Bhubaneswar, Sept. 25: The recent seizure of turtles and parakeets from the city has exposed the lack of awareness among residents about the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

The act, which prohibits people from keeping scheduled animals (see chart) in captivity, can be used to penalise offenders with imprisonment up to seven years and fine.

In two recent cases, the purpose of keeping the turtles appeared to be decorative, but forest officials suspect that in the third case of seizure of turtles near a fast food shop, the purpose could have been trading, which is prohibited under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Forest officials said that the raids would continue in the city to rescue such animals.

“Scheduled animals are the government’s property. No one is permitted to keep them in captivity,” said assistant conservator of forest, city forest division, Sasmita Lenka.

Apart from turtles, many other kinds of animals such as squirrels, hares and doves have been found in captivity. People also keep turtles for ornamental purposes in aquariums. Senior forest officials said the lack of awareness could land such people in trouble.

“In most cases, people keep wild animals, especially birds, as pets because they are not aware of the rules. They may land behind bars for such acts,” said a senior official in the forest department.

Forest officials raided three different places in the city this month and seized 13 turtles kept in captivity. Sources in the forest department said the parakeet business was flourishing in the city.

“A lot of people love to keep birds as pets. The price of a pair of parakeets can go up to Rs 3,000 in the city. So, business is thriving despite arrests having been made in the past,” said a senior official of Chandaka forest division.

However, people who keep exotic birds such as lutino, fisher, java and finchers as pets need not worry because these do not fall under the scheduled category. Some people feel that the forest department should conduct awareness campaigns.

“People love to keep animals and birds as pets. The forest officials must make people aware about which species fall in the special category so that people don’t keep them as pets,” said Jitendra Behera, who has kept a number of birds as pets.

Wildlife activists feel that the law should be stringent against violators who keep wild animals. “It is against the rule of the nature to keep wild animals in captivity. We should not forget that they are born to live in the jungle, not inside cages. The forest officials must arrest the violators,” said secretary of People For Animals (Odisha) J.B. Dash.