Illegal trade of exotic animals using Cachar as a gateway; How deep is the scam?

On April 10, Cachar SP Numal Mahatta held a press conference with a selected members of the press in Dholai. There he disclosed that Police has successfully foiled an attempt to smuggle the exotic animals. He said that during checking, the Police saw the primates and then confiscated the consignment on April 9. 

However, sources close to the development reveal that the seizure was made on April 8 and not 9. It is only after Cachar SP got to the action, the matter came to light, “otherwise it was supposed to be kept secret.” The source added that a party had traveled from a Southern state to take custody of the exotic animals, but SP’s intervention foiled that attempt.

It is worth mentioning here that in the morning of April 9, renowned Wildlife Enthusiasts of Barak Valley started questioning the Forest Department about the possibility of a seizure of consignment shipping exotic animals. In fact, in one of the queries, DFO Cachar, Tejas Mariswamy replied saying he is looking into the matter. This raised many eyebrows. On April 9, wildlife conservationists were already concerned about the well-being of the animals in cages but the Police only reveals it 24 hours later. What was the delay for?

Among the seized animals, there is Red faced black Spider monkey (Ateles sp.), which is a species of spider monkey found in the rain forests in northern South America. The species is a habitat specialist, found in undisturbed rainforests of northern Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana and Venezuela.

“They are expert in climbing and thus jump from one tree to another. They prefer upper tree canopies and thus live in the upper layers of the rainforest trees and forages in the high canopy,” asserts professor Parthankar Choudhury, Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences.

There were Black and white ruffed lemur (Varecia variegata) too an endangered species of ruffed lemur, which are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Three subspecies of the animal are sparsely distributed in few isolated pockets in Madagascar. They have a complex social structure and is known for their loud, raucous calls.

On April 10, as per the press statement of Cachar SP Numal Mahatta, as many as nine exotic primates worth around Rs 10 crores was confiscated.

This isn’t the only case of exotic animal trade that surfaced in recent times. On the night of 20th July 2022, Red kangaroo, Aldabra tortoises, and some other exotic wildlife were rescued from smuggling racket in the same area. Again on September 27, 2022, in the same area two numbers of OrangUtang, another vulnerable species were found. After one month, On October 18, 2022, thirteen individuals of De Brazza’s monkeys, another endangered species were spotted. These are just tip of the iceberg. It can be well apprehended that before and after that many such wild animals have been safely transported through the hands of illegal traders along this route.

The animals which are thus found, are transferred to the Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden, Guwahati. Sometimes, the animals are relocated to bigger zoos. The illegally smuggled animals then become the point of attraction for tourists and avenues for revenue for private and public entities running zoos.

Cachar SP Numal Mahatta mentioned that Police are after the masterminds of the game. However, the Police are yet to make significant arrests related to transportation of animals.