Two leopard skins seized near Valmiki Tiger Reserve
Valmikinagar (Bihar): The Bihar forest department assisted by the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) seized two leopard skins and apprehended four wildlife traders in Valmikinagar near Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar, along the Indo-Nepal border, last week.
The traders were trapped following an undercover operation that began about three months ago. The accused were arrested red-handed during delivery of wildlife products to a decoy customer in a proxy deal set up by the agencies, on Thursday.
“The seizure was done at the Laxmipur village bridge, about six km from Valmikinagar,” said S Chandrasekar, DFO-I, Valmiki Tiger Reserve, who headed the operation.
Valmikinagar has been long suspected to be a thriving conduit for illegal wildlife trade between traders in India and Nepal. There were indications that the arrested persons were involved in crossborder trade. Investigation is ongoing.
“One of the arrested persons, Debi Thapa has good crossborder connections, and seems to be operating in India and Nepal as a middle-man. Valmikinagar is a critical point in terms of wildlife trade control. It is close to Valmiki Tiger Reserve where the forest department and WTI have been working on a tiger recovery project; activities of traders nearby could put the resident wildlife at risk here. Moreover, it is a town along the porous Indo-Nepal border – a perfect haunt for these wildlife offenders,” said a WTI official, who was on the trail of the gang for the last three months.
A day after this seizure in Bihar, authorities in Nepal assisted by the NGO Wildlife Conservation Nepal, seized a tiger skin and tiger bones from traders in Chitwan, just across the border from Valmiki Tiger Reserve.
Chitwan National Park in Nepal is contiguous with Valmiki Tiger Reserve in India. Along with Parsa Wildlife Reserve in Nepal, Chitwan and Valmiki form a level I Tiger Conservation Unit.
“This is a worrying trend, as the poachers are targetting this landscape. Authorities in Nepal as well as India have taken heed to this threat and have increased vigilance in these areas,” said Ashok Kumar, Vice-chairman, WTI.
