Leopard skins seized in Punjab
Hoshiarpur:
Punjab police on Friday arrested two poachers, and recovered two leopard
skins worth approximately 4,444 dollars from their possession at Hoshiarpur's
Chattewal village. Officials said the poachers had killed the leopards
in the jungles of neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir. "We had information
that they hunt leopards and sell its skins. They used to transport skins
to Ludhiana and New Delhi. They have also sold skins to buyers from Nepal.
The skins travel to the international market from New Delhi. The two accused
have admitted that they trapped the animals - baby leopards, one male
and another female, in Jammu and Kashmir," said R R Kakar, Divisional
Forest Officer. Prakash, one of the accused, said they sold each skin
at a paltry sum of 133 to 156 dollars. "Traders come to our house to buy
the skins. We actually don't know about their whereabouts. We get 6,000
to 7,000 rupees per skin," he said. Smuggling of leopard's skin, which
fetches millions of rupees in the international market, is quite rampant
along the porous India-Nepal border. With the increasing demand for animal
hides in the international market, poachers target the big cats, which
are under constant threat in the country. It is estimated that for every
tiger that is killed, at least 25 leopards are killed. And if the trend
continues, wildlife officials fear that the leopards will very soon vanish
from the country.
- Sept 29, 2006
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