Poacher arrested, 23 kg dolphin oil seized
May 6th, 2010 - 12:09 pm ICT by IANSPatna, May 6 (IANS) A team of forest officials and police recovered 23 kg of dolphin oil and arrested a poacher in separate raids in Patna district, officials said Thursday.
The team raided two houses in Islamganj village and seized 20 kg dolphin oil.
“Dolphin oil was kept in three containers but no arrest was made in this connection as nobody was present at the time of raid,” Patna District Forest Officer Surendra Singh said.
In a separate raid, the team arrested Munna Sahni from Takiapar village for his alleged involvement in poaching incidents and sale of dolphin oil.
“We also recovered three kg of dolphin oil from his possession,” Singh said.
The drive comes a week after four Ganges river dolphins were killed by suspected poachers. An autopsy revealed that the dolphins were trapped and beaten to death as they bore several marks on their necks and heads.
The Bihar government has decided to launch an awareness campaign to protect the endangered species - declared national aquatic animal early this year.
There are only about 2,000 Ganges river dolphins left, down from tens of thousands just a few decades ago.
- Dolphin 'mitras', a helping hand for Ganges river dolphins - May 13, 2010
- Activists cry foul over Ganges dolphin poaching - Apr 30, 2010
- Dolphin found dead in Patna - Jun 03, 2010
- Dolphin sanctuary suffers from funds crunch - Aug 21, 2010
- Bihar to launch awareness campaign for dolphins - May 03, 2010
- Asia's first dolphin research centre to come up in Bihar - Apr 15, 2012
- Gangetic river dolphins on road to recovery? - Nov 11, 2011
- Bihar to set up dolphin conservation task force - Apr 21, 2011
- Killing of Ganges River Dolphins upsets Jairam Ramesh - May 01, 2010
- Bihar task force report on Ganga dolphins soon - Jul 20, 2011
- Government notifies Ganges dolphin as national aquatic animal - May 18, 2010
- Dead leopard found in jungle warfare campus - Mar 07, 2012
- Three Ganga dolphins found dead in Patna - Apr 29, 2010
- Three poachers arrested with chinkara parts - Jan 28, 2012
- Dolphin killed by poachers in Patna - Nov 22, 2009
Tags: aquatic animal, autopsy, awareness campaign, bihar government, containers, district officials, dolphin, dolphin oil, dolphins, endangered species, forest officer, forest officials, ganges river, ganges river dolphins, kg, poachers, possession, sahni, surendra singh, tens of thousands