KOCHI: The officials of Society for Prevention of Cruelty against Animals (SPCA) and the Wildlife Control on Wednesday arrested a 40-year-old woman for selling Pakistan’s national bird-- ‘Chukar partridge’. Sumi, residing at Nedumbassery, was caught by the team while selling the birds from her home.
It was through an undercover operation-- the team posed as potential buyers-- the woman was nabbed. According to the officials, Sumi had brought the eggs of the bird from the Himalayan region and hatched them with the help of an incubator set up at her residence.
“A total of 15 birds were up for sale at her residence and it would fetch around `15,000 in the black market,” said T M Sajith, SPCA Inspector, who was part of the team.
Besides, the team seized the eggs of Chukar patridge from the incubator. “As per the statement given by the woman the birds were handed over by a Thiruvananthapuram resident. We have also started a probe into this,” he said.
Meanwhile, the officers revealed steps have been taken to dispatch the eggs to the Himalayan region as they can only survive in the rarified, icy cold atmosphere.
“Before that the eggs will be examined by the experts at the Thattekad bird sanctuary,” the officer said. The team also included Wildlife Control Bureau Inspector Mathivan, officer V S Sajeesh and SPCA Assistant K B Iqbal.