Elephant tusks stolen from Vandalur zoo, four held SV Krishna Chaitanya, The New Indian Express September 4, 2024 See link <https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2024/Sep/05/elephant-tusks-stolen-from-vandalur-zoo-four-held> for photo. CHENNAI: Elephant tusks from the stockpile at the Vandalur Zoo were allegedly stolen by a temporary worker employed there. The incident came to light when the Tamil Nadu Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and Tambaram forest range office conducted a joint operation and arrested four people, who were trying to sell the tusks. Sources told TNIE that the joint operation was conducted on August 25 and two tusks were seized from the accused near the Madras Christian College bus stop. “The tusks are not from fully grown elephants. One is a sub-adult male elephant tusk measuring just over one foot and another one is a tush of a female elephant.” During interrogation, the arrested confessed that they got the tusks from Satish alias Appu, a casual employee working with Vandalur Zoo for the past five years. It is suspected that Satish might have probably stolen the tusks from the huge ivory stockpile of Vandalur Zoo. Vandalur Zoo director Ashish Kumar Srivastava confirmed to TNIE that the zoo’s casual worker was involved in the elephant tusk trafficking, but whether the tusks were stolen from the zoo’s stockpile or from elsewhere can be only drawn after he is arrested. “We did an inventory verification a month back during which no anomaly was detected. We are also carrying out an internal investigation,” Srivastava said. When asked why the zoo authorities kept the huge stockpile of ivory instead of destroying them, Srivastava admitted the stockpile should have been safely destroyed long back and that storing it was a security risk. “I will initiate and write to higher authorities seeking to destroy the ivory stockpile.” Meanwhile, sources said the accused Satish, who was employed at the zoo’s rescue centre, has reportedly told the forest officials that he would surrender. The theft allegedly took place two years back and the zoo authorities are checking the CCTV footage near the stockpile room to confirm the crime, sources added. https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2024/Sep/05/elephant-tusks-stolen-from-vandalur-zoo-four-held