In India not only the Wildlife, even Wildlife laws need protection

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4979679.cms

Wildlife laws need protection

Saurabh Prashar, TNN 7 September 2009, 01:49am IST

 

CHANDIGARH: The spirit of ecological coexistence, in which no species is

considered superior to the other, is something humans will take a lot of

time to get used to.

 

The scenario in Chandigarh is no different where the sale of wild animals

protected by law is on the rise, say sources. Ambala, Ropar, Panchkula and

Kharar are also said to be centres of this business.

 

Thursday’ seizure of 15 turtles, belonging to three protected species, from a

Sector-37 shop - Mayor Chicken - was one of many such cases in which wildlife

laws were broken. UT police and a team of the NGO - People For Animals (PFA) -

that was led by Saurabh Gupta, had conducted the raid. The recovered animals

belonged to the Indian star tortoise, tent turtle, and roofed turtle varieties.

 

Cops said the shop’s owner Monu Kumar had told them that he had been bringing

turtles from an Ambala-based aquarium and had been selling them for the past two

years at a price of Rs 200 to Rs 1,000.

 

Talking to TOI from Delhi, Gupta stated the owner of the said aquarium had been

in touch with an alleged animal smuggler named Shabir, who was arrested two

years ago and was out on bail.

 

“Poachers and smugglers have been using Chandigarh as a transit point and over

the past two years, activities like sale of animals have increased in the city,”

said Gupta.

 

About three months ago, 2,000 brushes made using mongoose tails had been

recovered in the Tricity. Then too, PFA had coordinated with wildlife department

officials to conduct the raids.

 

Chief wildlife conservator Ishwar Singh said, “Last year, we had arrested two

smugglers, who were in possession of leopard skins.”

 

UT sub-inspector Giarsi Lal said accused Kumar had been sent to judicial custody

and no further recoveries were made during his police custody lasting a day.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4979809.cms

Kolkata zoo marmoset theft: Trafficker held in Rajasthan

TNN 7 September 2009, 03:00am IST

KOLKATA: A wildlife trafficker from Rajasthan has been arrested in connection

with the theft of common marmosets from Alipore zoo. The city police's

detective department brought Rajesh Singh alias Sher Singh (30), the trafficker,

to Kolkata by flight on Sunday and will produce him in court on Monday. This is

the third arrest in the case in 10 days.

 

Singh, a native of Karnal in Haryana and a Class XII passout, runs a nationwide

animal theft racket. Sources said he had entered Alipore zoo during the theft

attempt in March along with Raj Saikia, one of the prime accused. With Singh's

arrest, detectives say they have got a whiff of an international connection in

the monkey theft case. Police are now looking for one more person whose is said

to be closely linked to Singh.

 

Singh's name cropped up during the interrogation of Raj. A detective department

team left for Ajmer, where they detained Singh who allegedly masterminded the

marmoset theft and took him to Jaipur. The city cops arrested him in Jaipur on

Sunday and, learning their lessons from the recent train escape episode (in

which Raj gave policemen the slip while he was being brought here from

Chhattisgarh), did not take any chances and flew Singh down to Kolkata. The city

police took the help of the Jaipur ATS in the operation.

 

Eight common marmosets were stolen from Alipore zoo on the intervening night of

August 8-9. " Some more arrests will follow in this case, " said Jawed Shamim,

joint commissioner of police (HQ).

 

Singh was arrested nine years ago in another case but managed to flee before his

production in a court at Sangrur, Punjab. He has allegedly stolen grey parrots,

macaws etc from zoos across the country and private collectors. He has several

cases pending against him in Pune and Lonavla.

 

Police said Singh has also been involved in the theft of marmosets, most

probably from private collectors.

 

On August 28, the first breakthrough came after Raj was nabbed from Chhattisgarh

and seven marmosets were recovered. Cops then arrested Sujay Das alias Bubai

Bangali from Dum Dum. Raj and Bangali had carried out the theft.

 

Between August 10 and his arrest on August 28, Raj visited Rajasthan a couple of

times looking for buyers, especially foreign tourists keen on keeping exotic

pets. During one such trip, Raj came in contact with Singh. Singh started

scouting for foreign buyers but was yet to strike a deal.

