The soft bristles of a paintbrush are designed to create magnificent art as soon as they touch the surface of a canvas. Dipped in vibrant colors, the paintbrush is capable of creating magic in the abstract, neat figures that it paints. However, it would come as a shock to most people that the seemingly harmless and normal-looking paintbrushes have a dark, deep-rooted secret concealed in them.

Many paintbrushes actually use mongoose hair to make their fine bristles, thus increasing the demand for the animal to be poached from the wild and brutally bludgeoned to death.

More than 50,000 mongooses are killed every year to cater to this demand.

Blood on your hands

Spanning a length of barely 12-14 inches, the mongoose is covered in tiny, fine hair. Poachers ruthlessly drag the mongoose out of their burrows, brutally smashing their skulls and while the mongoose are still alive, they pluck their hair out, leaving them bellowing and writhing in pain.  All mongoose species found in India are protected under Schedule II Part II of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Consequently, apart from the prohibition of trade in mongoose body parts, the use of these brushes makes one liable for up to seven years imprisonment and/or a hefty fine.

Dismantling the trade in mongoose hair brushes

Wildlife Trust of India has assisted Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) in conducting various enforcement operations on the illegal wildlife trade of mongoose brushes all over the country including the major enforcement operation ‘The Operation Clean Art’.

A total of 15 enforcement operations were conducted in 7 states from 2002 – 2021 which led to the recovery of more than 1.6 lakh mongoose hair paintbrushes and 292.7 kgs of raw mongoose hair. To extract this much mongoose hair, it is gut-wrenching to imagine the number of mongooses slaughtered to fulfill this unreasonable demand.

An investigation started in 2021 unearthed the trade syndicate for mongoose hairbrush in Uttar Pradesh.  Upon receiving such a sensitive lead, our team worked very hard to develop actionable intelligence and coordinated with enforcement agencies to plan the enforcement operation.

Shop selling mongoose hair brushes raided by enforcement agencies | Photo: WTI

 First Site: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Three shops were identified with confirmed consignments of mongoose hair paintbrushes, within the city, located approximately 100m away from each other. To ascertain whether the paintbrush was original or not, WTI team stationed in Uttar Pradesh sought samples from these shops. The identification of mongoose hair can be done by visually observing the pattern. Paintbrushes made from mongoose hair have a distinct pattern – which is white towards the beginning and darker towards the end, ranging from shades of brown to grey in the middle. If visual identification is uncertain, a simple way to identify is to burn a small part of the paintbrush, which will be a pungent odour, similar to that of hair burning.

Upon confirmation, the team reached Varanasi and a brief interaction with the traders led to team to a storage facility across the street. Upon enquiring further at the storehouse, it was learnt that the trade network was linked to a local supplier in the city and a supplier in Kolkata.

The field team continued its investigation and discovered the availability of close to 1000 paintbrushes on the site, with a possibility of more. Following, this the evidence was brought to the notice of the Chief Conservator of Forest and Divisional Forest Officer of Varanasi, who were apprised of the ongoing investigation. The following day, the team along with the senior forest officials surveyed the three locations, and after days of careful planning with the Forest Department, teams were formulated to carry forth the enforcement operation and bring this trade to a screeching halt.

The Operation

The morning of 15^th July, 2022 was filled with the soft hustle of planning an elaborate enforcement operation that would crack the whip on the rampant illegal wildlife trade in mongoose hair paintbrushes. Along with the Forest Department, the local police were also involved in the execution of this operation, they were briefed on the details of the same. It is important to note that when these operations are carried out on the ground, there has to be proper synchronization in these seizures for a complete and systematic crackdown. If the timing is not consistent, the chances of the apprehended trader sounding off the other partners is very high, which can lead to the entire operation being compromised.

Mongoose hair brushes | Photo: WTI

In this operation, the two teams raided the locations, which led to the arrest of 7 people in two locations. In this enforcement operation, 3916 brushes were recovered and further investigation of the supplier factory location and legal action against the accused was initiated.

In continuation of our post-operation intelligence gathered from the accused, the WTI-WCCD team surveyed a factory in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, and conducted a raid only a week later. No brushes were found at the scene, however, after checking the bill books, a shop was found to have received the supply from the factory and a consignment was delivered to Palia and Kanpur, thus, uncovering a lead there. Subsequent raids, conducted a few days after the intelligence received at both locations yielded 600 brushes in Kanpur and 201 in Palia.

Such is the elaborate, well-connected network of illegal wildlife trade. Most shopkeepers are well aware of the rampant crime they are involved in but continue to tarnish their image by using the easy way out and risking wild animals like the mongoose. Thank to The Serenity Trust for their continuous support in combating wildlife trade across the country.

It is ultimately up to citizens like us to take the lead and end this trade once and for all!

So, the next time you pick a brush, ensure that you don’t have blood on your hands.

You too can be a part of our cyber wildlife crime reporting team. Download the CYBER HAWK App from Google Play store today and help curb online wildlife trade.