Every year around Diwali, thousands of owls are illegally trapped and sacrified by tantriks or occult practitioners for a wrong belief that these nocturnal birds bring good luck and help fight the evil spirits.
“Use of owls in black magic and sorcery linked with superstition, totems, and taboos drives the illegal trade of owls in India. Shaman or black magic practitioners, frequently referred to as tantrics in India, prescribe the use of parts from live owls such as skull, feathers, ear tuffs, claws, heart, liver, kidney, blood, eyes, fat, beak, tears, eggshells, meat, and bones for ceremonial pujas and rituals,” reads a fact sheet issued by TRAFFIC.
In a life-saving operation, Wildlife SOS, operating in collaboration with the Gujarat Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA), assisted the forest department and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) Mumbai in successfully seizing two Bengal eagle-owls (also known as the rock-eagle owl), notes the press statement issued by Wildlife SOS, today, November 9.
After receiving intel of the poached owls being present in Avdha village situated in the Valsad district of Gujarat, the joint team conducted a raid and swiftly intercepted the culprit.
The culprit was nabbed from a car and the owls were found in an extremely distressing situation, where they were bound and kept inside a wooden crate. After investigating the perpetrator further, five more individuals were nabbed, taking the total number of arrests to six.
The owls were suspected to be sold and used in ritualistic sacrifice for traditional practices related to the Diwali festival.
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“We were following the case for over a week, and after receiving a reliable lead, we took the assistance of Wildlife SOS-GSPCA and WCCB to intercept and seize the owls. The owls were kept under medical observation for three days, and only after following all legal protocols, once the veterinary team deemed them to be fit, the birds were released back in their natural habitat,” Hiren Kumar Patel, Range Forest Officer, Dharampur, was quoted as saying.
Raj Bhavsar, Project Coordinator at Wildlife SOS and President of GSPCA said, “The festival of lights is not so auspicious for owls, as many birds fall victim to human exploitation, driven by religious myths and superstitious beliefs. The innocent birds are poached for their body parts such as talons, skulls, bones, feathers, meat and blood, which are then used in talisman, black magic and occult practices.”
Horned owls such as the Bengal eagle-owl are most sought after as they are coveted for their false feather ear tufts (feather extensions on the head) which are wrongly believed to have mystical properties.
Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder of Wildlife SOS and head of the anti-poaching unit Forest Watch said, “Bird markets in Chandni Chowk and Jama Masjid are among the many places within New Delhi that cater to the huge demand for these protected and rare owl species during this festive season. Had we not intervened, these two owls may have lost their lives to a ritualistic sacrifice based on superstition.”
Owls play a vital role in local ecosystems by preying on small rodents and other crop pests, and are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of India that prohibits hunting, trade or any other form of utilisation of the species or their body parts. The most commonly traded species are Spotted Owlet Athene brama, Barn Owl Tyto alba and Rock Eagle-Owl Bubo bengalensis.
Wildlife SOS (WSOS) is a non-profit charity established in 1998 with the primary objective of rescuing and rehabilitating wildlife in distress across India. It actively runs wildlife and nature protection projects to promote conservation, and combat poaching and illegal wildlife trade.
