MP High Court withdraws protection from Wildlife SOS chief in Leopard poaching

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has removed protective measures from Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and CEO of Wildlife SOS, in a case related to alleged leopard poaching. The court determined that Satyanarayan had not shown cooperation despite the protection and had not provided full disclosure of pertinent information. On September 2, the protection was granted without proper disclosure of crucial records and circumstances.

The court instructed Satyanarayan to appear before the Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force (STSF) on September 21 to assist with the investigation. The protection was withdrawn following an application by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department (MPFD) requesting its recall. MPFD reported that 15 individuals from Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Delhi have been arrested so far in the case, with an arrest warrant issued against Satyanarayan on August 31 after he did not attend a summons for three times.

The case began on July 23 when four alleged poachers were arrested on the Gwalior-Agra highway with 10 leopard skins. Wildlife SOS claimed the seizure was the result of months of surveillance by its Forest Watch anti-poaching unit. The STSF initiated an investigation into the hunting, procurement, and movement of the wildlife articles after the skins were traced to Madhya Pradesh.