Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh State Wildlife
Board today recommended sterner punishment to poachers under
the Wildlife Protection Act for preserving tiger population
in the state, besides setting up of special courts for trying
forest crimes.
"The existing punishment as per the Act for poaching of
endangered animals like tigers are not enough to ensure their
safety...so we have recommended at least 10-year imprisonment
as against the existing minimum and maximum jail term of three
and seven years respectively for those indulging in such
crimes," state forest minister Fateh Bahadur Singh said here.
A recommendation has also been made for setting up of
special courts on the lines of fast track courts to settle
pending forest crime cases, he said.
The Board also made a recommendation to declare 'palash'
as the state flower.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 08, 2010, 18:34