Guest guest Posted August 20, 2009 Report Share Posted August 20, 2009 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/chennai/Two-arrested-while-trying-t\ o-sell-tiger-skin-in-Erode/articleshow/4913283.cms Two arrested while trying to sell tiger skin in Erode Radha Venkatesan, TNN 20 August 2009, 05:29am IST COIMBATORE: Wildlife conservationists express grave concern over the dwindling numbers of the national animal, and rightly so. The forest department has seized the skin of a young tiger at Chellampalayam, near Sathyamangalam town in Erode district in western Tamil Nadu. Two persons were caught transporting the tiger skin, stuffed in a blue plastic bag, on a scooter late on Tuesday. " It looks like the skin of a tiger just about one year old, " Sathyamangalam divisional forest officer S Ramasubramaniam told TOI. While the tiger population in the rest of the country is on the decline, the numbers of the big, striped cat are said to be going up in south India, especially in Tamil Nadu. In the Sathyamangalam reserve forests, where no tigers were sighted till five years ago, at least 10 were spotted in the latest census. Similarly, the latest studies in the Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary too have revealed a healthy tiger population. Sathyamangalam forest officials received a tip-off last week that a group was trying to sell a tiger skin at Annur in Coimbatore district. Posing as buyers, forest staff approached Nadeem Mujir, 32, and P Subramaniam, 50, at their residence in Annur. The duo offered to sell the skin for Rs 2 lakh. The forest department team asked them to bring the skin to Chellampalayam. The duo came on a scooter and halted near a school at Chellampalayam, where forest officials lay in wait. When the forest officials showed the cash, Mujir and Subramaniam took out the tiger skin. Immediately, they were nabbed. During interrogation, they insisted that the tiger skin was sourced from a poacher in Kerala about six months ago. " However, we are yet to confirm if it was bought in Kerala, " Ramasubramaniam said. A team would leave for Kerala to find out the source, he said. According to officials, the last seizure of tiger skin in Tamil Nadu was made in 2007 in the Kotagiri forest range of Niligirs north division. Calling for greater vigil, K Kalidasan, of wildlife NGO Osai, warned that with tiger sightings on the increase in south India, poachers might shift their sights to their new, thriving habitats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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