BENGALURU: In the past two months, the state forest department along with Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and conservationists has nabbed around 50 people for uploading wildlife abuse videos on social media, especially TikTok.
A team of forest officials has been formed to track down people who use social media to upload videos where they abuse or mistreat animals. Both WCCB and forest department have approached TikTok, seeking help in identifying such offenders. A meeting was held at the forest department office on this issue on Friday.
“Snakes, monkeys, civet cats, wild boars, porcupines, partridges, parrots, monitor lizards, hares and others are used as props to record and upload videos. The youth and the unemployed are mostly posting such videos. Investigations revealed that traditionally they used to hunt, but since it is banned and popularity on social media is considered important, they are resolving to such methods,” an investigating forest official told TNIE.
The committee scans all social media platforms and interacts with informants, who perform recces to confirm the cases. The police, cyber cell and local administration are working closely to nab the violators. Since most of the videos are made with species belonging to Schedule-4 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, evidence needs to be strong and all angles have to be probed.
“During investigation, we found that they use hunter dogs, especially Mudhol hounds, to look for animals hiding in burrows. Shovels are used to get them out and they are kept in spiky cages. In some videos, we found animals to be entangled in metal snares. Since it is a combination of old and new practices, we are using all methods to nab them. Since the lockdown, such cases have increased,” the official added.