Nepal burns more than 4,000 confiscated wildlife parts
On Monday, the Nepalese government set fire to more than 4,000 items of confiscated wildlife parts in an attempt to demonstrate zero tolerance for the illegal wildlife trade. The stockpile included parts from 48 species, including 67 tiger skins, 418 common leopard skins, 354 elephant tails, 15 bear gallbladders, 357 rhino horns, two sacks of pangolin scales, and hides from red panda, clouded leopard, and snow leopard. All these illegally trafficked items were burned in Chitwan National Park in front of nearly 300 people. Officials hope that the public burning of wildlife parts will act as a deterrent to wildlife traffickers. “Nepal has achieved a significant milestone in conservation,” Man Bahadur Khadka, Director General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, said in a statement. “The government of Nepal expresses its commitment to zero poaching and a non-tolerance towards wildlife crime.”
