22 people arrested for trapping and killing full-grown wild cat, an endangered animal in India
Murshidabad forest guards arrested 22 people on Saturday night for trapping and killing an adult male cat, which is endangered in India, in Murshidabad city.
Following a criminal case for violation of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, 22 people, mostly from tribal communities, appeared before a tribunal in Jangipur on Sunday and all remained in judicial custody during the next seven days. Official Superior Forester. ,
“The jungle cat (Felis chaus) is an animal listed in the Wild Life (Protection) Law. It pays special legal attention to the hunting or slaughter of these animals. “We have launched a specific investigation in this regard,” said Debasish Biswas, forest officer of Jangipur in Murshidabad.
According to the Forestry Department manual, Annex 1 treats species threatened with extinction. This agreement establishes strict penalties, including imprisonment, for violations of the law.
List 1 includes animals like the tiger, black deer, blue whale, common dolphin, leopard, Neblina pantera, Himalayan leopard and Venado Frontal en Selo.
A forest department source said all the arrested Indians were residents of Jajigram in Birbhum, a neighboring area of the district. On Saturday night they took the animals to the forest of Jangipur.
A group of forest guards patrolling the area along with a team of hunters encountered the wild animal and arrested it.
Although the mountain cat is considered an endangered species, the Bengal forest department does not have updated information about the numbers of these animals in the state. A rough estimate suggests around 10,000 in rural Bengal. The population of this species has been affected by unplanned urbanization and blockage of water bodies.
The Forest Department periodically conducts sensitization campaigns on hunting laws among tribal villages and people living near forest areas. Special expeditions were organized during that period in which tribal communities celebrated hunting festivals.
“We organize awareness camps from time to time… We always take serious action against those who violate the law. Last year we arrested at least a hundred people for capturing or killing many wild animals”, said Pradeep Bauri, forest officer of Cordillera Murshidabad-Nadia division.
Tribal groups stressed that foresters should step up their electoral campaign before imprisoning the poor, otherwise many members of the indigenous community are still not aware of the law.
“Hunting is not a new practice in our culture. The participants in the hunt were poor tribal people who had no knowledge of the acts of history. We request the forest officials to intensify sensitization campaigns before arresting them”, said Ravindranath Murmu, state secretary of tribal group Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal.
