13,000 painting brushes suspected to be made of mongoose bristles seized in TN

CHENNAI: Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) officials and forest officials seized nearly 13,000 painting brushes suspected to be made of mongoose bristles from a stationery shop in Madurai and another shop in Thirumangalam.
Based on specific information, officials conducted searches in the shop in Madurai on Wednesday and seized 8,000 brushes. On Thursday, they seized 4,975 brushes from the Tirumangalam shop.

Preliminary investigations revealed that both the shops received the brushes from a supplier in Chennai. A small quantity came from Delhi-based trader.

Forest officials in Madurai said they had collected a few sample brushes, which would be sent to Wildlife Survey of India officials in Chennai. The samples would be analysed by officials in Chennai. Further action would be taken based on the outcome of the analysis.