(IN) Leopard skins, bear bile seized in U'chal; two nabbed

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Leopard skins, bear bile seized in U'chal; two nabbed

PTI 11 October 2009, 06:21pm IST

 

NEW DELHI: Two persons were arrested today after two leopard skins and bear

bile, which is believed to have medicinal value, were allegedly seized

from them in Uttaranchal, an official said.

 

The two have been identified as Shyam Dutta Joshi and Deepak from Chakrata

region in Dehradun, said Ramesh Pandey, a senior official from Wildlife Crime

Control Bureau (WCCB) which along with the Special Task Force of the state made

the seizure.

 

" An FIR will be registered at the Vikas Nagar police station. We arrested the

two after getting an information about the illegal bear bile trade in the

region, " Pandey said.

 

At least 300-400 gm of bear bile was seized from the accused. " Bear bile is as

precious as a tiger bone and is used as aphrodisiac in Chinese medicines.

 

" It is an important haul for investigation as it (bear bile) is not easy to

detect because it can be hidden easily, " the official added. The duo will be

interrogated further to probe their links, he said.

 

Despite international laws protecting bears, the illegal trade in bear bile and

gallbladder thrives, endangering the life of wild bears. China is the major

consumer as it uses bear parts and bile as 'wonder drugs'.

 

China, Korea and Vietnam have been raising the endangered animal in farms to be

slaughtered for bile and other products for commercial purpose.

 

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Thank you for your compassion !

With best regards,

Debasis Chakrabarti

Compassionate Crusaders Trust

http://www.animalcrusaders.org