Allahabad Police seize three tiger skins
Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Allahabad, Dec 5 (ANI): Three tiger skins worth millions have been seized by a Special Task Force of the Allahabad Police.

Arvind Chaturvedi, Deputy Superintendent of Police of Special Task Force (STF), Lucknow, said twelve poachers and four peddlers had been arrested in connection with the wildlife crime.

The general public reacted with shock in March last year when informed that the population of 16-18 tigers at the Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary in Rajasthan had been wiped out by poachers, and that the risk of similar activity existed in other reserves.

A tiger task force set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the outcry said that the country's tiger population was under siege from poachers and people living in protected reserves. It called for relocation of thousands of people living in 250 villages located inside India's 28 tiger reserves.

India's tiger population has fallen to about 3,700 from roughly 40,000 a century ago, mainly due to rampant poaching.

Conservationists, however, suspect the number could be less than 2,000.

The task force said India would have to work with China to stop the huge illegal trade in tiger body parts.  Tiger organs, teeth, bones and penises are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

India's conviction rate of those charged with poaching of endangered animals is less than five percent, with many  accused of poaching getting off due to lack of evidence.

In May, the government said poachers had killed at least 114 tigers between 1999 and 2003, while just 59 of the big cats had died of natural causes during the same period. (ANI)
- AY