Guwahati: Personnel of Cachar Forest Division in Assam's Silchar district intercepted a vehicle at Lailapur Forest Sub Beat carrying a consignment of exotic wildlife, including a kangaroo!
"A truck bearing registration No.TS 08 UB 1622 coming from Mizoram side was intercepted by forest personnel at around 11:30 pm on late Tuesday night and a kangaroo, six Macaw parrots, three tortoises, and two monkeys", a forest official said.
The forest personnel were on a routine check of trucks passing through Lailapur to detect carrying of any illegal timber. However, one of the forest personnel detected strange odors emanating from a truck. Upon being questioned, the driver said that the foul smell was coming from fruits. Not convinced with the trucker's reply, the forest personnel searched the vehicle and found the exotic animals packed in plastic and carton boxes.
Two persons, identified as Narsimha Reddy and Navnath Tukaram Daigude, have been detained. In the course of interrogation, they revealed to the forest personnel that the consignment of smuggled animals was headed to Guwahati, the commercial hub of the state.
After the seizure of the consignment that contained the Australia-native kangaroo, the Forest Range Officer of Hawaithang Range, Dholai, D. Deori, is investigating the matter under the direction of DFO Cachar Forest Division, Sunnydeo Choudhary. The DFO has directed the investigating forest official to ascertain the health of wildlife by local veterinary doctors.
"Against the backdrop of the novel coronavirus pandemic and its connection to wet markets, it's high time we put an end to such practices of keeping these exotic species as pets and refrain from illegal wildlife trade. Let them live in their natural habitat," said Forest Range Officer Deori. He further added that the identification of exact species is going on.
In its first global report on the illegal wildlife trade, released a week ago, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) described wildlife trafficking as a "global threat", which also has links with other organized crimes such as modern slavery, drug trafficking, and arms trade. Wildlife trafficking in the Northeast is also considered a grave concern and is seemingly on the rise in recent years. This illegal trade is estimated to generate revenues of up to $23 billion a year.