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4979395.cms

Wildlife bureau likely to probe tiger killing

TNN 7 September 2009, 02:32am IST

PANAJI: More than three months after the forest department officials achieved a

breakthrough in the tiger killing case at Keri, the Wildlife Crime

Control Bureau (WCCB) has shown interest in the case and a top official is

likely to arrive in Goa later this month to investigate it.

 

At present, the investigations have been kept in abeyance as the department is

awaiting confirmatory tests of bones and other remains found at Keri, which had

been sent to the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun three months back.

 

Piqued over Goa forest department's alleged laxity in handling the case of tiger

poaching, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had gone on record

saying that it was the deputy conservator of forests, Dandeli Hanshi range in

Karnataka who first reported the incident about the tiger killed in Goa.

 

Sources said that the WCCB will commence the investigations soon. However, it

was not known whether it would be an independent probe or if WCCB will join

hands with the forest department.

 

However, when the chief conservator of forests Shashi Kumar was contacted on

this, he said, " I am not aware of any such development. If they are interested

in taking up the case we will fully co-operate with them. After all, we both

work for the same cause. "

 

" Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has powers to investigate any case

independently, " a forest department official said, adding that the nature of the

investigation depends on the circumstances or the stand taken by the bureau. " If

they want to carry out the probe independently, they may not disclose anything

to the department, but may still take some assistance from us. "

 

It may be recalled that the state forest department is probing the tiger killing

case reported at Keri village in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in which the animal

was trapped and later shot dead allegedly by the villagers. In this connection,

the forest department is yet to recover a mobile handset which is believed to

contain information in the case while, a computer hard disk has been seized to

verify facts and gather vital information to lead the investigation into the

case in the right direction.

 

A forest official has said on conditions of anonymity that " the cellphone of an

accused had been used to shoot the entire episode of the tiger killing and not

just the photo of the tiger. " The officer further said " the information could

have been shared even by the friends of the accused and the original mobile

handset could have been destroyed. "

 

It may be recalled that two persons, including a former listed poacher, had been

arrested in connection with the poaching, but are presently out on bail.

 

Incidentally, BJP leader Rajiv Pratap Rudy had recently raised the issue of

having stringent laws and a prudent investigating agency while specifically

highlighting the tiger death case in Goa in the Lok Sabha.

 

" Do we have plans of getting in a central legislation which could provide for a

stricter punishment to the poachers and those who indulge in this. Laws are not

good enough at this point in time to punish them. Do you have something like

this in mind? That is important. Recently, about two weeks ago (question raised

in July), one tiger was killed in Goa. Do you have something like this? That is

important " , questioned Rudy.

 

Replying to this question, Union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh

said, " This is a very large issue. But I want to take the house into confidence.

Separately, I am seeking approval of the cabinet. We have already floated a

proposal for the approval of the cabinet for setting up a National Green

Tribunal (NGT). The NGT is going to be an environmental court which is going to

hear all cases relating to violation of laws dealing with environment and

forests. I am glad that the attorney-general has supported this proposal. This

is a recommendation of the 186{+t}{+h} Report of Law Commission. We have

adequate support of the judiciary. "

 

Incidentally, once this body is in place, the tribunal is expected to address

some major issues like the delays in prosecution, the delays in registering of

cases and so on.

 

Ramesh has also gone on record stating, " if the Act requires to be redone, I am

quite willing to have a look at the Act. " When TOI contacted the CCF to confirm

if there was any discussion on the tiger death case, he said, " No, there was no

discussion between us. However, if there has been any discussion between him and

the minister (Felipe Neri) I am not aware of. "

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http://in.news./43/20090906/812/tnl-six-held-in-orissa-for-poaching.htm\

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Six held in Orissa for poaching

Sun, Sep 6 01:33 PM

Bhubaneswar, Sep 6 (IANS) Six people were arrested for attempting to poach deer

in Orissa's Bhitarkanika national park, a forest official said Sunday.

 

The six were arrested from Charchia village near the park, P.K. Behera, a senior

forest official, said.

 

Eight nylon traps, two nets and two boats were seized from them which they were

using to trap and kill deer. The official said the arrested men were sent to

jail Sunday after a court rejected their bail plea.

 

Bhitarkanika sanctuary, 174 km from here, is known for its estuarine crocodiles

and as a rookery of Olive Ridley sea turtles.

 

 

 

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Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org