Wildlife crime flourishes as enforcement fails in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Oct 3 (UNI) Poachers and wildlife traffickers continue to target Odisha's protected species with scant regard for law and little fear of punishment, with the Wildlife Society of Orissa (WSO) alleging failure of intelligence, enforcement and prosecution mechanism. "Not a single tiger or elephant poacher in Odisha has served a jail sentence for the crime. Most arrested offenders secure bail within weeks and return to the illegal trade," charged WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty today. The recent discovery of five orangutan infants abandoned in a Balasore forest has highlighted the scale of the problem. The animals, native to the rainforests…