Chennai airport turning into hub for star tortoise smuggling
Chennai international airport seems to be turning into south India’s hub for the smuggling of star tortoises, and two back-to-back seizures from there of the animals have sent the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) on high alert.
Air intelligence at Chennai airport had, in the past couple of months, seized several star tortoises that were bound for South Eastern countries and Gulf countries. Air intelligence sources told that in a seizure that was executed in the first week of April following a tip-off, 3,600 live star tortoises were recovered.
Forest area surrounding Tirupati engulfed in flames
As summer has started and the temperature is soaring, the Seshachalam forest area, which surrounds the hill shrine of Tirumala Tirupati, was engulfed in flames on Tuesday evening.
Fires spread rapidly in the forest area near Elephant Arch on the First Ghat Road leading to the lord Venkateshwara temple. The fire was initially noticed in the afternoon. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) forest department personnel reached the spot, and it took around 8 hours to douse the fire.
Four Held For ‘Raping’ Bengal Monitor Lizard In Sahydari Tiger Reserve: Maharashtra
In a shocking incident, the Maharashtra forest authorities have arrested four people for allegedly raping a Bengal monitor lizard in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve near Gothane village of the state.
According to reports, the accused who were identified as hunters, allegedly entered the core zone of the Sahydari Tiger Reserve in the Gabha area at Gothane and committed the crime.
The forest officials posted at Sangli forest reserve traced the accused with the help of CCTV footage in which they can be seen roaming in the forest. However, their crime came to light after forest officials checked the mobile phone of the accused.
The officials found the recording of the act which showed the accused, identified as Sandeep Tukram, Pawar Mangesh, Janardhan Kamtekar and Akshay Sunil, allegedly gang-raping the monitor lizard. The forest officials, who are perplexed about the incident, will take up the matter with the Indian Penal Court (IPC) to discuss the charges against the accused.
All 7 Foxes In Ranchi Zoo Killed After Canine Virus Outbreak
All the seven foxes at Ranchi’s Birsa zoo died in the last one month of the highly-contagious canine distemper virus (CDV), officials said on Wednesday.
“The first fox death was reported in the first week of March. Thereafter, one by one all the foxes in the zoo died in a month. Most of the foxes were, however, aged,” director of Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park Jabbar Singh told.
“We have also sent samples to the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) for examination. Though we have not yet received any official report from the IVRI, the institute verbally hinted that the deaths might be due to CDV,” Singh said.
A scientist of IVRI-Bareilly told PTI that the sample was found to be CDV-positive. “The zoo authority has been informed about this and has also been suggested precautionary measures needed to be taken for protecting other animals. We will send the official report to the zoo authority in a day or two,” the scientist said on condition of anonymity.
👉 NDTV
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