Fight against Illegal trade of Owls in India for use in pet industry and black magic

Saving the owl through strict law enforcement & education! The largest danger to the population of wild animals remains large scale habitat destruction and fragmentation, illegal wildlife trade is a close second. Illegal bird trade in India is a thriving “business” and one that has unfortunately grown in size with time and technological development. In the past many years, a sizeable percentage of trade in owls has been recorded. Unfortunately for owls, their adaptations to survive that render them so successful have also led to them being associated with many myths, superstitions and misbeliefs in India. Owls in India have historically been associated with multiple superstitions and false beliefs ranging from myths, folklore, black magic, witchcraft, prophecy, birth, death and many other natural and unnatural phenomenon (Bruce 1999, Marks et. al., 1999). In Hinduism, it is firmly believed that an owl is the vehicle of goddess Lakshmi (goddess of wealth) and hence having one at home will bring more wealth into the house. In Kerala for example, farmers place tree stumps in paddy fields when the crops are about to ripen, praying to goddess Lakshmi to increase their yield. The stumps act as perches for owls, which then hunt rats and mice in the rice fields. Meanwhile, there are several other communities that consider them an ill omen and drive them away. Of the 30-odd species of owls found in India, over 15 species have been observed in trade so far. The most common of them all being the Spotted Owlet.

To map the supply chain of owl trade across Peninsular India, devise intervention to end this trade by strengthening enforcement mechanism and reducing demand in key locations such as Crawford Market, Mumbai; Murgi Chowk, Hyderabad and Russell Market, Bengaluru.

Conservation of owls and prevention of cruelty to these species in addition to educating the public about the welfare of these animals and other animals.