Thane: A 25-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly hunting a mouse deer in the Ambernath area of Thane. The accused, Jagdish Wagh, is a resident of Ambernath. A mouse deer, also known as chevrotain, is an endangered and protected mammal.
According to forest officials, the animal was found with pellet gun injuries on September 23. The forest department shifted it to Sanjay Gandhi National Park Hospital where it succumbed three days later. After the post-mortem report, a case was registered against an unknown person under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.
An assistant conservator with the forest department, Ganesh Sontakke, said they found several photos of animals being hunted in Wagh’s phone. With his role ascertained in the death of the mouse deer, he was arrested on October 19.
