Honorary Wildlife Warden of Thane and President of NGO, Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), Pawan Sharma said, “An Indian passenger travelling via Indigo Airlines from Bangkok was intercepted while attempting to smuggle 54 live exotic animals in his luggage at the Mumbai International Airport”
These Cuscus will be returned as deportation orders were issued
In a yet another breakthrough, Customs officials at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai seized 54 live exotic wild animals from a passenger coming from Bangkok on Friday evening.
Honorary Wildlife Warden of Thane and President of NGO, Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), Pawan Sharma said, “An Indian passenger travelling via Indigo Airlines from Bangkok was intercepted while attempting to smuggle 54 live exotic live animals in his luggage at the Mumbai International Airport.”
Wildlife rescue experts from RAWW were called for assistance in safe handling and medical support to stabilise the animals.
The species that were seized include Albino Red Eared Slider Turtles, Marmosets and Cuscus. Sources from the forest department told this newspaper that immediate deportation orders were issued by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to send back the animals back to Bangkok as per the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and CITES (convention on International Trade in Endangered Species).
On August 4, mid-day had done a story (At Mumbai airport, the wild side of smuggling) in which it was stated that this year, Mumbai Customs intercepted 377 exotic wild animals at CSMIA.
The seizures shine a harsh spotlight on the booming illegal exotic pet trade. The alarming new trend: where trafficked animals were mostly captive-bred, but are now being poached directly from the wild.
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