For the first time in India, former Army commandos trained forest guards in the art of fighting bare handed. With poaching being the second largest income generating illegal business after narcotics, most poachers have access to sophisticated weaponry. In comparison, most forest guards are unarmed, with few having access to arms and ammunition.Keeping this in mind, the Van Rakshak Project has added unarmed combat training as a valuable component to its anti-poaching training. Beginning May 3, forest guards at the Eravikulam National Park were trainied in a range of fields including: physical training, fitness exercises, unarmed combat, physical training with weapons, endurance and stamina building exercises.

The jungle training component included patrolling, map reading in the jungle, navigation/ surveillance, ambush/encounter drill; mock encounters; precaution against poacher’s traps; avoiding body traps and obstacles; knife handling and creating weapons locally.

This was VRP’s first training session in Kerala. To date, VRP has conducted training in more than 20 protected areas around the country. The training at Eravikulam was held for 15 days, during which 30 staff below 40 years of age were trained. Similar training was also held at Chinnar WLS.

Eravikulam, located in the Western Ghats in Munnar Forest Division, was declared as a national park in 1978. This park was established to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, an endangered species of the wild goat, of which less than 2,000 survive in the wild.

It is situated on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the north where it is extends as the Annamalai National Park. Eravikulam is rich in forest and grasslands, which are home to the Nilgiri Tahr, one of the most endangered species in India. Grasslands with patches of forests known as sholas in between cover almost the entire region. Other fauna species found in the park are gaur, sambar, lion tailed macaque, elephant, tiger, leopard, and giant squirrel. The park is also home to three species of lizards, four types of snakes, and five amphibians.