Four men detained in TN for poaching black-naped hare

MADURAI: Forest officials detained four men for poaching black-naped hare and a yellow-wattled lapwing bird from Therthangal bird sanctuary near Ramanathapuram on Sunday.
The wildlife department of Ramanathapuram range received information about a gang roaming in the area, and a team headed by Mandapam forest ranger S Sathish conducted searches.
Officials rounded up a four-member gang and seized carcasses of seven black-naped hare and a yellow-wattled lapwing bird from them.They also seized three live black-naped hares from the gang. The team seized three two-wheelers from them.
Forest officials identified the accused as J Ponnaiyan, 40, A Siranjeevi, 30, R Vijay, 25, and A Rajesh, 36. All of them hailed from MGR Nagar near Kattur in Ramanathapruam district.
The black-naped hare is a protected species under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act while yellow-wattled lapwing is a common bird species endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
The arrested men and the seized carcasses, animals and two-wheelers were handed over to the wildlife warden of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park for further prosecution.