1st Nov, 2004

A tiger skin was seized by the Forest Department on 28 October 2004 at the house of a village deputy headman in the Narayanpur area of the state of Chhattisgarh. This is the second tiger skin seizure from Chhattisgarh within a week.

Divisional Forest Officer, Mr. V.S. Lagra, arrested the deputy headman and a local poacher. Villagers had alerted the Forest Department after they noticed a tiger skin being dried on the deputy headman’s roof.

Initial reports received by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) indicate that the 7 year old tiger had been poisoned. Only three days ago, a tiger skin was seized in Borgaon, Chhattisgarh, with WPSI assistance. On 12 February 2004, WPSI assisted in the seizure of a leopard skin in the Narayanpur area itself.