Agence France Presse

New Delhi, April 1:

A northern Indian state suspended its top wildlife warden today after a probe revealed lapses had allowed largescale tiger poaching in one of India’s most prestigious reserves, officials said. Rajasthan’s chief warden Arun Sen and seven others were suspended as “a follow-up to an internal enquiry of official lapses in the Sariska National Park,” the United News of

India (UNI) said, quoting senior state officials. The head ranger of Sariska, where conservationalists say most of its 26 listed tigers have been killed by poachers, was one of those suspended, federal officials in New Delhi said. Conservationists, who have labelled the poaching in Sariska as a “bloodbath”, hailed Sen’s suspension today and urged Rajasthan to follow up with action in other parks. “It is good thing that Rajasthan is taking the matter

seriously,” Belinda Wright, executive director of the privately-run Wildlife Protection Society of India, said.