Alleging that the Red Indian Horned Owl, locally known as hoodoo, is being sold to NASA for facilitating research works, People for Animals, a non-government organisation working against cruelty against animals, has decided to move Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi urging the latter to initiate measures for protection of the endangered species.

Sangeeta Goswami, president of People for Animals, Assam chapter, alleged that the endangered birds are being sold for Rs 25 lakh each in the international market, which, of late, has caught the attention of animal activists worldwide.