For every kilogram of hair used to make brushes, 50 mongooses are killed. Dizzying numbers that regularly cause a sort of extermination of these animals.
For every kilogram of hair used to make brushes, 50 mongooses are killed. Dizzying numbers that regularly cause some sort of extermination of these animals. For this, the Indian Government's Wildlife Crime Control Office (WCCB), a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFandCC) is leading the“Operation Clean Art” with the aim of ending the trade in brushes made with mongoose fur.
Started two months ago, the operation has already led to the kidnapping of 54.352 brushes, but the WCCB has been fighting illegal mongoose trafficking for years. Their hair, considered resistant, ends up becoming a brush for artists all over the world
On 24 October, about 200 officials gathered in Sherkot in the Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh to check the brush factories. By the end of the day, some 26.000 brushes and over 100 kg of raw mongoose hair were seized, and 26 people were arrested for illegal trade.
"We are doing our best to shut down the supply and production network, - said HV Girisha, WCCB Regional Deputy Director - but unfortunately awareness of this crime is low and as long as there is demand, there will be people who will kill the company. mongoose for his hair ".
Organized crime hides behind it
According to Girisha, an adult mongoose produces over 30-40 grams of long hair, from which only 20-25 g is recovered. These animals are victims of a real business because very often they are hunted by the same communities.
“Art should be something unique and evoke the best in people. Why should there be cruelty and crime in the art creation process? Art should be clean and artists should undertake not to use mongoose hair brushes, ”said Jose Louies, Deputy Director and Chief Crime Control Division of Wildlife, Wildlife Trust of India, also involved in Operation Clean Art.
Captured and beaten to death
The mongoose is listed in Annex II Part 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act and any smuggling is a crime. The sale and purchase of mongooses, their hair and meat have been prohibited by law in India since 1972, but illegal trafficking continues to flourish.
These small carnivorous mammals, which are widespread in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, are caught in nets, and beaten to death before being skinned on the spot.
The brushes are mainly sold in Europe, the Middle East and the United States and declared to be composed of weasel and badger hair, the trade of which is unfortunately legal. To counter the slaughter of these animals, many brands of brushes are producing synthetic bristles similar to those of mongooses, but the numbers do not bode well for now.
Read also:
- The horror behind shaving and make-up brushes: badgers hammered
