not only strengthened the ecological balance, but also helped meet the tribe’s protein needs in a sustainable way.
Under a captive breeding programme, 8 Andaman Wild Pigs were rewilded to support the Jarawa tribe’s dietary needs.
No more gaps in guarding the wild
The change brought by the Rangat station didn’t stop at its doorstep.
Just a few kilometres away, a forest check post along one of the busiest stretches of NH-4 was fortified and brought under the same 24×7 system. Forest officials stationed here began operating in shifts of eight to nine hours, ensuring round-the-clock presence — something the region had never seen before.
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Vehicles passing through are now routinely intercepted and searched. On several occasions, even public transport — buses, taxis, local ferries — has been checked based on specific tip-offs. “We’ve seized timber, forest produce, and even hunted meat being smuggled out in broad daylight,” shares one forest staff member. “In the past, we had no way to act immediately. Now, we don’t have to wait.”
Forest staff intercept fishing boats during random checks to prevent smuggling of meat, timber, and forest produce.
Forest teams now routinely inspect luggage on buses, ferries, and taxis to curb transport of hunted meat and smuggled timber.
This continuous vigilance has become one of the division’s strongest deterrents. Criminal cases — ranging from illegal felling of trees, especially Padauk, to poaching — are now being booked swiftly, with the offenders taken into custody right then and there.
Dr Abdul Qayum, who led the transformation efforts at the time, recalls, “Suspicious activity was once invisible in plain sight. But now, even a minor lead — like a bus passenger carrying extra nylon rope — gets followed. We don’t take anything lightly anymore.”
Night patrols include surprise inspections at local resorts to check for illegal wild meat and enforce storage compliance.
Importantly, every legal seizure and arrest is registered directly at the forest station, streamlining the system and reinforcing accountability. The message is clear: these forests are being watched — and protected — every hour of the day.
The fight to protect Middle Andaman’s forests is no longer limited to uniformed officers. It’s now powered by a growing network of local hands, eyes, and voices.
Acting on tip-offs, the forest department has expanded its search operations far beyond the forest lines — into public buses, taxis, even village shops. “Shopkeepers were asked to keep a record of people buying nylon ropes or parts used in hunting gadgets,” says Dr Qayum. “The smallest clue can lead to a trap site.”
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What makes this approach work is trust. Locals are no longer passive observers. Thanks to consistent outreach, more residents are stepping up — alerting officials, sharing images and coordinates via WhatsApp, and even joining the department’s Joint Patrolling Team (JPT) and Quick Response Team (QRT). The DFO’s number has been made public, and complaints are regularly received through calls, messages, and emails. In many cases, people have shared real-time images of traps and injured animals, allowing for immediate action.
Joint patrolling teams have been especially active in sensitive areas like Tekadera and Kaushalya Nagar, where illegal hunting activity was once common.
Joint patrolling teams helped remove 800+ nylon traps from forest interiors, where hunting once went unchecked.
These aren’t isolated efforts. Community trust-building programmes are regularly organised, especially during events like Van Mahotsav and Wildlife Week. Compensation is also provided in cases of injury or loss during human-wildlife conflict, helping further bridge the gap between authority and everyday life.
Trained wildlife rescuer Subhrito Basu highlights the shift: “For years, we’ve seen people hunt deer and birds and try to sell them. It was hard to stop. But now, if someone’s seen carrying meat or a weapon, we can bring them directly to the forest station. People know this place exists, and that changes everything.”
The result is a participatory model where the community isn’t just helping the department — they’re shaping the defence of the forest themselves.
The lives saved and the losses faced
Even with stronger laws and faster action, the most haunting scenes still come from the field.
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Over the past year, forest teams in Middle Andaman have seized more than 800 hunting traps — most of them made from yellow nylon rope. These traps, often tied between trees or buried in forest paths, are designed to be invisible. But the damage they cause is anything but.
“One of the most heartbreaking challenges is illegal trapping,” says Dr Qayum. “We’ve found skeletons of deer — Chital and Barking Deer — still tangled in rope, hanging lifelessly for days. These are not just crimes. They are acts of cruelty.”
