Manipur: 5 held for killing rare species

IMPHAL: Five individuals were arrested feasting on a rare species at the Keibul Lamjao National Park. The Manipur forest department are yet to identify what the species was, so sending are being sent samples to the Wildlife Institute of India laboratory for identification.

Forest officials rounded up the five offenders – H Saratkumar (45), Samjai (45), N Nabachandra (56), N Rajmohon (55) and Dhananjoy (58) – for killing a wild animal and cooking inside Keibul Lamjao. One of them has past records of killing rare species in Keibul Lamjao. They will be held by the Forest Department on remand under the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA), 1972, till next Wednesday and are currently in the custody of the nearby Moirang Police Station.

The Keibul Lamjao is the largest floating park in the world. The park is home to rare and endangered brow-antlered deer, locally called Sangai, and other species such as hog deer.

(agencies)

Image  Courtesy: douglaspearl.com