160 wild ducks rescued

NEW DELHI, December 15: Nearly 160 Mallards, a species of duck, were seized from the Old Delhi Railway Station on Sunday. One man has bee...

NEW DELHI, December 15: Nearly 160 Mallards, a species of duck, were seized from the Old Delhi Railway Station on Sunday. One man has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody by the Wildlife Department. The accused, Sant Ram, failed to produce legal documents for the birds in his possession.

The birds were being transported from Jasra near Allahabad to Delhi to be sold as meat. Each bird fetches a price of Rs 80 in the market. They are mainly sold to five-star hotels where they are served as a delicacy. A Schedule III bird, hunting and breeding of this wild species of duck is banned without a licence under the Wildlife Protection Act. This is not an isolated incident. Delhi is used as a transit point between various destinations in the country by bird poachers, while the railways, it seems, are a willing partner in the trade. Last month, 150 birds, being transported from Ramnagar to Surat via Delhi, had been apprehended. The birds had been booked by the railways. The owner of the birds carried a certificate issued by the railways certifying the booking of birds on the train.

The Wildlife Department dispatched a team to Rampur to investigate the matter and has written to the Chairman of the Railway Board saying that the person responsible for booking the birds be prosecuted as per the Wildlife Protection Act.

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“If the guilty railway official is implicated, it will warn the others not to be a party to this crime,” said H.C. Dhawan, Chief Wildlife Warden. According to the department, since transporting these animals by road over long distances is difficult, the railways have become the easiest mode of transport, mainly because of lax rules. Most officials are ignorant about the rules and often do not check the booked consignments.

On an earlier occasions, the department had received information about some birds being brought into Delhi but had reached the spot late. The birds had been sold by the traders by then.

These incidents point to the flourishing bird trade in the country despite the frequent raids conducted. The birds most commonly apprehended are parakeets, which are confiscated in thousands every month. Mallards have been seized for the first time.