AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: Occupied as recently as two weeks ago by a 90-year-old caretaker, a nondescript room on the premises of a temple in Rajpipla town of Gujarat’s Narmada district revealed a trove of wildlife parts that initially sent forest department staff into a tizzy and raised suspicion of large-scale poaching.A search of the room, earmarked for demolition, revealed 37 tiger skins and 133 claws packed in an iron box. Forest department officials later said it appeared these were fake and were painted to make them look original.
The room was occupied for years by temple caretaker Madhavanand, who died about two weeks ago. “He never allowed anyone inside his room. Once he passed away, temple management decided to construct a new building on the site of the room. That’s when the management found the skins, claws and canines,” a forest official said.Principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife) Jaipal Singh said, “We are not taking any chances and getting them examined.” Abhay Singh, Narmada deputy conservator of forests, said, “Our tests revealed Thursday the skins were not real but we have sent samples to Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad for further tests.” Foresters said since the caretaker was from Madhya Pradesh, “it raised suspicion he was involved in poaching”.
