A YouTuber has been arrested and jailed in India after allegedly cooking and eating a peacock, a protected national bird.
Aspiring influencer Kodam Pranay Kumar posted a video on his YouTube channel of himself eating a curry apparently made from the bird.
As part of the investigation, samples of the dish have been confiscated and sent to a forensic laboratory to determine exactly what kind of meat it was.
Pranay Kumar was arrested on Monday after police said “further videos on his mobile phone confirmed” the curry contained peacock.
The YouTuber, who has 277,000 subscribers to his channel, has denied the allegations and insisted the dish was actually made with chicken.
Kodam Pranay Kumar (pictured) posted a video of himself eating a curry on his YouTube channel that was apparently made with peacock.
Peacocks have special symbolic importance in India and are protected by strict wildlife laws (file photo)
Akhil Mahajan, superintendent of police in the southern state of Telangana, where Pranay Kumar is from, said: “He is now in jail on 14-day remand under the Wildlife Protection Act and the court will now decide whether he will remain in jail or get bail.”
The video, which has now been removed from Pranay Kumar’s channel, was titled ‘Traditional Peacock Curry Recipe’ and appeared to show a step-by-step guide on how to prepare the dish.
However, the video sparked a backlash on social media and Pranay Kumar was accused of disrespecting a national symbol of India and encouraging illegal consumption of wildlife.
Animal rights activists have also claimed that Pranay Kumar used to post similar videos on his YouTube channel.
Police are currently investigating how the YouTuber managed to use the alleged peacock to prepare the curry.
Peacocks have special symbolic importance in India and are protected by strict wildlife laws.
These birds once had a huge population in parts of northern India, but rapid urbanization has drastically reduced their numbers in the wild.
The birds once had huge populations in parts of northern India, but rapid urbanisation has drastically reduced their numbers in the wild.
They are now protected by strict wildlife laws that impose severe punishments and fines for anyone who hunts or harms them.
Two farmers from Vikarabad district of Telangana were arrested in June this year for allegedly eating a peacock.
Forest officials found peacock feathers in a field, but the bird’s body was missing. The peacock is believed to have been electrocuted.
And in 2023, three workers in Odisha were arrested for allegedly hunting a peacock and eating it.
One and a half kilos of meat were recovered, as well as feathers, traps and a net.
