Siamangs rescued days after kangaroos: Is illegal trade in exotic species booming in eastern states?
SILCHAR/KOLKATA: The Assam forest department on April 12 seized five caged siamangs from a vehicle in the state’s Karbi Anglong district, reinforcing suspicions of a vibrant and completely illegal trade in exotic species, some of which are believed to originate from wildlife farms across the border in Myanmar.
The move comes 12 days after three kangaroos were found wandering around in a forested patch near Jalpaiguri; the carcass of a fourth was found a day later. Earlier, on March 12, police seized a kangaroo from a truck on the Assam-West Bengal border. Kangaroos are endemic to Australia; siamangs to SouthEast Asia.
Jhon Das, the subdivisional police officer in West Karbi Anglong’s Bokajan said the animals were discovered during a routine check of a Maruti Ecco van coming from Dimapur.
“At around 5:30pm on Tuesday, officials from Dilai police station stopped the vehicle and found that there were some caged animals inside. The two persons inside the vehicle tried to flee but our officials managed to catch them,” Das added. The two have been identified as Habibur Rahman (46) and Janab Khan (50), both residents of Thoubal in Manipur, police said. Vipin Bansal, assistant district forest official of Karbi Anglong East Division, said of the seized animals: “One is an adult, the rest four are juveniles.”
The black-furred siamang is an ape. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species lists siamangs in Appendix 1, which means they are under threat of “extinction” and trade in the species is “permitted only in exceptional circumstances”.