Four Chinese nationals, including a woman, have been arrested by wildlife officers for collecting insect species and reptiles inside the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.
The arrests were made during a raid conducted following information received by the Panahaduwa Wildlife Range Office of the Udawalawe National Park.
During the operation, officers discovered more than 250 specimens belonging to nearly 40 different animal species in the suspects’ possession.
The Department of Wildlife Conservation stated that investigations had revealed that the suspects had previously visited Sri Lanka.
Following their production before the Kalawana Magistrate’s Court, the four suspects were ordered to be remanded until November 23.
The Magistrate also ordered that the live and non-living animal specimens recovered from the suspects be sent to the National Museum today (November 10) for identification and subsequently released back into the environment.
Meanwhile, the Department of Wildlife Conservation stated that four individuals, including two German nationals, had been arrested a few days earlier for allegedly engaging in a similar act of biopiracy in the Bambaragala-Ududumbara forest reserve area.
