Dharamsala, April 28

The recovery of seven leopard skins from suspected poachers from Baijnath has brought to the fore sporadic incidents of poaching of endangered species of wild animals in the protected forest areas of Kangra district.

Department of Forest officials seized the skins on a specific information provided by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) from Delhi. Sources here told The Tribune that WPSI activists got information regarding the deal between smugglers of wildlife articles and sellers of the seven leopard skins in Delhi.

They informed Conservator, Forests, Dharamsala, ARM Reddy about the transaction of skins yesterday. The forest officials laid a naka near Palampur and caught four persons carrying the leopard skins in a vehicle.

Later investigations revealed that Chatter Singh of Jikli Bhath village in Baijnath was the kingpin of the operation. He was carrying the skins for selling these to smugglers.

All four accused have been booked under Schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. It prescribes a punishment up to 10 years for killing animals protected under it.

The officials said from initial investigation, it seemed that one leopard skin was fresh. It seemed that the poachers had killed the leopard recently as they had used turmeric (haldi) to prevent the skin from getting decayed. The other skins recovered were old. Reddy said the protected forest of Baijnath had a good population of leopards. It was possible that the poachers killed leopards in their area.

The WPSI activists said the leopard skins were on the way to China. The smugglers were actively involved in smuggling parts of endangered big cat species like tigers and leopards. Almost all body parts of these animals were sold in China as these were used in their traditional medicine.

A leopard skin and its other body parts cost about Rs 15 lakh in the international market, they said. Earlier also, the WPSI activists had helped bust a nexus of local poachers and wildlife article smugglers in Solan district.

PALAMPUR: In the Dhauladhar hills, the population of leopards has come down by 50 per cent in the past five years. The leopards which were usually spotted in the hills of Palampur, Bir and Baijnath are not seen anywhere.