In a major success in the
fight against wildlife crime, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), Ministry of
Environment, Forest and Climate Change, coordinated “OPERATION THUNDER BIRD” in
India, from January 30-February 19, 2017. Operation Thunderbird is the
code-name for INTERPOL’s multi-national and multi-species enforcement
operation.
A total of 2, 524 Live
species of scheduled animals, 19.2 kg of elephant ivory, 1 tiger skin, 9
carcasses of wild animals, 1 organ pipe coral, 1 jar snake venom, 8 leopard
skins and 1 Indian Mujtac skin was seized. The operation brought about a
unanimous approach by the state enforcement agencies in the fight against wildlife
crime in the country. 71 persons were arrested during the operation, which saw
an overwhelming response from the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Maharashtra,
Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Uttrakhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand,
Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Preceding this operation,
WCCB had convened a species specific operation on turtles, code named OPERATION
SAVE KURMA” from December 15 last year to January 30, this year. A total of 15,
739 live turtles were recovered from 45 suspects, having inter-state linkages.
The operation brought about an awareness among the enforcement agencies to focus
on the existing trade routes and major trade hubs in the country, which will be
specifically focused in future.
HK
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