In what is believed to be one of the largest seizures of its kind in the country, officials of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and West Bengal Forest Department have seized 32,985 mongoose-hair painting brushes from Kolkata’s Burrabazar area.
Four shopkeepers selling these brushes in wholesale market of Old China Bazar were arrested in a joint operation late on Monday. “The seizure was so huge that it took a dozen people several hours to count the number of brushes seized,” an official said.
Protected species
“Mongoose is a protected species under Schedule II and part II of the Wildlife Protection Act,1972 and any trade of its body parts involves similar punishment as is laid down for tigers and rhinoceros. Those convicted face a minimum three years in jail,” Agni Mitra, Deputy Director (Eastern Region), WCCB, told The Hindu.
Several hundreds of animals must have been killed to make these brushes, according to Om Prakash, Deputy Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), West Bengal. “We had got the information about a month ago about mongoose-hair brushes being sold in the city. The operation was carried out very carefully so that those responsible for illegal wildlife trade are also arrested,” Mr. Om Prakash said.
Inter-State network
While the arrests have revealed an inter-State network of the illegal wildlife trade of mongoose hair, it is a village in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas that has emerged at the centre of the trade.
Investigators said the village, located under Falta police station near Diamond Harbour, almost 50 km from Kolkata, served as the centre of the manufacturing of brushes made of mongoose hair. “Over the past few years about a dozen of people have been arrested for making brushes out of mongoose hair. In certain cases, the supply was from other States,” one of the investigators said.
Experts pointed out that artists preferred brushes made of mongoose hair over synthetic brushes.
“These brushes are primarily used for water colour. Across the globe using animal hair for making brushes is considered a crime and there are laws to deal to with it,” said Arjan Basu Roy, secretary of Nature Mates-Nature Club.