Undercover work funded by UK charity leads to ‘one in a thousand' breakthrough
September 2013. Six notorious tiger poachers have been jailed in Southern India in what is being described as a landmark conviction. The five men and one woman were sentenced to three years each by Karnataka High Court - a sentence made more remarkable by the fact that the conviction rate for tiger poaching in the country is 0.1%.
The gang travelled the country poaching tigers and other wildlife for sale into the international market - tigers would be carved into fur, bones and organs for use as decoration, tonics and medicine.
Caught red handed in Bandupur Tiger Reserve
They were caught red-handed with lethal ‘jaw' traps in the Bandupur Tiger Reserve, and brought to justice by the Karnataka Forest Department with specialist legal assistance from the Care for the Wild-funded Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) Wildlife Crime Enforcement Team.
Care for the Wild CEO Philip Mansbridge said: "This conviction is a landmark for tiger conservation and sends a powerful message of deterrence to wildlife criminals who aim to poach India's tigers. Our partnership with the WTI is instrumental in a huge number of cases per year alongside de-snaring and undercover enforcement activities. The team also work with government forest staff to ensure more arrests lead to convictions, just like this one, in the future."
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