S P Yadav, who has played an active role in curbing illegal wildlife trade, has been conferred the Rajiv Gandhi Wildlife Conservation Award, 2009.
Yadav is the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
These awards were given away on the occasion of birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by V. Rajagopalan, secretary Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF).
Yadav was given the award for cracking a hub of thriving illegal trade in wildlife specimens during his tenure as Divisional Forest Officer in Agra in 2007-08.
He was instrumental in major seizure of almost 30,000 wildlife specimens, including a large number of endangered species, in close coordination with the local police and Special Task Force (STF) of Utter Pradesh for successful prosecution of the offenders.
A press statement issued by the MoEF today said that the enormity of this seizure highlighted the scale of thriving illegal trade in lesser known endangered species of wildlife and its networking for their use in educational institutions.
It served as an eye opener and fostered the much needed awareness amongst local people, eventually leading to considerable reduction in demand for such specimens, the statement said.
The Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award 2010 was conferred upon in individual to Saurabh Gupta and Gaurav Gupta and in institutional category to Dadu Paryavaran Sansthan of Tonk district in Rajasthan.
