40 Rare, Exotic Animals Rescued In Assam In Major Anti-Trafficking Haul

At least 40 exotic animals, including a baby wallaby, were rescued in Assam today in one of the biggest hauls of illegally trafficked animals in the state. The seizures were made from two vehicles in Kamrup district as the police busted an international animal trafficking racket.

The rescued animals - which included rare and exotic species of primates, tortoises, and monkeys, besides a wallaby - have been handed over to the forest department.

Two people, who were driving the two Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) registered in Delhi, were arrested. The vehicles, which had fake army stickers on the vehicles, were intercepted on National Highway 31 in Rangia.

The animals were trafficked from Myanmar and the vehicles were transporting them illegally from Dimapur in Nagaland, police sources said.

This is the fourth major seizure of rare and exotic animals in Assam in the past two years.

In April, five "exotic" monkeys and a wallaby were rescued from traffickers in the district and one person was arrested.

Such trafficking happen either through Assam or West Bengal mostly to the western states, forest officials said. All such seizures were part of an international animal trafficking network and the animals were mostly trafficked from Thailand via Myanmar. The consignments entered India through the porous Myanmar border in Mizoram, they added.

In 2020, a kangaroo and several other exotic wild animals were rescued by forest officials in Silchar district of Assam. Two persons were arrested in the case.