Intelligence wings and various law enforcement agencies of the eight South Asian countries -- Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - have now joined hands to tackle illegal wildlife trade in the region.

As a step towards joint co-operation in combating wildlife crime, a meeting of these enforcement agencies under the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN) took place at the headquarters of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here earlier this week.

A specialized training curriculum from INTERPOL's Environmental Crime Programme was delivered, along with input from other experts and additional technical support including the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

This comes in the wake of a report that at least four leopards are poached every week for illegal wildlife trade. It also states that more than 40 tigers were reportedly killed in India in the first half of 2013.

SAWEN member countries are looking for co-operation through information sharing.

Ends/AMA/06/07/13