The endangered bird is prized as an ingredient for tantrik rituals and for the extremely sensitive lens on its eyes. One owl can fetch anywhere between Rs 250,000 to Rs 500,000.
The forest officials confiscated one live owl and one dead owl form the house of Rohit Gurung at Bhedifaram. They also confiscated another from the house of Dilram Pun and one each from the houses of Kumar Sunar and Asha Bahadur Gurung of Rambazar.
The raid was conducted with the help of Roots and Shoots, an environmental organization. The birds were released at the Jayakot Community Forest.
Those who were caught with the birds say that their purpose for breeding these birds was for their meat but according to Manoj Gautam of Roots and Shoots, Eurasian eagle owls are smuggled to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The forest office had to let go the men who were caught with the owls with a warning due to lack regulations.
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