Counter Wildlife Trafficking Newsletter
February 2021
News Scan (1-28 February)
Redsanders logs seized | 2 February 2021
The Andhra Pradesh State Redsanders Anti-smuggling Task Force teams seized redsanders logs and three cars, and nabbed six persons after a long chase from Chandragiri near Tirupati to Kolar in Karnataka.
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Nine fined ₹9.25 lakh for poaching deer | 2 February 2021
Forest Department officials slapped a fine of ₹9.25 lakh on nine persons for poaching sambar deer in Sivagiri reserve forest. Sources in the department said the prime accused, Ramar, 45, of Kovilur near Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar district, had allegedly been selling deer meat to his elite customers for several years after hunting the animals in the reserve forest areas of Sivagiri and Rajapalayam Ranges with country-made guns.
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Six held for trying to sell tiger skin near Pollachi | 4 February 2021
Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) officials arrested six persons for allegedly trying to sell tiger skin in Ashok Nagar near Pollachi. They have been booked under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and later remanded in judicial custody.
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Most wanted rhino poacher arrested in Arunachal Pradesh | 5 February 2021
The Assam Forest Department and police had arrested a most wanted rhino poacher/trader from Arunachal Pradesh. In a joint operation by Biswanath Wildlife Division of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) and Assam police, along with the help of Arunachal Pradesh police, rhino poacher from Naharlagun area has been arrested.
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Three try to smuggle sand boa in Tiruvallur, arrested | 6 February 2021
Three people were caught trying to smuggle a red sand boa for sale near Tiruvallur. Red sand boa is a snake protected under the Wildlife Protection Act. Forest department officials booked them under Schedule IV of the Indian Wild Life Protection Act,1972.
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State forest department officials seize 1,500 softshell turtles | 7 February 2021
West Bengal State Forest Department officials seized 1,500 softshell turtles from a van. Four persons suspected of smuggling the turtles brought from Uttar Pradesh in sacks and hidden under vegetables were arrested.
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Man held with elephant tusk,105 live bullets in Assam | 7 February 2021
Assam Police arrested a man and seized one elephant tusk and 105 live bullets from his residence. Police added that an FIR under Arms Act and Wildlife Protection Act was registered under the accused.
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Arm smuggler nabbed | 8 February 2021
One arm smuggler was arrested with one M-16 rifle from his residence at Khominthang near Sim Veng cemetery, Churachandpur. He disclosed to the police that he was planning to transship the rifle to Assam today for Rhino hunting.
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Rosewood timber logs seized | 10 February 2021
A team of Forest officials led by Meppadi Range Forest Officer N.K. Shameer seized 54 pieces of illegal rosewood timber from a saw mill at Perumbavoor in Ernakulam district. The timber logs were transported from Wayanad to the saw mill without valid documents, including a pass issued by the Forest Department.
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Dead peacock found in poachers’ trap in Jangaon | 10 February 2021
A peacock was found dead by getting caught in a trap set up by poachers near St Mary’s High School on the outskirts of Jangaon town. Local residents found the dead bird during early morning and informed the forest department officials, who rushed to the spot and found that the peacock had died after getting caught in a trap set up by a poacher.
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14 charged with poaching rare one-horned rhinos; additional 25 persons on the run | 10 February 2021
As many as 14 persons have been charged with killing one-horned rhinos and smuggling rhino horns from Chitwan National Park (CNP).
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495kg of Red Sanders bound for Singapore seized in Chennai | 10 February 2021
According to Customs officials, they intercepted a Singapore-bound cargo at the Air export shed, based on intelligence. The cargo which was declared to contain 600 cotton bed sheets packed in 12 cartons were examined, as it was found unusually heavy. On opening the cartons, wooden cut logs with red color, off white marks were found concealed beneath the bed sheets. Forest officials certified the wooden logs as Red Sanders ‘Pterocarpus Santinalus’.
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Uttarakhand: STF nabs man with leopard skin in Udham Singh Nagar | 11 February 2021
A joint team of Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttarakhand police and forest department arrested a man from Khatima town of Udham Singh Nagar (US Nagar) district, while he was smuggling a leopard hide.
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Elephant Killed In Dhenkanal For Tusks, Poachers Escape | 11 February 2021
A full grown elephant was shot dead by poachers for tusks in the Kandara forest in Dhenkanal. The miscreants who killed the elephant using firearms managed to escape with the tusks under the cover of darkness after opening fire at a forest patrolling party.
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Notorious red sanders smuggler booked under PD Act by Kadapa police | 11 February 2021
Kadapa police booked a notorious red sanders smuggler identified as Shaik Masthan (39) under the preventive detention (PD) Act.
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Mumbai: Forest officials rescue pangolin and its pup from traffickers; 3 held | 12 February 2021
Forest officials have recovered a pangolin and its pup from three persons from Roha, raising suspicions of traffickers operating in the Konkan belt. The men were intercepted on the Mumbai-Goa highway.
