Gun-toting wildlife offenders and miscreants armed with explosives are giving sleepless nights to the Forest Department, which has come under fire following the death of a pregnant wild elephant in Palakkad. The statewide perambulation along the forest fringes held a few days after the incident yielded 13 country-made guns and two vehicles. The death of the pregnant wild elephant had invited countrywide attention and several celebrities took to social media condemning the incident. Scrutiny of licencesThe Forest Department plans to write to the Director General of Police and other departments to scrutinise the licences issued for the sale and handling of explosives and illegal making of guns. Steps need to be taken to streamline the licensing, sales and handling of explosives and guns failing which more wildlife would be killed, Mr. Surendrakumar said.

Source: The Hindu June 11, 2020 14:44 UTC