Gujarat: Video of woman holding barn owl goes viral, probe ordered

Jan 26, 2020, 01:48PM ISTSource: TNN

Video of a Tik Tok star identified as Kirti Patel, holding a barn owl, went viral on social media. It triggered a major controversy. The state forest department has ordered a probe considering the act of holding the endangered species an offence amounting to its harassment. Barn owls are protected under Schedule IV of the Wildlife Protection Act. The video was uploaded by Patel, who according to her Facebook account, is a freelance fashion designer based in Ahmedabad. In the video Patel compares human beings with owls and states that the night bird is better than human beings. “Owls can see only at night and they don’t see negative things. But humans, who can see 24 hours, are busy calling out negative points in others,” Patel is heard saying in the video, all the while holding the owl in one hand.

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