Shivanogga: Owl poachers continue to be on the prowl

Shivanogga: A few days after nine people were arrested for poaching owls in Sorab, another attempt to catch these birds was reported from Holebenavalli near here on Thursday.

According to sources, nylon net was laid on a tree where the owls had nested. Two owls got trapped in it, out of which one died owing to suffocation, while the second bird was rescued by wildlife activists and Forest Department personnel.
Officials of the Forest Department said that a wider racket was involved in poaching of owls from the forests of Malnad region. They said the poachers were active in the district and the trapped owls were being sold in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and even New Delhi.

It is said that those involved in this racket purchase the owls from the residents of the villages located on the fringe of the forests for anywhere between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 5 lakh and sell them for a price ranging between Rs 15 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.

These owls are use by those practising black magic. Officials of the Forest Department said that some native medicine practitioners also prepared a soup from the owl meat, claiming it can help enhance virility.

According to sources, while interrogating those arrested in Sorab had revealed to the Forest Department officials that a person, posing as religious practitioner from Udupi district, was the kingpin of the racket. They alleged he was purchasing these birds from them and selling them to native medicine practitioners and those practicing black magic.

Wide network
Forest officials are also going through the data stored in the mobile phones seized from the arrested. It is reported that some petty shop owners in Tavanandi, Induvalli, Chittoor and surrounding villages in Sorab taluk were in regular contact with the arrested.

Forest officials suspect that these petty shop owners might have acted as a link between the locals - who poached the owls - and the arrested. The investigating team has also quizzed these shop owners.

Assistant Conservator of Forest stationed in Sorab Srinivas Eradoni, told Deccan Chronicle that acting on the information provided by the arrested during interrogation, the nylon nets laid to trap owls were cleared from five places in the forest. 

Some more are involved in the racket and they will be arrested soon, he added.
As for Holebenavalli incident, forest officials have booked a case under The Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Owls are found in abundant numbers on the banks of the Tunga and Bhadra rivers. Those involved in illegal trading of owls catch them by spreading nylon nets on trees located on the bank of these rivers.