A ‘tiger’ skin, which eventually turned out to be fake, has only served to blow the lid off the illegal trade in animal skin and bones taking place in the Capital.

Acting on a tip-off, the Crime Branch of Delhi Police found animal skin and bones being peddled as tiger skin, in Nehru Place on Thursday.

Officials brought in from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau found that the painted skin was actually of a dog. No arrests have been made.

“Investigations showed the canines and jaw were a dog’s,” says WCCB Deputy Director Ramesh Pandey.

“The skin was being sold as real tiger skin. The claws and the teeth were also being sold as those of a tiger’s. This shows that Delhi is a hub of wildlife crime and many buyers and middlemen operate in the city. All illegal wildlife products from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Uttarakhand find their way to Delhi,” he said.

On August 1, the bureau had seized a leopard skin in Delhi.

Though peddlers who sell fake wildlife parts cater to an illegal market, there are no provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act to arrest them, as the Act only covers ‘wildlife’.

Under the 1972 Act, it is illegal and punishable to trade in tiger parts.

“Since the skin turned out to be fake, we have not registered a case. This is not even cheating, but an attempt to cheat and there is no case,” says DCP (Crime Branch) Neeraj Thakur.

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