Click to play videoNew Delhi: India loses over 35 wild tigers and 150 leopards to large-scale poaching every year. The trade in tigers and tiger parts is flourishing despite strict laws. One man - caught from Chattarpur district near Panna in 2005 - admits to poaching and trading in five tigers and 30 leopard skins.
"I have traded in five tiger skins and between 25-30 leopard skins," admits the poacher.
In the garb of being a tailor, the man has links to a string of names who are part of the nexus, one of the names being Sansarchand who is the kingpin of the wildlife crime industry in India. The same man is responsible for wiping out tigers in Sariska. Another man, Shabbir Hassan Qureshi, is believed to have traded in 600 dead tigers.
"Shuru mai Rajkumar aur Kale aaye, Sansar ke aadmi. Phir unke bad Sangampur valo ke saath kaam kiya, Phir Pappu Shivpuri hai Delhi vale. Unke saath kaam kiya (In the beginning, sansar's men - Rajkumar and Kaale - came. I also worked with people from sangampur and then there is a man called called from Pappu Shivpuri in Delhi, I worked with him too)", says the poacher.
Data collected by the Wildlife Protection Society of India shows stark figures.
Over 175 tigers and 760 leopards have been poached across the country in the last five years and in comparison, there's been less than five per cent conviction rate of those who kill these animals.
Clearly poaching is no more a localised crime. The poacher told CNN-IBN about the kind of money involved in the trade.
"Cheetah ki 14-15 hazaar se leke 15, 16, 17 hazaar tak ki; sher ki 60-65-70 hazaar (A leopard skin goes for anywhere between Rs 14,000 to Rs 17,000 whereas a tiger skin can go from Rs 60,000 to Rs 70,000)", says he.
According to Interpol, trade in illegal wildlife products is worth US $12 billion a year, and as India continues to feed this thriving market, the big cats are dying a silent death.
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