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How forest officers pounced on species hunters from Slovakia in Sinharaja
Five Slovaks slept during the day in a lodge and wandered around at night in the Sinharaja Forest at night in a secret operation to collect species of insects including moths.
The first tip-off to the forest officers came from their informants. They said they had seen persons carrying torches moving in the jungle at night.
An immediate search by the forest officers was not successful. This was probably because they had switched off the torches at the first sign of an oncoming raiding party.
Three days later, with specific information about the movements of the foreigners, a team led by Range Forest Officer Lakshman Ratnaweera detected four Slovaks. They were on their way out of the forest and were heading to a van which they had hired in Negombo for their drive to the Sinharaja forest, a biodiversity hotspot which has been declared a nature reserve
A quick check of their bags revealed that they were carrying several species of insects and plants, Interrogations revealed that one of the foreigners was still inside the nature reserve.
However, a search revealed that the fifth person had been left behind in a house.When his bags were searched, the forest officers found more specimens of insects and fauna. That they were part of an organised team that had come with the intention of stealing Sri Lanka’s endemic insect and plant species was confirmed when the officers found needles, containers and scientific equipment in their possession.
“They claimed they were collecting the specimens as it was their hobby, but the evidence we collected showed otherwise,” Mr Ratnaweera told the Sunday Times.
The group had sprayed pheromones — a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect — on the nets they had used to catch moths.
Forest officers’ efforts to dig out the background of the Slovaks proved unsuccessful.
The Slovaks were later produced in court. After they pleaded guilty to the charge of illegally collecting endemic animal and plant species, they were imposed the biggest ever fine of Rs 10.85 million.
More than 100 species had been collected by the Slovaks. The live specimens were later released back into the forest.
A lady diplomat who had been flown in from Slovakia’s New Delhi mission was present in court and paid the fine for the suspects before they were released.
Wildlife Conservation Department Director General M.G.C Suriyabndara said that bio-piracy was one of the major issues that they were facing.
He said that foreign nationals use subtle methods to take away parts of trees, bark and parts of animals.
“We can’t place park rangers at every entry point and check foreigners who come in and exit the park. We act only when we get a tip-off. Bio-piracy is not a new issue. It has happened in the past as well.
“The poachers do not have to uproot a whole plant or obtain live animals. They can just collect a leaf, bark, bone or part of the skin of an animal or the wing of a moth,” he said.
The Wildlife Conservation Department and the Customs’ Biodiversity Unit carry out regular raids in a bid to stop such activity, but the people who are involved in such rackets work under the radar and evade capture.
Samantha Gunasekara, who was instrumental in setting up the Customs’ Biodiversity Protection Unit (BPU), told the Sunday Times that he believed the Slovaks were suppliers of rare and endemic species of insects to scientists, collectors of live or dead animals, illegal pet traders or foreign museums.
He said that from two sources he had discovered that the leader of the Slovakian team had travelled to Sri Lanka eight times prior to this.
The Slovaks knew the scientific names of insects and marine animals; they had used nets sprayed with pheromones during day time and used lighted nets in the night to catch the insects, Mr. Gunasekera said.
“They knew what they were doing; so did the forestry officials, jeep drivers, villagers and lodge owners of the area”, he said.
The group was moving into the forest at night, laying power cables deep into the forest (600 meters) and got the power connection from the lodge. They knew the roads and paths inside the village and the forest, Mr. Gunasekera said.
“They would return to their lodge around 4 a.m. During the daytime they would be sleeping or packing their collection in containers,” the expert said.
He said that he had suspected that a powerful influential person was behind the group of Slovaks. He also added that the presence of the Slovak diplomat could indicate some government backing for their activities.
He said the Customs should maintain a data base of these people to monitor their activities in the country.