As poaching and smuggling of sand boas, believed to have medicinal properties, continue in many parts of the country, awareness on the importance of preserving the species as well as informing the people about the implications of the Wildlife Act was a necessity said K. Varadarajan, Forest Ranger, Dharmapuri, here on Saturday.
He told The Hindu that on the basis of information given by K.S. Saravanan of Kundalpatti village, near Dharmapuri, about the presence of a small sand boa in an agriculture field, he led a team, caught the reptile and took it to the Forest Range Office.
It may be noted that on the basis of information received from the public, Forest Department personnel have caught about 10 sand boas in the past six months and all of them were let into the reserve forests.
The reptile caught today was about 2 feet long and weighed around 1.5 kg.
