Baripada: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau along with the Odisha forest department has recovered a leopard skin in Mayurbhanj district and arrested seven people in this connection, an official said Thursday.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team launched an operation Wednesday and apprehended two of the seven, who are allegedly being involved in the wildlife trade, from near the old bus stand area in Jashipur of the district, Karanjia Forest Division Range Officer Pradeep Prusty said.
Information about the killing of a leopard by criminals and attempts to sell its skin was first received by the WCCB unit in Madhya Pradesh.
Accordingly, a WCCB team led by Bipin Kumar Chottapadhyay and forest officers of Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts conducted the operation, posing as buyers of the leopard skin and arrested the two, Prusty said, adding that five more people were nabbed later for their involvement in the smuggling of wildlife body parts.
It is suspected that the animal was of 10 years of age and shot dead in the Similipal National Park around 15-20 days back, Prusty said.
The team seized the leopard skin with a length of four feet and a width of over two feet, he said.
A case under the Wildlife (Protection) Act has been registered, the official added.
PTI