11 October,2022 08:27 AM IST | Mumbai | Ranjeet Jadhav
The Indian star tortoise is a protected species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Representation pic
The forest department has fined wildlife filmmaker and National Geographic explorer Aishwarya Sridhar Rs 20,000 for allegedly transporting an Indian star tortoise illegally from Panvel to Pune and warned her not to repeat the mistake. mid-day in its August 22 edition revealed how the department had booked Sridhar.
The Panvel-based filmmaker had sent the reptile to RESQ Charitable Trust in Pune for treatment, a monthly report by the facility alerted the authorities about the alleged violation. The case against Sridhar was registered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 on August 3. On August 18, the assistant conservator of forest territorial and wildlife, Panvel, sent a notice to her.
Sources told mid-day that Sridhar and her parents met forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and other officials on September 21 at Sanjay Gandhi National Park. They said that during the meeting, Sridhar told the forest minister and forest secretary B Venugopal Reddy that she transported the tortoise to Pune for treatment purposes and that her intentions were good.
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Mungantiwar later confirmed that the meeting had taken place and said he had directed Reddy to investigate the matter and submit a report. Though Reddy was contacted by this newspaper on September 22, he refused to comment.
A forest department official said, "Sridhar has accepted her mistake and said she had transported the tortoise with the intention of providing it medical help and not for taking pictures or shooting a film. She also stated that she was unaware of the law that one needs to take permission from the forest department to transport a wild animal from one district to another."
mid-day has a copy of the forest department document which mentions that a fine of R20,000 has been imposed on Aishwarya Sridhar.
