RAIPUR: The Forestry Office from Chhattisgarh has released four Monitor lizardswhich is considered the most intelligent of all lizard species, into the jungle. The release of saved The introduction of wild species into the forests is said to be the first in the history of Chhattisgarh.
On June 30, 2024, Saraswati Nagar police rescued four monitor lizards while on patrol and informed the forest department, said forest ranger Satish Mishra. These monitor lizards are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. They were being transported in a vehicle when Saraswati Nagar police in state capital Raipur intercepted the vehicle and rescued the monitor lizards.
These lizards were taken to Nandanvan Jungle Safari in Naya Raipur where experts provided them with necessary treatment, the forest official said. After conducting a health check on these animals, the director of Jungle Safari wrote a letter to the district forest officer of Raipur on July 23, demanding necessary action to release the four monitor lizards. After obtaining permission from the court, the district forest officer of Raipur released the monitor lizards in a suitable habitat.
Elaborating on the issue, wildlife activist Nitin Singhvi from Raipur explained that so far, all the wild animals seized in court cases were placed in a zoo after the seizure. Due to the pending court cases, no attempt was made to release them back into the wild, resulting in these animals spending their lives in captivity.
Singhvi had requested the Chief Forest Officer (Wildlife) that as per the Central Zoo Authority guidelines, such seized wild animals should not be released into the wild until judicial permission is obtained. Following this, the Chief Forest Officer (Wildlife) issued an order in July directing all field officers of the forest department to release seized wild animals into the forest only after judicial permission is obtained.
He expressed hope that all previously seized healthy wild animals to be released would soon be released back into the forest by the forest department and that similar measures would be continued in the future in the interest of wildlife. He explained that the body parts of lizards were used to make musical instruments and that villagers believed that eating lizard meat was helpful in curing certain diseases. Besides, their body parts were used to make medicines, he said. Due to the risk of illegal trade, the forest department did not disclose the location where the lizards were released.