Poachers using children and other stories !

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http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/poachers-using-children-to-hun\

t-birds-in-orissas-chilika-lake_100130773.html

Poachers using children to hunt birds in Orissa’s Chilika Lake

December 14th, 2008 - 2:17 pm ICT by IANS

 

Balugaon (Orissa), Dec 14 (IANS) Poachers are using children to hunt birds in

Orissa’s Chilika lake — India’s largest brackish water lagoon — after

authorities increased their surveillance in the area, officials and

conservationists say.Officials said they are concerned because poachers are

adopting new methods to hunt birds and now engaging children between 12 to 17

years old for the purpose.

“The poachers are now using children to avoid arrest. They think we will not

suspect children,” assistant conservator of forest (wild life) B.K. Mohapatra

told IANS Friday.

 

The state government this year has set up at least 16 anti poaching camps in the

area and deployed more than a hundred people, including officials and

volunteers, to nab all those involved in poaching in Chilika Lake.

 

The people deployed include about 40 former poachers. “They have given up

poaching and are now helping us to protect birds. We are paying them some

remuneration,” Mohapatra said.

 

Like professional poachers, the children are also trained to catch the birds by

laying out nets and spreading poisoned baits, officials said. Some poachers are

using children only to carry the birds away after killing them.

 

Tulu Parida, 13, was Monday arrested on the charge of poaching birds in the

lake. He was caught with six dead birds. Forest officials say they are searching

for two other minor boys who helped him in the crime.

 

“This is a new tactic (use of children) adopted by poachers which needs to be

tackled. It is really a matter of concern for us,” Biswajit Mohanty, secretary

of the Wildlife Society of Orissa said.

 

A few years ago, five minors were arrested for poaching birds in Chilika. The

children killed the birds by spreading poisoned grain for the birds.

 

Every year, nearly a million birds from the Himalayas and beyond, Iraq, Iran,

Pakistan, Afghanistan visit Chilika, some 100 km from Bhubaneswar, in winter.

 

At least 97 species of migratory intercontinental waterfowl visit the lake from

October to mid-March to escape the biting cold in their usual habitat.

 

However, hundreds of them get killed by poachers hailing from dozens of villages

around the lake.

 

The poachers usually catch the birds by trapping them in nets or spreading

poisoned bait. They also smuggle out these protected species to cities.

 

At least 600,000 birds have already reached the lake this year, since the first

arrivals in the last week of October.

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ptive_100243492.html

Man jailed for keeping an owl captive

September 6th, 2009 - 1:47 pm ICT by IANS

Bhopal, Sep 6 (IANS) A Madhya Pradesh court has sentenced a man to three years’

imprisonment for clipping the wings of an owl and keeping it captive in his

house in Chhindwara district for three years.

Chief Judicial Magistrate of Chhindwara Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi sentenced Gendalal

last week.

“Gendalal who kept the owl in a cage at his home has been sentenced for

confining the bird which is illegal as per the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. A

fine of Rs.10,000 has also been slapped on the accused who had clipped the

bird’s wings,” a forest official said.

 

The matter came to light a few months back when a beat guard at Sillevani Forest

Range in Chhindwara found Gendalal in possession of the owl. The guard urged him

to release the owl only to find that the wings of the bird had been clipped to

prevent it from flying.

 

The accused was then booked under the Wildlife Protection Act.

 

During the trial that began in April this year, Gendalal pleaded that he was not

guilty. But a forest official told the court that Gendalal had himself told him

that he kept the owl at his home because he felt that its presence would bring

him wealth.

 

 

 

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/3-held-for-killing-spotted-deer_\

100242649.html

 

3 held for killing spotted deer

 

September 4th, 2009 - 1:41 pm ICT by IANS

 

Lucknow, Sep 4 (IANS) Three people have been arrested for killing two spotted

deer in a protected forest in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich district, an official

said Friday.

The men were nabbed Thursday along with the carcasses of the animal following a

joint operation by police and forest department officials.

 

“While we managed to arrest the three near the Bichiyabeet region of the

Katarniyaghat forest reserve, five of their aides managed to escape,” Divisional

Forest Officer (DFO) R.K. Singh told IANS on phone.

 

The arrested men have confessed to have been killing spotted deer for the last

five years. They used to supply the animal’s meat and skin to their clients in

various districts of Uttar Pradesh, Singh added.

 

Spotted deer, popularly known as Chital in Hindi, is the most common deer

species in Indian forests. Its coat is reddish fawn, marked with white spots,

and its underbelly is white. Under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, injuring or

killing a spotted deer is an offence.

 

Bahraich is about 270 km from state capital Lucknow.

 

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urtles_100242632.html

Man held for illegally trading turtles

September 4th, 2009 - 1:28 pm ICT by IANS

 

Chandigarh, Sep 4 (IANS) A shopkeeper has been arrested here for illegally

keeping rare species of turtles and selling them, police said Friday.

Monu Kumar, owner of a meat shop in Sector 37 here, was arrested late Thursday

evening and 15 turtles of three rare species and eight shells were recovered

from his possession.

 

“We got a tip-off from an NGO PFA (People for Animals) about this illegal trade.

We laid a trap and sent an official of PFA as a decoy customer to the shop to

strike a deal. Monu was caught red-handed,” a police officer said.

 

“We have registered a case and started our investigation. We hope to make more

arrests after the interrogation of the accused,” he said.

 

Saurabh Gupta, an official of PFA from Delhi who helped Chandigarh Police in

this case, said: “We had busted a similar racket of illegal trading of turtles

in Delhi a few weeks back. The kingpin of that racket Shabir told us about his

network in various other states and named this shopkeeper of Chandigarh.”

 

The turtles and shells recovered are usually found in south Indian states near

sea shores.

 

 

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Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org