Counter Wildlife Trafficking Newsletter
December 2020
News Scan (December 1-31)
Five poachers held with live pangolin | 1 December 2020
A combined team of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Shahdol Forest Division nabbed five poachers and rescued a live pangolin from them. The pangolin species is protected under Schedule-I of Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
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UP Police arrests 3 poachers, seizes 100 kg of boar meat | 1 December 2020
The Banda police have arrested three wildlife poachers and seized 100 kg boar meat and an SUV from their possession. The arrested men are professional poachers, who pickled meat of boars killed by using small bombs in food bait and smuggled it to Punjab and Kerala.
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Huge cache of wildlife body parts seized at Kamakhya temple in Guwahati | 3 December 2020
Sleuths of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) have seized a huge cache of wild animal body parts besides marine animal products in a raid at Kamakhya temple premises in Guwahati, Assam.
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Animal parts including musk deer pods seized in Guwahati, 3 arrested | 3 December 2020
Nearly 50 kg of sea fans and a large quantity of other wildlife parts including porcupine quills, musk deer pods were seized by authorities in Guwahati, Assam. The animal parts were seized during three different raids at separate locations in a joint operation by Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and Assam forest department.
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Teacher Among 3 Poachers Arrested In Odisha, Leopard Skin Seized | 7 December 2020
Three poachers have been arrested today with huge amounts of animal skin and various other kinds of incriminating material in Dhenkanal district of Odisha. According to reports, the forest department of Dhenkanal have recovered two leopard skins, severed heads of leopards, elephant tusks, and one deer skin.
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Andhra Pradesh: Chittoor police seize red sanders logs, 8 smugglers arrested | 7 December 2020
Chittoor police seized red sanders logs and arrested 8 smugglers near Puttur. The police team found out that 103 red sanders logs were concealed inside the truck.
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4 Wildlife Smugglers Held With Endangered Red Sand Boa In UP's Bahraich | 8 December 2020
Four inter-state wildlife smugglers were arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district with a non-venomous red sand boa recovered from their possession, an endangered snake protected under law in India.
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Two held for poaching crane | 8 December 2020
Two poachers were detained for allegedly hunting a demoiselle crane in Chharidhandh sanctuary near Nirona village of Nakhatrana taluka in Kutch district, Rajkot.
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Five members of poachers'' gang arrested near Nanda Devi National Park | 8 December 2020
Five members of a gang of poachers have been arrested from an area close to the Nanda Devi National Park, a world heritage site, in Uttarakhand. Body parts of a musk deer, a ghurad hyde, skull and feet have been seized from their possession.
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1,500 turtles found in Bengal, 6 from UP held | 9 December 2020
Around 1,500 turtles of endangered species were found in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district and six persons arrested. All of those arrested in the joint raid by the Forest Division and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau are from Uttar Pradesh.
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Four arrested for poaching spotted deer near Chennai | 11 December 2020
Police arrested four men for killing a spotted deer near Minjur on the outskirts of Chennai. Police seized the carcass of a deer, a licensed rifle, ammunition, and a jeep from the arrested men.
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Four timber smugglers arrested in Assam | 6 December 2020
Assam forest officials arrested four timber smugglers and seized illegal timber from their possession. Acting on a tip-off, forest officials from Lekhapani and Jagun seized a Bolero pick-up truck transporting illegal timber and a modern saw machine.
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94 animals, birds rescued during a raid in Mumbai | 9 December 2020
The Thane wing of the Maharashtra forest department carried out a raid based on a tip-off that led to the interception of a truck carrying 94 caged animals and birds, which were rescued and the truck driver was arrested.
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Wildlife Smuggling Racket Busted In Jajpur, Two Held | 16 December 2020
Officials of Jajpur Forest Division busted a wildlife smuggling racket and arrested two persons in this connection from Bhikipur Reserve Forest area under Jajpur Road police limits. Acting on reliable information about the illegal activities, the forest officials conducted a raid in Bhikipur area and nabbed the accused persons. Meanwhile, two others involved with the racket managed to escape.
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Illegally stocked wood seized | 20 December 2020
Wooden logs of different species of trees, collected in a house illegally, were seized by the forest department officials, in Hanagallu village near Somwarpet. During a raid carried out by the forest department officials, headed by Madikeri DCF Prabhakaran, wooden logs of 176 cubic feet were seized.
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Poachers from Hyderabad arrested in Nizamabad | 21 December 2020
The vigilance and anti-poaching officials of Telangana Forest Department arrested five persons involved in poaching of wild animals in Nizamabad.
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Canine teeth seized at airport | 21 December 2020
Canine teeth were seized by Chennai Air Customs from a flight that arrived from Dubai at the airport. These are sold as lockets for a high price, according to a press release. “Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) officers conducted morphological examination of the animal teeth and identified the same as Canine Teeth of the genus “Panthera”. The three teeth and powder have been seized under Customs Act read with Wildlife Protection Act 1972.
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Leopard poached near Mahendri | 23 December 2020
The Mahendri forest in Warud tehsil under Amravati Circle witnessed its first casualty in the form of a leopard after it was declared a conservation reserve by the state wildlife board (SWBL) on December 4.
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Pangolin Rescued As Odisha Police Busts Illegal Wildlife Trade Racket, One Held | 23 December 2020
Busting an illegal wildlife trade racket, Odisha Police rescued a pangolin and arrested a person in this connection near Biribati Canal Road in Kandarpur area of Cuttack district.
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Tamil Nadu: Six arrested for trying to sell tusks | 24 December 2020
The forest department arrested an anti-poaching watcher and five others at Pollachi for attempting to sell a pair of tusks. After receiving a tip from Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) that tusks were sold at a pet shop in NM Sungam, Pollachi, two teams of the forest department and WCCB officials visited the shop. Posing as customers from Kerala, officials inquired about tusks.
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Four deerskins, 9 Tokay geckos seized in Kultali and Namkhana | 26 December 2020
Four deerskins and nine Tokay geckos were seized in two raids in Kultali and Namkhana in South 24-Parganas. A forest department official said this confirms an active poaching racket was working in the Sundarbans. Two of the deerskins were soaked in turmeric.
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Three arrested with pangolin scales | 28 December 2020
A squad of security personnel arrested three persons involved in smuggling of endangered wildlife pangolin along with its scale. A joint team comprising personnel from Nepal Army (NA), Armed Police Force (APF) and Chitwan National Park (CNP) administration apprehended the smugglers.
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Newsletter design: Manish Machaiah
Infographic: Jessica Luis