JAGATSINGHPUR: Illegal trade of parrots, an endangered species, has emerged as a cause of concern in rural areas of the district. People of kela community from Sabarsahi village within Jagatsinghpur police limits have been trapping parrots and selling at Nuapole on Cuttack-Nuagaon NH. The parrots are sold for as high as Rs 7,000.
Sources said the people of the community are unaware that parrots are an endangered species under schedule 4 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Personnel of Forest department, during a raid on the house a person from the community at Sabarsahi, seized eight parrots trapped in cages.
While a case was registered and the parrots released, the ones who had trapped the birds for sale, managed to flee the spot. The community without obtaining permission and licence from the wildlife department has been trapping parrots from the forest resulting in a sharp decline in the species.