Mpofu,

There are several gun factories that are active in Kashmir. Some of the 12 bore doubles made there are excellent in their price range. I confirmed with a friend at Reuters who did an article on hunting there that in 2003 after a long time pheasant hunting was reopened there.

As far as the "gai" in Nilgai (Blue Bulls as the British called them in a literal translation) are concerned, they have been hunted for a long time and they were never considered sacred like cattle were. I have had ancestors - both Hindu and Jain (incredibly) - who hunted and there are Nilgai trophies that were displayed quite openly even close to a hundred years ago. There are tribes like the Hindu Bishnoi and the Muslim Meo in Rajasthan who are totally opposed to hunting but there have been a number of others who have always hunted.

I am more and more inclined to believe that the tigers in Sariska were poached by organised gangs trafficking in animal organs to China. The Tibetans have been doing it for some time now despite the Dalai Lama asking them to stop and it is possible that Gurkhas are at it as well to finance the insurrection there. In Assam the ULFA have been active in poaching rhinoceros for a long time. And take it from me, in almost EVERY instance the forest department and police are hand in glove with the poachers. I know India too well to trust it's authorities in any sense.

The tiger will be extinct in India within the next decade from what is happening.