Two 12-15 week-old bear cubs were rescued and two persons were arrested in the Hussaingunj area near Fatehpur, UP, in a first of its kind joint anti-poaching operation by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department, UP Police and Delhi-based NGO, Wildlife SOS.
The Wildlife Crime intelligence wing of Wildlife SOS received information from its informers in UP three days ago that about four cubs were being smuggled from Orissa and brought to Kanpur. The NGO then worked closely with Conservator of Forests CP Goyal, IFS, and SP Police Fatehpur Vijay Bhatia, IPS, to organise the raids.
"We sent our team towards that route and after following up for a very long time and scanning four villages, we arrested two people in possession of one cub each," said Kartick Satyanarayan, of Wildlife SOS.
The police and the NGO then followed the missing two cubs as it had received information that four bear cubs were smuggled into UP. They then found that one cub had been killed by the man carrying it. Meanwhile, one man with the fourth cub moved towards Pratapgarh, UP, nearly 200 km from Kanpur. "We're still on a lookout for him and the cub," said Satyanarayan.
The cubs have been sent to the Agra Bear Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre to rehabilitate them "as the cubs suffer from trauma and stress as a result of separation from their mother and require extensive care and attention," said Satyanarayan.
The arrested persons were today produced in the Fatehpur court and have been sent to jail. "Under section 51 of Wildlife Protection Act, these people face at least three years' imprisonment that can be extended to seven years and fined up to Rs 10,000," said Satyanarayan Vasisht, a Supreme Court lawyer.
Vasisht added that all wildlife is Government property and any kind of harm and illegal possession is an offense under section 57 of Wildlife Protection Act.
The smuggling of bear cubs from Orissa to almost all parts of India, including Delhi, takes place on a large scale. Sloth bear cubs are stolen by removing them from caves after their mothers are killed by poachers for merely Rs 500 to 600. These cubs are then purchased by illegal wildlife traders and in turn sold to Kalandars who brutally insert a rope through the muzzle of these cubs and then use them to entertain tourists.
This practice of dancing bears is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 and is severely punishable with seven years imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25,000. "Sloth bears are highly endangered and protected under Schedule 1 of the Act," said Satyanarayan.
