2054 cases of wildlife killing or illegal trafficking were registered in Indian between 2018 and 2020, as per details made public recently by the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. Of this figure, 648 cases were registered in 2018, 805 cases were registered in 2019 and the number dropped to 601 in 2020. While this seems like just a number for a regular citizen sitting far away from gruesome situations countless animals face on a daily basis, the number of cases registered over the last three years represent turtles, wild cats, birds, mongooses, pangolins and Tibetan antelopes that were killed or illegally trafficked.
The Lesser-Known Species In Danger
In 2019, as a part of “Operation Softgold”, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) seized 350 Shahtoosh Shawls that were made of Chiru (Tibetan Antelope) wool. In another instance, the Delhi customs department seized 60 Shahtoosh shawls, also in 2019, a case that has recently been taken over by the Central Bureau of Investigation, which has registered a case against a Delhi-based export house in connection with the illegal trafficking. The Tibetan Antelope has been listed as endangered species in Schedule 1 of Wildlife (Prevention) Act and hence the trading of Shahtoosh shawls is banned. As per Biologist Daniel Schneider, four antelopes are killed to make one Shahtoosh shawl, which lasts only five years.