But amidst the devastation, there have been rescues too.
During recent operations, forest officials managed to save and safely release over 10 wild animals found trapped but still alive. Each rescue has required courage, speed, and often, a kind of patience that comes only from deep commitment.
In a rare shift, locals surrendered two illegal firearms—marking a powerful turn in community attitudes.
In one of the more unexpected outcomes of these drives, two guns were voluntarily surrendered by poachers. “This was unprecedented,” Qayum shares with The Better India. “It showed that people are beginning to respond — not just out of fear, but out of awareness. That’s the result of consistent, visible effort by our forest guards.”
A second firearm was handed in during anti-poaching efforts in Rangat, signalling growing trust in forest enforcement.
These victories — both large and small — stand as reminders that change is possible when people see both enforcement and empathy in action.
Poachers become protectors
In a region where dense forests and economic hardship often collide, some of the most powerful allies in conservation today are people who once stood on the other side of the law.
Several members of the Mobile Squad, Joint Patrolling Team (JPT), and Quick Response Team (QRT) are former offenders — people who were once involved in illegal hunting or timber smuggling. Today, they walk the same trails not to hide traps, but to dismantle them. They mark suspicious activity, spread awareness, and in many cases, guide younger community members away from the paths they once took.
Many are now engaged as daily-wage workers (DRMs) under the Forest Department. For a place as geographically isolated as the Andaman Islands, even small-scale rehabilitation like this has had a visible impact. With more locals involved in protection, not just policing, forest intelligence has improved, enforcement has become faster, and community ownership has grown stronger.
Former offenders now serve on the Mobile Squad, dismantling traps and guiding others away from poaching.
All of this has been achieved without any special funding. The Rangat Forest Station was revived and maintained through regular departmental budgets. It is now home to a Mobile Squad (AFEVS Unit) led by a Range Officer, supported by five uniformed staff, around eight newly recruited Group C staff, and a few contractual workers — each one playing a role in maintaining the 24×7 duty roster in shifts of eight to nine hours.
From infrastructure and outreach to enforcement and rewilding, this station shows how much can be done with limited resources — if there’s clarity of purpose and consistency on the ground.
The idea itself wasn’t entirely new — Rangat’s model was inspired by a similar 24×7 forest outpost in Kerala, which had shown early success in curbing wildlife crime. But adapting it to the unique geography and challenges of the Andamans took some persistence.
A message from the islands
The impact of the Rangat Forest Station hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Across Middle Andaman, awareness has grown — not just about the rules, but about the reasons behind them. Much of this success has come through collaboration with the local police and the Andaman & Nicobar Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS), with commendable support from the Rangat Police under the leadership of then Dy SP Rahul Nair.
The Rangat Forest Station stands as a 24×7 thana for the wild, backed by community trust and forest vigilance.
With rising local participation, improved coordination with police, and relentless efforts by forest staff, wildlife offences have declined. And where they do occur, they are no longer ignored.
To recognise this, the department has begun honouring staff who go above and beyond with commendation certificates and “Official of the Month” acknowledgements. For teams working long hours in difficult terrain and unpredictable conditions, these gestures matter.
Sanjay Kumar Sinha, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, believes this model carries a message far beyond the islands. “In a time when wildlife crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated, the Andaman Forest Station proves that innovation doesn’t always require a big budget — just a bold vision and unwavering commitment. This isn’t only about cracking down. It’s about showing that India’s remotest regions are no longer safe havens for poachers and offenders. They are becoming strongholds of conservation.”
And so, in a corner of the country often overlooked, something vital is taking shape —not through massive campaigns, but through steady, human effort. From former poachers becoming protectors, to villages turning into informants, and officers standing guard through the night, this is a transformation story in itself.
The forests are no longer defenceless. And for the first time in years, neither are the people trying to protect them.
↓ Watch how the squad rescues a wild pig caught in a snare — a mission of grit, speed, and steady hands.
↓ Watch here as forest staff free a deer trapped in a net — showing calm skill and deep care on the ground.
All visuals courtesy Rachna Verma