Raids in two states have led to six arrests and the seizure of around 300 pieces of a so-called lucky charm whose trade depends on mutilating protected monitor lizards.
wildlife crime
Eight South Asian governments adopted a joint declaration in Kathmandu committing to share intelligence and trace the money behind wildlife trafficking networks, days after Indian customs officers wrapped up a ten-day sweep across five states.
A court in Assam has handed down the 11th wildlife crime conviction connected to Manas Tiger Reserve, according to the Wildlife Trust of India — capping a legal effort that traces back to 2011.
Gujarat marked National Forest Martyrs’ Day on Friday by handing ₹50 lakh to the family of Vikas Desai, the Vyara range forest officer killed in July while chasing down a truck loaded with stolen timber.
A domesticated elephant in Assam whose tusks were sawed off by poachers in April has finally undergone the surgery his injuries required.
A landmark DNA study traces pangolin trafficking routes to Northeast India. An Assam conservationist wins the National Geographic Wayfinder Award for saving the greater adjutant stork. And the wetlands of Thoothukudi are alive with common coots — a quiet signal of ecological recovery.
India has close to 30 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises. Seventeen of them carry Schedule I protection under the Wildlife Protection Act — the same schedule that covers tigers. Most people have never heard of a single one.
DRI officers intercepted two suspects near Pune Railway Station on May 20, recovering three live Malabar giant squirrels and seven Indian star tortoises — both protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act.
Karnataka has ended open-vehicle wildlife safaris across all its tiger reserves and wildlife sanctuaries. The announcement, made by Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, is the latest in a series of safety measures following two years of escalating leopard and tiger attacks on visitors and forest-fringe communities.
A tiger found dead in Goa with teeth and claws missing. A leopard strangled in a wire snare in Odisha. A lion cub killed on a Gujarat highway. An elephant shot and mutilated at the Assam–Meghalaya border. And another elephant dead from a suspected Maoist IED in Jharkhand’s Saranda forest. Five incidents, five species, one fortnight.