The northeastern region of India is serving as a transit route for animal trafficking to various countries of North and Southeast Asia said an Assam forest official on Thursday.
While speaking to a national news agency, an official of the Assam forest department informed about the increasing cases of illegal movement of exotic animals from the North East.
The official added the attention of the traffickers is now shifted to other rare animals that include pangolin and gecko. However, most recently trafficking of animals cases are those of chimpanzees and kangaroos said the official.
Poachers are mostly targeting the rare and endangered animals in the region and therefore wildlife trafficking has now become one of the major issues that need concern.
According to the official, the endangered and rare animals in the Northeast are targeted by poachers very often for trafficking.
Notably, there have been several cases of animal trafficking that came to light in recent days from different states in the northeast.
It may be mentioned that on Tuesday 12 April, police rescued at least 5 chimpanzees meant for trafficking.
The chimpanzees were rescued from the Dilai area at the Bokajan Sub-division which is in the Karbi Anglong district of Assam.
On Wednesday 13 April, the rescued chimpanzees were handed over to the forest department officials of the Manja Range in Diphu Tehsil of Karbi Anglong
The officials arrested two suspected traffickers for the illegal trafficking of chimpanzees. They were interrogated by the forest department official in relation to the alleged wildlife trafficking case.
During the interrogation, the suspected traffickers informed that they are residents of the Thoubal district of Manipur.
Meanwhile, the Assam forest department has taken the initiative of proper vigilance for the prevention of rare animals following the rescue of the chimpanzees.
Also watch: