Earlier this year, Indian officials found a rare red sand boa in a bag being carried by two railway passengers, the Hindustan Times reported.
Unfortunately, it is common for smugglers to transport contraband via the railway network, so officials have recently cracked down on these activities. The operation is a joint effort between the Railway Protection Force and Government Railway Police.
According to officials, the two smugglers were traveling from Prayagraj to Gaya Ji on the Howrah-Jodhpur Superfast Express with the sky-blue bag. A joint team on patrol, operating under the command of RPF inspector Banarasi Yadav and GRP inspector Chandan Kumar, noticed the suspicious individuals and chased them. They arrested the smugglers — Mohammad Sadullah, 46, of Amraha village in Chakand and Upendra Kumar, 28, of Siripr village in Jehanabad district — and inspected the bag.
Sadly, upon inspection, officials found that the four-foot snake inside was deceased. Yadav reported that the remains were handed over to a forest department team, according to the Hindustan Times.
Poaching incidents like this are a major factor in the decline of threatened species such as the red sand boa. The demand for trafficked specimens and parts fuels a worldwide industry of illegal hunting and trapping that decimates populations of animals already struggling to survive in a world of shrinking habitats and rising temperatures.
Add to that the way species depend on one another, forming networks in which harming one species disturbs the balance for the rest, and these poachers end up causing incredible damage to the environment.
That's why India has imposed steep penalties for this sort of crime. Gaya divisional forest officer Shashi Kant Kumar said that the red sand boa is listed as a threatened species under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act, meaning that poaching and trying to sell it can result in a penalty of imprisonment for up to three years and a fine of between 25,000 and 100,000 rupees ($276 to $1,104), per the Hindustan Times.
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