Krishnagiri, India: The age-old banned practice of hunting wild animals for meat and other body parts continues to be popular in Sikkarimedu, a tribal settlement in Krishnagiri that has a majority population of Narikuravars. On Saturday, TNIE visited the tribal village along with Antony Rubin Clement, a member of the state board for wildlife, who had received a tip-off regarding the alleged sale of bushmeat in the region.

At 10 am, the team stopped near one Vijay Dhaba, near the entrance to Sikkarimedu on NH 44. Soon, an elderly man, who was seated nearby, approached and identified himself as Sikkandar. Eventually, he asked, in Tamil, if the group was looking for an Udumbu (monitor lizard), a Schedule 1 species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Upon receiving an affirmative response, he escorted the team to the village. After 15 minutes, another villager brought out two subadult monitor lizards, whose legs were tied with copper wire. The villagers offered to cut, cook and serve the lizard meat, and also provide body massages using oil extracted from the reptiles. They further claimed that drinking the lizards’ blood was good for health, adding that a popular Kannada actor is a regular client of theirs. Sikkandar told TNIE that people from Bengaluru, Chennai and parts of Andhra Pradesh regularly visit Sikkarimedu for the bushmeat, especially on weekends. Demand for bushmeat is high among couples with infertility issues and people who are into fitness, due to its perceived medicinal value — a notion that experts have struck down as myth. Despite the Sikkarimedu villagers demanding a huge sum for the two live monitor lizards, Antony managed to convince them, acquire one of the lizards and then exited the village with TNIE.

Source: (New Indian Express)