A non-profit organisation/NGO “Wildlife SOS” that positioned itself as a champion of animal welfare has now come under the limelight after two of its employees were taken into custody by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department in connection with an alleged leopard poaching case, as reported in JanSatta.
Wildlife SOS is also facing questions over its alleged links to an elephant reportedly smuggled from Nepal and purchased in Uttar Pradesh.
Records of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) reportedly show that the NGO was connected to an elephant-trade case dating back to 2022. The development comes as Wildlife SOS CEO Kartik Satyarnarayana is also facing questioning in connection with the ongoing leopard poaching investigation.
On 13 March 2022, a WCCB team arrested Uttar Pradesh Police sub-inspector Nazuddin Khan, his son Ghulam Khan and their associate Nasir Ali in Jaipur with around 30 kg of ivory and a licensed revolver.
During the investigation, one of the accused reportedly told investigators that Suraj Pal, a Mathura resident associated with an NGO in Agra, had purchased a female elephant that had allegedly been smuggled into India from Nepal.
Investigators reportedly recovered chats from Nazuddin Khan’s phone referring to Suraj Pal’s elephant. One contact in the conversation was saved as “SOS.Baigo.Agra”, and the messages reportedly indicated that Kartik had been informed about the matter.
The Indian Express subsequently found that the number saved under the name “SOS.Baigo.Agra” belonged to Baiju Raj, the conservation director of Wildlife SOS. The NGO operates rescue centres for bears and elephants in Agra and Mathura.
The newspaper also reported that Suraj Pal had worked at these centres as an elephant caretaker. Wildlife SOS, however, said in an email that Pal had only been associated with the organisation for a short period and that his employment ended in 2016. The organisation said it could not comment on activities involving him after he left.
The alleged elephant transaction reportedly dates back to the first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. According to Ali’s interrogation records, he had allegedly smuggled a 35–40-year-old female elephant through the Hathihewa border route in Nepal into Kakarawa in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.
The elephant was reportedly owned by Nepal-based hotelier Ramesh Khatola in Sauraha, who allegedly sold it to Dinanath Verma of Kushinagar for ₹40 lakh. Verma then allegedly sold the elephant to Suraj Pal for ₹70 lakh.
All three accused in the 2022 ivory case have since been released on bail, while the trial remains pending.
Baiju Raj reportedly denied knowing Nazuddin Khan and said he had no knowledge of the alleged chats. Kartik Satyarnarayana also denied having knowledge of the alleged records and described the allegations as fabricated by individuals with personal grievances.
The then WCCB investigating officer, Devendra Singh Rathore, declined to comment when asked whether further action had been taken based on the information obtained during interrogation. The WCCB reportedly did not respond to requests for comment.
A former WCCB official told The Indian Express that the agency may not have known that Pal had worked with Wildlife SOS and could therefore have overlooked leads that might have helped establish the alleged cross-border smuggling trail.
The latest allegations come amid an ongoing investigation into alleged leopard poaching in Madhya Pradesh. Last month, the Madhya Pradesh Special Task Force arrested Wildlife SOS employees Bhagwan Singh alias Salim and his associate Wasim for their alleged involvement in the poaching of 10 leopards in the Shivpuri-Morena region.
Satyarnarayana has reportedly failed to appear before investigators on three occasions and has sought protection from arrest. On September 21, the Supreme Court granted him interim protection and directed him to appear before investigators on September 28.
Meanwhile, at least three investigators have told The Indian Express that they have for years raised concerns about Wildlife SOS’s rescue and anti-poaching practices.
A senior Uttar Pradesh forest official reportedly said investigators had, on some occasions, found substantial circumstantial evidence but had not been able to establish conclusive evidence.
According to the official, investigating agencies had been aware since at least 2007 of allegations that poachers were collecting bear cubs from forests on behalf of Wildlife SOS. A former senior investigator with a central agency also reportedly said investigators had become suspicious after bear cubs were repeatedly found abandoned in hotel rooms, though arrests could not be made because no caretakers were present at the locations.
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