Malaysia harming Indian Peacocks

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27 kg of peacock feathers seized at Chennai airport

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TNN 19 September 2009, 06:30am IST

 

CHENNAI: The Air Intelligence Unit of the Chennai Customs on Thursday seized

27 kg of peacock feathers from a Malaysia-bound passenger at the Chennai

airport. The export of peacock feathers is banned under the Customs Act,

officials said.

 

According to customs officials, the AIU staff who were profiling the

passengers at the airport, spotted Noohu Mohammed, a resident of

Pasipattinam is Ramanathapuram district, moving around in a suspicious

manner. When the customs officials picked him up for questioning he gave

evasive answers making them doubt even more his intentions.

 

The officials then recalled his check-in baggage and subjected it to a

thorough examination. They found bundles of peacock covered by a cloth which

was again covered by artificial flowers. The bundles were then wrapped in a

newspaper.

 

The customs staff seized the feathers that were meant to be smuggled to

Malaysia where they are in great demand, sources said. They added that the

arrested accused had been a frequent traveler to foreign countries and that

an investigation was on to find out whether he was involved in the smuggling

of feathers on previous occasions.

 

The latest seizure by the customs officials confirms that the national bird

continues to be poached in villages of Tamil Nadu. The local tribals, who

often kill the birds for meat and oil, are now increasingly garnering an

income from poaching of peacocks for their feathers that much sought-after

in several East Asian countries.

 

After Gujarat and Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu has a sizeable population of

peacocks, especially in Tiruchi, Madurai, Theni, Virudhunagar and Coimbatore

districts where they are found in the open. However, in the absence of any

census or surveillance, the wildlife authorities in the state appear to be

in the wilderness with regard to exact number of peacocks in the state.

 

Though these birds are covered under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection

Act, little effort has been taken to prevent them from being hunted. The

sale of peacock feathers is quite rampant even in places like Pondy Bazaar.

Poached by gypsies and poisoned by farmers, the national bird is

disappearing from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu.