The Rajasthan Police have been honoured with the Clark R Bavin Wildlife Law Enforcement Awards, 2007, at the ongoing Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Conference of the Parties being held in the Hague, the Netherlands, for their bravery and commitment towards wildlife law enforcement.

The award programme was jointly held by the Animal Welfare Institute, one of the United States’s most respected animal welfare organisations, and the Species Survival Network, an international coalition of non-governmental organisations.

The biggest success of Rajasthan Police was the arrest of Sansar Chand, his wife and son in 2005. They ran the biggest poaching network across the Indo-Tibetan border. In February 2006, following a sting operation by a team of officers from the SOG, 34 freshly tanned leopard skins and 4 otter skins were seized in Delhi.

A release from the Animal Welfare Institute said: “Both before and after this significant seizure of wildlife products, the department has demonstrated its commitment towards enforcing wildlife protection laws in India.... Rajasthan Police have arrested nearly three dozen criminals, including India’s most notorious wildlife criminal. It has succeeded in breaking an entire wildlife criminal network comprising poachers, suppliers, middlemen and those receiving the wildlife products within India.”

“We are very happy to receive this honour. It will encourage the force to fight wildlife crimes more actively,” said G S Gill, Rajasthan DGP.

Other recipients are Paul Cerniglia, Supervisory Wildlife Inspector USFWS; Yvan Lafleur, Canadian Wildlife Service; Paulin Ngobobo, Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature; Late Samson Parsimei Ole Sisina, Kenya Wildlife Service; Attorney John T Webb US Department of Justice and Tourism; Emmanuel Juma Muyengi, Ministry of Natural Resources, United Republic of Tanzania; and the Last Great Ape Organisation, Cameroon.