The 548 exotic animals that were rescued last week by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) will live their entire lifetime at the Greens Zoological Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre (GZRRC) in Gujarat as their countries of origin do not accept animals which are not captured in the wild. These animals were bred in captivity by the accused persons arrested in this case, because of which, for the survival of these exotic animals the staff at GZRRC will look after them in a controlled environment according to the species' requirement.
These animals include exotic species of turtles, pythons, lizards, tortoises, and iguanas.
"Ideally in such cases, the seized animals are deported to the country of origin where they came from but was not possible in this case so they will stay at GZRRC for a lifetime. The climatic conditions of our country will not suit them entirely, they cannot survive here in the wild but in captivity they can, because of which they will be taken care of in captivity by the GZRRC. They need a controlled environment with proper enrichment, also different species have different requirements which must be catered," said Pawan Sharma, founder of Resqink Association of Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), Mumbai, where the animals were kept before their transit to Gujarat.
Regarding the future of these animals, Doki Adimallaiah, inspector at Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, said, "These exotic animals are from all over the world, especially from countries of North America and East Asia, however, these animals will not be accepted back by those countries because they were not captured from the wild but were bred in captivity. Thus, as these animals had nowhere to go, they have found their new home in India where they will be taken care of properly."
"There were 665 animals out of which 117 died during the smuggling transportation which lasted 48 hours and the animals were kept in very poor conditions. Hopefully, the surviving 548 animals will adapt to their new home soon and thrive there," added the official.
Two accused from Mumbai were arrested by the DRI on Saturday for smuggling these animals from Malaysia to India via air cargo by concealing them in the boxes of other declared items like aquarium fish. According to the DRI, these animals could have fetched around Rs 3 crore in the illicit market.
The trafficking of most of the smuggled animals is banned as they are mentioned in Appendices of Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) signed by 175 countries including India.
