Now, special permits for keeping animals and birds will be available from the Forest Department's portal. From now on, there will be no need to go to Kolkata to obtain permits for keeping pets. At the same time, the Forest Department is taking strict measures to prevent the indiscriminate release of caged birds. Essentially, a group of people release caged birds into the forest to gain recognition as environmentalists. Such incidents have come to light in the forest areas of Lataguri, Gorumara and surrounding regions.
A few months ago, a young man was seen releasing some foreign birds in the Lataguri forest, which went viral on social media. According to forest officials, birds brought from foreign countries adapt to caged environments. Unable to adapt to the forest environment, these birds die. Therefore, to prevent such incidents, the Forest Department is now planning to take action under the Wildlife Protection Act.
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Rajib De, ADFO of Gorumara Wildlife Division, said, "In future, if anyone is found guilty of such incidents, action will be taken according to the law. Along with that, fines will also have to be paid."'
Meanwhile, special permits for keeping Schedule-IV animals and birds will now be available from the Forest Department's own environment portal. The ADFO informed that a website has recently been launched by the Forest Department. Earlier, animal and bird lovers had to rush to Kolkata to obtain these permits. Now, permission will be available online.
The Schedule-IV list includes cockatoos, macaws, African grey parrots, brown finches and other birds, as well as several animals, including radius guider species of turtles. All processes of their buying and selling, birth and death, will have to be mandatorily documented online in detail.
