Customs puts up standees of wild animals at IGI Airport to create awareness about illegal trade

In order to create awareness about illegal wildlife trade, the customs department and WWF-India have installed life-sized standees of animals like snow leopard, pangolins, greater one-horned rhino and Asian elephant at the Delhi international airport.

The customs department has also displayed the list of prohibited wildlife species, the possession or trade of which is punishable in India, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) said in a statement.

While snow leopard is poached for its fur and body parts, the greater one-horned rhino is targeted for its horn used in supposed body tonics. Pangolins, the most trafficked wild mammal globally, are poached for scales and meat.

Asian elephants are poached for tusks, which are used to make artefacts and jewellery, and sometimes for meat and skin.

"Illegal wildlife trade has grown to become a very serious crime globally. Customs recognize this threat to our country's biodiversity and have therefore undertaken this awareness initiative to help enlighten travellers as well as Customs officials about the species impacted by illegal wildlife trade," Customs Additional Commissioner at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport Amandeep Singh said.