New Delhi: A raid conducted in Jahangirpuri, Delhi by Shri K.N.Singh, Assistant Director, Wildlife Preservation, Govt. of India, with inspectors of the Wildlife department resulted in a seizure of mongoose hair and brushes along with some equipment used for manufacturing the brushes. The raid was conducted by these officials following information from the field investigation team of the Enforcement programme of the Wildlife Trust of India.

A clandestine factory involved in the manufacture of banned mongoose hair paint brushes was raided on 6 th August. Wildlife inspectors Shri R.R. Meena and V.V. Dasan, who participated in the raid and seizure informed us, “during the search 2025 brushes made of mongoose hair, 10.5 kg. mongoose loose hair and a 1.2 kg. nipple filled with mongoose hair were recovered and seized under Wildlife (p) Act 1972. One person, Gopal Kishan who was found working on the spot at the time of the raid was arrested.”

Mongoose is listed in Part II of Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and trade in mongoose hair is completely prohibited. The animals are killed for their hairs that are used mainly in paint brush industries. Mongooses are killed during the harvesting season of the rabi crop when they search for food in agricultural fields.

Each mongoose yields about 40 gm of hair but when the hair is sorted, only 20 gm of hair is found usable for making paint brushes. Thus for getting 1 kg of mongoose hair, 50 animals have to be killed. Raw mongoose hair sells at anywhere between Rs. 6000 to 8000 per kg but finished mongoose hair sells between Rs 10000 to 12000 per kg. Most of the hunting is done by tribals who are hired to noose and kill these animals in the months of April and May.

This was the fourth such seizure of mongoose hair and the first in Delhi this year, with two seizures in Sherkot and one in Dehradun in western Uttar Pradesh. T he field investigation team of WTI has continually been assisting in seizures at small units manufacturing brushes made from mongoose hair with the intention to completely close down the mongoose hair brush trade in the foreseeable future.