The non-governmental organisation Wildlife SOS in collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Wildlife Crime Control Bureau brought to end a major tiger poaching operation which spanned across the country.

Six members of a notorious big cat poaching gang who had travelled from Delhi to Ooty to kill tigers in the rich forests of the Nilgiri biosphere reserve were caught red-handed in  Arasur village in the Sathyamangalam range. They were found in possession of a 10-foot-long tiger skin, one tiger skeleton, and one leopard skeleton.

The accused, when questioned on a sustained basis, revealed the locations where their hunting tools and jaw traps were concealed in the forest area and where they had killed and skinned the tiger and leopard.

The team led by TNWCCB included personnel from the Forest Department, Police and Wildlife SOS took charge of the tools and destroyed the jaw traps.

The accused – four men and two women — will be booked under relevant sections of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972.

Describing this operation as important, Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO of Wildlife SOS said: “It will be significant in uncovering a larger network of poachers and putting an end to the crimes committed against India’s National animal, the tiger.”