AHMEDABAD: The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), citing a report of the CITES secretariat tabled for the 65th meeting of the standing committee, has stated that the lion populations in Gujarat and even in Africa are under threat of poaching, due to illegal trade in lion body parts for medicinal purposes.
The minister was replying in the Rajya Sabha over a question asked by Congress member from Rajasthan, Narendra Budania. The government said that the country has sufficient legal provisions to deal with the cases of hunting and other wildlife offences, including illegal trade.
The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 provides for penalties for such cases and also authorizes officers to exercise powers under the Act.
The state and Union governments have deployed manpower to exercise these powers.
The government stated that there is a persistent challenge for conservation of leopard following the high seizure rate averaging 3.5 cases a month since 2000.
