Carcasses of two sloth bears' were recovered four days ago from the jungle of Indira village of Sijhora forest range in Mandla district which happens to be the buffer zone of Kanha, officials said. Both carcasses didn't have teeth and nails, suggesting that both had been killed for the body parts.
Similarly, two sloth bears were electrocuted on November 8 last year by poachers in the forested area of Magda village in Sijhora range. Before the poachers could take their body parts, the forest department officials recovered the bodies of two wild bears. Three alleged poachers were arrested and produced in a court from where the three were send to jail, officials said adding that they were all locals.
"We have sent the body parts of two bears, recovered two days ago, to Wildlife Institute of India ( WII), Dehradun for forensic and others tests. The carcasses appeared to be more than a month old. They neither had nails nor teeth," Kanha Tiger Reserve (Buffer Zone) deputy director A K Singh told TOI.
There is a strong indication about the presence of bear poachers' in MP, which is among the 13 other states harbouring sloth bears in the wild, he said. Read the full report here.
Source: Lemuel Lall, TNN, Bhopal.
