Sambar deer poaching: Anakapalle forest department arrests six; recover meat, skin

Visakhapatnam: Forest department officials in Anakapalle district have arrested six persons for hunting a Sambar deer in the Panduru reserve area. Among those booked was the buyer of the deer meat.

The department officials have recovered the meat, head, legs, and skin of the deer from the accused and sent them for testing.

Forest Range Officer, Anakapalle, P Jyothirmaya said based on credible information about a group of poachers from Bhimavaram and Bangarayyapeta villages entered the forest area and killed an animal in Panduru reserve forest on November 3.

“After hours of search in the forest, we managed to apprehend the six persons at the forest locality. Among the six persons, three were poachers. Two helped the poachers to shift the animal from the forest and one was a buyer of the meat. We have recovered the meat and some parts of the dead animal in the forest, she added.

The poachers confessed that they had killed the wild animal with a gun (country-made firearm). "We have a string to recover the gun. We will be informing Anakapalle about the illegal possession of the weapon," she added.

A committee led by Deputy Conservator of Forests K Vinod Kumandith Direst Forest Officer, B Raja Rao, and FRO Jyothirmaya destroyed the seized meat by cosigning it to flames.

The accused have been booked under relevant provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and the accused were produced before the court. The accused were released on station bail.

The forest department officials said that they have observed the presence of Sambar deer in the Panduru reserve forest locality under Kasimkota and Kotauratla mandals in the Anakapalle district. The forest officials have decided to increase the patrolling to prevent the possible poaching incidents