Hyderabad, May 11: The Central government has banned the trade in peacock feathers and mere possession of the feathers is now a crime under the Wildlife Protection Act. The environment and forests ministry has taken the decision in order to stop the poaching and killing of peacocks mainly for their colourful feathers that are used in religious rituals and for decoration. At present the Act prohibits the killing of peacocks as well as export of tail feathers or articles made from them, but domestic trade in feathers or articles is allowed on the assumption that they are naturally shed. An amendment to Section 43(3)(a) and Section 44 of the Act will ban the domestic trade too. State forestry officers say there is no danger to peacocks in the state. The anti-poaching squad forest range officer, Mr Raja Ramana Reddy, said: