Kalyani police in West Bengal rescued a cub of the rare Bengal slow loris from a basket on a motorbike during a special operation on the Kalyani-Barrackpore highway on Tuesday. Two men were arrested in the raid, which followed a tip-off.
Police sources named the two as Sujoy Das and Indrajit Mukhopadhyay, one from Nagerbazar and the other from the Kashipur area. According to the police, Sujoy Das has previous cases against him and is also named in a wildlife trafficking case linked to Alipore zoo; whether the rescued animal is connected to that case is under investigation.
The two are being questioned on where the animal was brought from and where it was going, and police are checking whether an international smuggling ring is behind it. A few days earlier, the rescue of several orangutans from the Udaypur-Talsari forest had led investigators to a large international animal trafficking network.
The Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) is a nocturnal primate of the forests of South and Southeast Asia, including parts of north-east India. It is known for its large eyes, strong grip on branches and slow movement, and it forages at night and rests hidden in trees by day.
International conservation assessments list the Bengal slow loris as endangered, so catching or transporting it is illegal. Coming days after the orangutan case, the rescue raises the question of whether the area is becoming a wildlife trafficking route. The report was filed for Sangbad Pratidin by Kousik Sinha.
Photo: Helena Snyder / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Source: Sangbad Pratidin
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