Five otter skins seized, two arrested

Shahjahanpur, Jan 24 (PTI) Five otter skins were today seized and two persons were arrested in a joint operation by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and CBI in this Uttar Pradesh district.

The two persons were arrested from near the Shahjahanpur railway station when they were allegedly trying to sell the skins of the endangered animal.

The value of otter skin is only next to tiger skin, an official said.

Sources said the two arrested were on the radar of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the nodal agency for dealing with wildlife crimes in the country, for sometime and after obtaining specific intelligence, the duo were arrested with the help of CBI.

The authorities are trying to obtain more information on the source of the skins and their possible customers, they said.

India is home to three species of Otters. These are- Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra), smooth-coated Otter (Lutra perspicillata) and small-clawed Otter (Aonyx cinereus). PTI ABS NES
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Tigress kills man in Uttar Pradesh

Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 6 (IANS) A tigress killed an old man near the Katarniaghat forest reserve in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich Thursday, an official said.
'The tigress attacked 60-year-old Shaligram, a resident of Tilhanpurwa, in the sugarcane fields situated around 50 metres away from the forest reserve,' Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) R.K. Singh told IANS.
'The pugmarks spotted near the victim's body indicate that an adult tigress attacked and killed the man,' he added.
According to officials, efforts were on to drive the tiger back to the forest reserve.
According to the last census, Katarniaghat recorded the presence of around 58 tigers.
Bahraich is about 130 km from Lucknow.

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