Tamil Nadu: Man tries to sell tiger cubs, held

CHENNAI: The state wildlife conservation wing apprehended a man on Wednesday in Thiruvannamalai district who claimed in his status on Whatsapp that he was selling tiger cubs for 25 lakh each.
A person named Tamizh was nabbed in Ambattur three weeks ago for selling star tortoises at his pet store. After paying a penalty to the forest department, he was released as it was a compoundable offence.
Investigations into his phone, laptop and other gadgets, however, led cops to a Whatsapp status with pictures of tiger cubs and a message claiming that the man wasn't joking and that he was offering to sell tiger cubs.
The wildlife protection wing in an undercover operation nabbed the accused D Parthiban from Arni village in Thiruvannamalai district on Wednesday for illegal trade and misleading public. Srinivas Reddy, principal chief conservator of forests, told TOI that an undercover team had been working for close to a month to nab Parthiban. Due to Parthiban's assertion that he would obtain the cub from Andhra Pradesh, they have notified the AP forest department.
Following this, the state forest department has issued a red notice for tiger poaching and smuggling and claimed it was impossible for any wild cub to be carried out of the forest. The district forest officer, R Murugan, said that investigations were on.
Although this could be a fraud and Parthiban wouldn't have worked with a smuggler to get the cub, Shravan Krishnan of Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary and a member of the state wildlife board noted that such persons should be penalised since they unintentionally promote illicit commerce.
Principal Secretary Supriya Sahu said that the department was very vigilant and involved in the rescue and rehabilitation of animals, and they would make sure that every complaint was looked into and the offenders were apprehended.