<p>Illegal wildlife articles like leopard skin, elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns were incinerated in the Delhi Zoo on Sunday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The products were seized over a period of time by the forest and wildlife departments, wildlife crime control bureau, the police and customs.<br /><br />“Some of the articles destroyed today were from the Zoo that were lying here for a long time,” said a senior zoo official.<br /><br />Before the articles were burnt, these were on public display for a while. Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, was present at the event.<br /><br />The articles burnt were five tiger skins, six leopard skins, 32 shahtoosh shawls and two elephant tusks, among others.<br /><br />“The items destroyed also included over 13,000 other mammal skins, over 31,500 reptile skins, broken tiger teeth and three rhinoceros horns,” said the senior zoo official.<br /><br />The list also had 42,544 animal articles in it. These products have been obtained by killing tigers, elephants, leopards, lions, snakes, deer, mongoose and owls, a zoo official added.<br /><br />Emphasising that this symbolic gesture shows the government would not entertain activities like poaching and illegal trading of wildlife articles, Javadekar said, “This is to ensure the co-existence of flora, fauna and human beings. Hunting was a popular sport 200 years ago. But this led to species becoming endangered.” <br /><br />The incineration was done in the purview of public to send out a strong message that poaching or other related illegal activities would not be tolerated by the government, the Minister added before burning the articles at the renovated incinerator of the zoo. <br /><br />Destroying the products was to ensure that these would not be misused later as “one position leads to another” – even one rhino horn can fetch a huge amount of money, he said. <br /><br />Javadekar added that money generated from illegal trafficking and trade of animals and poaching always found a way into illegal activities. <br /><br />The Delhi Zoo burns some wildlife articles in its premises from time to time. On Sunday’s event, representatives of zoo outreach programmes from other countries were also present.<br /><br />These are participants in a conference going on in the premises since October 30. </p>
<p>Illegal wildlife articles like leopard skin, elephant tusks, rhinoceros horns were incinerated in the Delhi Zoo on Sunday. <br /><br /></p>.<p>The products were seized over a period of time by the forest and wildlife departments, wildlife crime control bureau, the police and customs.<br /><br />“Some of the articles destroyed today were from the Zoo that were lying here for a long time,” said a senior zoo official.<br /><br />Before the articles were burnt, these were on public display for a while. Prakash Javadekar, Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change, was present at the event.<br /><br />The articles burnt were five tiger skins, six leopard skins, 32 shahtoosh shawls and two elephant tusks, among others.<br /><br />“The items destroyed also included over 13,000 other mammal skins, over 31,500 reptile skins, broken tiger teeth and three rhinoceros horns,” said the senior zoo official.<br /><br />The list also had 42,544 animal articles in it. These products have been obtained by killing tigers, elephants, leopards, lions, snakes, deer, mongoose and owls, a zoo official added.<br /><br />Emphasising that this symbolic gesture shows the government would not entertain activities like poaching and illegal trading of wildlife articles, Javadekar said, “This is to ensure the co-existence of flora, fauna and human beings. Hunting was a popular sport 200 years ago. But this led to species becoming endangered.” <br /><br />The incineration was done in the purview of public to send out a strong message that poaching or other related illegal activities would not be tolerated by the government, the Minister added before burning the articles at the renovated incinerator of the zoo. <br /><br />Destroying the products was to ensure that these would not be misused later as “one position leads to another” – even one rhino horn can fetch a huge amount of money, he said. <br /><br />Javadekar added that money generated from illegal trafficking and trade of animals and poaching always found a way into illegal activities. <br /><br />The Delhi Zoo burns some wildlife articles in its premises from time to time. On Sunday’s event, representatives of zoo outreach programmes from other countries were also present.<br /><br />These are participants in a conference going on in the premises since October 30. </p>
