One held for hunting endangered pintail ducks

The accused held was identified as V Murugan of Annanagar, Ramanathapuram. According to S Sathish, Forest Range Officer, Ramanathapuram Wildlife Range, when the team was engaged in patrolling, the hunter was spotted moving in a suspicious manner on a motor-bike.

After seeing the team comprising Forester, Forest Guard and Anti-Poaching Watcher, the hunter immediately sped away but the team chased him down after twokilometers and nabbed him.

After nabbing him the personnel rescued seven ducks; among the ducks five were male and two were female. The pintail ducks are protected wildlife under Schedule four of Wild Protection Act, 1972.

Later, preliminary investigations revealed that the Murugan had already been facing a case for poaching endangered bird species, the Forest Range Officer said.

TK Ashok Kumar, Wildlife Warden, Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park and Ramanathapuram District Forest Officer Arun Kumar inspected the rescued ducks. Later, the rescued ducks were let into Therthangal bird sanctuary, he said.

The endangered migratory bird species could either be spotted at sanctuaries or only on islands during November toFebruary.