Threat to India's biodiversity
The recent conviction of notorious wildlife trader Sanasar Chand, by the Rajasthan High Court, has come as a major morale booster for wildlife activists in India.
The recent conviction of notorious wildlife trader Sanasar Chand, by the Rajasthan High Court, has come as a major morale booster for wildlife activists in India.
According to the top enforcement officials, Chand, with an extensive network of poachers, middlemen and agents in India, Nepal and Tibet is known as the 'king' of wildlife trade. "His name is invariably linked to all the major seizures. This telephone number has been found in the diaries that have been seized from the couriers," says Ashok Kumar, trustee of Wildlife Trust of India, who has been on this bloody trail for close to a decade and a half.
Chand, belongs to the 'Gihara' community and comes from a family of skin traders, which simply carried on with their business even after the trade was declared illegal with the enactment of Wildlife Protection Act in 1972. Other members of the community and Chand's relatives, who also stay in Gali No.11 (lane no.11) in Sadar Bazaar in Old Delhi, often collaborate with Chand.
Though, Chand maybe the biggest trader of animal skins and bones, but by no means he is the only one to have blood on his hand. Others who feature in this ignominious list are: Moti Lal, Pema Thinley, Tashi Tesring, Mohammad Yakub and Tamang Tsering.