Forest officials rescue two rare brown fish owl

Baripada, Jan 10 (UNI) Armed forest officials have raided the house of a tribal poacher at Badamakabadi,located in the buffer zone of Simlipal National Park(SNP), and rescued two brown fish owls from his residence.

On receipt of a tip-off, Pithabata Range Officer Sarat Kumar Sahu along with a posse forest officials rescued the rare owls on Monday last but the poacher managed to escape.

With the rescue of the two rare owls,the forest department has busted a racket in capturing rare and endangered species of birds in Simlipal and selling them in the clandestine bird market in Kolkata at fancy prices.

Yet another poacher of the Simlipal village, Lalmohan Baskey, currently staying at Bholagadia village was, however, arrested for his alleged involvement in the racket.

Superstitious tribals believe that there is a thriving market for the owls as the bird being the carrier of Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth, could shower her blessings on the keepers.

The Range Officer in the guise of a buyer approached the poachers offering them a fancy price of Rs 5 lakh for each bird.

This was a fantastic price that the poachers were being offered at the clandestine bird market at Kolkata, the poachers claimed.

Mr Sahu said the poachers rob the nests of the bird which are normally built inside large cavities of tall and big tree trunks.They wait for a chance to sell the birds to intermediaries who can take them to the Kolkata bird market for a final deal.

Meanwhile, STR Field Director Debabrata Swain said the ''Reserve has recently launched a Guptachara Vahini (Spy Brigade) to combat poaching and smuggling in the reserve.'' Monday's raid on the bird poachers' houses was the result of secret information collected by the spy squad, he added.

UNI