New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has upgraded all species of genus Herpestes (mongooses) to Part II of Schedule II of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The notification to do so was issued on September 30, 2002 and was published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, on October 11, 2002. Earlier, mongooses were in Schedule IV of the Act which accorded limited protection to the species.

It was known for many years that the hair of mongooses were in a bloody trade – the hair was being used to manufacture paintbrushes. It was not documented how widespread the trade was, or what was the impact on the species. In April 2002 , a study into the trade was initiated by filmmaker Syed Fayaz and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

The trade was documented, the centres of trade and manufacturing were located, and footage of the trade was recorded. Wildlife authorities were alerted and there were simultaneous raids in New Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Mumbai, Kolkata, and two important locations in Uttar Pradesh – Moradabad and Sherkote. The biggest seizure, assisted by WTI, took place at Moradabad where the haul was equivalent to 50,000 dead mongooses.

The footage, made into a short documentary titled “A Brush with Death”, was shown to officials of Ministry of Environment and Forests, the media, and wildlifers.

Acting swiftly enough, the MoEF issued an order on September 2002 uplifting the species, which became effective on October 11, 2002 upon publication in the gazette. The penalty for violation of the law with regard to species included in Part II of Schedule II is the same as that for Schedule I. The punishment is imprisonment for a term not less than one year but can extend to six years or seven years if the charge is illegal trade.

According to Mr Ashok Kumar, Senior Advisor and Trustee of WTI, “The trade may not end immediately because in some states, specially Delhi, there are licensed manufacturers of mongoose hair. The trade can also go underground. Wildlife Trust of India will remain with the subject by awareness campaigns to wean users of mongoose hair brushes and keeping a watch on the trade.”