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Hedgehog rescued from four poachers | 12 February 2021
A hedgehog was rescued from the clutches of poachers in Madhupur village of Dhari taluka in Amreli. Forest department officials also arrested four persons for hunting wild animals and booked them under different sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.
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Two caught with tiger skin, nails at Indo-Nepal border in Kheri district | 14 February 2021
Officials of SSB 3rd battalion and the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in a joint operation have seized a tiger’s skin and other body parts from the possession of two local youths, who were trying to enter Nepal through Belaparsuva border outpost in Lakhimpur Kheri district.
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Forest department officials arrest four for trafficking pangolin | 14 February 2021
Officials from the Forest Department in Pune have arrested four persons on the charges of trafficking a pangolin at Sangamner in Ahmednagar district. Officials have rescued a pangolin from the accused.
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16 nabbed with animal skins, body parts | 15 February 2021
Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Special Task Force (Police) took 16 accused under custody for illegal possession of four skins of protected wild animals and body parts.
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22 peafowls found dead near Trichy; poisoning suspected | 16 February 2021
A total of 22 peafowls were found dead in an agriculture field in Trichy district of Tamil Nadu. Forest officials said most of these birds could have been poisoned to death.
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Two held for trying to sell tusks of female jumbo | 17 February 2021
Two persons were arrested by a joint team of officials from Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) for attempting to sell a pair of short tusks, also known as tushes of a female elephant in Pollachi.
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BSF team seize smuggled snake venom near Indo-Bangladesh border | 17 February 2021
A Border Security Force team seized a consignment of snake venom that was allegedly being smuggled from Bangladesh into India through the porous Indo-Bangladesh border, according to a BSF statement.
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Leopard dies after getting trapped in a snare at Rudraprayag | 18 February 2021
An adult leopard died after struggling for hours to get itself out of a snare in Rampur village under Rudraprayag forest division. The forest staff suspect that the possible causes behind putting a snare wire could be — revenge killing, poaching, or protection of the agricultural produce from wild boars.
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Pangolin seized in Tinsukia, 7 skins recovered | 18 February 2021
The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in association with local police and forest officials on Thursday seized seven skins of dead pangolin and one pangolin in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district. Two persons were arrested in connection with the seizure. Both of them were handed over to Tinsukia police.
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Assam Rifles seizes exotic reptiles in Mizoram | 19 February 2021
Assam Rifles troopers recovered 29 leopard tortoises, 38 red-footed tortoises, 17 yellow, orange, green iguana, three bearded dragons, three albino iguana, exotic seeds and fertilizer near the Friendship Bridge along the Tyao River in Mizoram.
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Two detained for ‘poaching’ chinkara from Gir forest | 21 February 2021
Two men were detained by the Gujarat state forest department after they were reportedly caught red-handed while cooking meat of a chinkara (Indian gazelle) on an agricultural farm in Hirava village, in Dhari taluka of Gir (East) Wildlife Division.
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Man held with swamp deer's antler in Kurla | 22 February 2021
The state forest officials arrested a 45-year-old man for allegedly possessing swamp deer's (barasingha) antler. The accused was arrested red handed with the antlers when he came to sell them near Kurla railway station.
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10 kg venison seized in Mayurbhanj’s Udala; villagers set free two poachers | 24 February 2021
Two poachers from Jamudiha village were arrested and more than 40 kg of sambar meat and two country-made guns were seized from them. There were as many as 100 poachers in the area. However, others managed to give a slip to the forest personnel.
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Posing As Buyers, Forest Officials Seize Eight Ivories, Arrest Two Poachers | 25 February 2021
A team of forest officials seized eight ivories weighing around 45 kg and arrested two poachers from Angarapada village under Udala forest range here in Mayurbhanj district.
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Leopard skin seized, one arrested in Bengal | 25 February 2021
One person has been arrested and a leopard skin seized from his possession in West Bengal''s Jalpaiguri district.
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Three arrested for trying to sell endangered star tortoises | 25 February 2021
The Virajpet CID Forest Cell officers have arrested three accused for smuggling critically endangered star tortoises. They seized two star tortoises from the accused, who were allegedly trying to sell them. The incident was reported in Virajpet, Karnataka.
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Tiger Found Dead In Madhya Pradesh, 2 Detained: Forest Official | 27 February 2021
A decomposed carcass of a tiger was found in a forest in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district and two persons have been detained in connection to the death.
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Two men arrested with tiger hide in Uttarakhand’s Champawat district | 28 February 2021
Two men were arrested in Chalthi area of Uttarakhand’s Champawat district with a tiger skin. The duo was carrying the tiger’s skin in a car and was heading towards Tanakpur to sell it when they were intercepted by a joint team of the forest department and the police.
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Two Poachers Arrested In Jajpur | 28 February 2021
Acting on a tip-off, officials of the Bari forest department arrested two poachers under Dalijoda forest range in Jajpur district of Odisha. The officials have also seized a country-made gun, bullets and a motorbike from their possession.
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Infographic: Jessica Luis