Bhubaneswar: A young man of Odisha’s Keonjhar district has landed in trouble for allegedly violating Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, by keeping Alexandrine parakeets under captivity and uploading videos on social media with the schedule II bird.
In an email to Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden of Odisha, Honorary Wildlife Warden, Khurda, Subhendu Mallik, accused Chinmay Mahanta of Bansapal village under Telkoi area of Keonjhar of torturing and hunting Alexandrine parakeets.
Mallik accused Mahanta of keeping the birds under captivity, torturing them, and uploading the hunting videos on his YouTube channel for commercial gain. The videos are posted from a channel named ‘Chinmay Vai’, he said.
Numerous videos were posted on the channel with hunted parakeets, and all the videos provide prima facie evidence of a non-bailable wildlife offense that warrants the immediate arrest of Chinmay Mahanta, Mallik claimed.
“I would like to mention 2 videos specially in which the hunted parakeets were seen being tortured inhumanely, which also violated the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960,” he said, adding that in one video Mahanta is seen pouring mustard oil into the ear of the parakeet. The video is about how to make a parakeet talk. “This is sheer torture of the bird,” he said.
In another video, Mahanta is seen making a parakeet bite an iron rod; the video is about training the parakeet on how not to bite. This is also torturing of the bird, claimed Mallik, adding another video encourages hunting of wildlife.
The wildlife expert said he has attached the screenshots with the URL for future reference during the investigation. He also attached the video from the YouTube link.
The numerous videos uploaded on YouTube by Mahanta using hunted parakeets provide sufficient ground for taking strict action against him, Mallik claimed.
YouTube company should also be taken to task, and a stern letter should be written to delete the channel of Mahanta in which the hunting of parakeets is being encouraged, he said, claiming that they are also liable under Section 52 (Attempts & abetment) of WLPA.
The help from cyber crime experts of police may also be solicited for a better investigation and prosecution of the offender, Mallik said, seeking action against Mahanta and all other offenders of Odisha who post wildlife hunting videos on YouTube regularly.
