Back to trees: The owl trio rescued on Saturday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, Nov. 19: Three brown fish owls ? an endangered species ? were rescued from a cramped cage hidden in a dingy godown under Tala Bridge in north Calcutta as forest department officials traced a gang smuggling rare birds and animals.

However, Mohammad Yusuf and Mohammad Yunus, who owned the illegal shanty godown, were not there when the premises were raided. The duo had been arrested twice earlier for selling birds.

“We will file a case and get an arrest warrant (against the duo) from the court soon,” said V.K. Yadav, the forest department’s deputy chief wildlife warden. “These owls are smuggled to Bangladesh and some other countries and even to our neighbouring Bihar and Jharkhand.” Capturing, keeping as pets or killing of these birds is banned and can lead to three years’ imprisonment and a minimum fine of Rs 25,000.

A team of officials led by divisional forest officer (wildlife) Rathin Banerjee and police personnel conducted the raid. The birds have been kept at Deer Park in Salt Lake, the forest department’s rehabilitation centre.

About a week ago, a brown fish owl was rescued from Sonarpur on the southern fringes of the city. That bird has also been kept at Salt Lake. “We had received specific information that these two were part of a racket and were keeping the captured birds in the godown,” said Yadav. These owls, found mainly near wetlands, feed on fish.

Brown fish owls are in demand mainly because they are believed to bring good luck if kept at home. They are used in black magic, still practised widely in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and neighbouring Nepal, Bangladesh and some other countries.

“With old trees being cut down every where, the number of brown fish owls is going down fast,” said Partha Dey of Nature Environment Wildlife Society, a voluntary organisation. “If trading of the birds is not stopped soon, they would be annihilated.”

An official said in the past three months, news has spread around Calcutta and in south Bengal villages that brown fish owls fetch good money. “Villagers without any capturing skills are also looking for the owls. A number of these have been killed this way.” He added that parakeets, mynahs, and shikras are also being smuggled through the city.