Tiger skin seized

Rampant poaching threatens wildlife in Manas National Park

twelve persons were arrested for smuggling skins and bones of wild animals near the Manas National Park in
Assam's Barpeta district on March 20. Police and forest officials found them carrying skins of leopards, deer and bear and animal bones in two
vehicles. The animal parts were valued at Rs 6 lakh.

This is the second haul reported in the state in a month. A week earlier, Income Tax officials found tiger skin and bones among other things in
an astrologer's shop in Guwahati, 176 km from the sanctuary. "We have registered a case against the astrologer Kero Young who has been
absconding," said S K Sealsarma, divisional forest officer. The national park is along the Bhutan border. Wild animals there are poached for sale
abroad, said Hilloj Jyoti Singha, a conservationist. "It is difficult to say if the seized goods are of animals poached inside the national park," said
Babul Brahma, a park official.