On an average, two pangolins are poached daily in India and their meat and scales are mostly smuggled to neighbouring China for medicinal purpose.
On the eve of World Pangolin Day 2018, TRAFFIC, a global NGO revealed that at least 5,772 endangered mammals were illegally traded in India between 2009 and 2017 at an average of 650 pangolins every year.
“However, this is a conservative estimate. Since only a fraction of illegal wildlife trade is detected, the actual number is likely to be far higher. Most of these poached animals are sold to neighbouring China where pangolin scales are in high demand for their aphrodisiac and medicinal value,” said Dr Saket Badola, Head of TRAFFIC’s India office.
He further added that, “The number of pangolins in illegal wildlife trade in India is of concern and without proper population estimates, the impact of such trade is unclear and could pose a significant threat to the species.”
He called for intensifying efforts to curtail poaching and illegal trade in pangolins through improved inter agency co-operation and an international crackdown on the wildlife traffickers.
TRAFFIC’s latest study recorded 90 cases of pangolin seizures in India during the nine-year study period, of which the majority (83) were of pangolin scales, clearly indicating that scales are the main pangolin product trafficked in the country. Manipur and Tamil Nadu emerged as the hotspots for pangolin smuggling, where the majority of seizures took place, according to the NGO.
Between 2009 and 2013, majority of the 46 seizures were made in Eastern or North-eastern parts of India, including Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and West Bengal.
The trend changed in between 2014 and 2017, when majority of 44 seizures were made from Southern and Central parts of India, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. This indicated a regional shift in the poaching and smuggling of pangolins in India.
Hunting and trade in both the pangolin species - Indian Pangolin Manis crassicaudata and the Chinese Pangolin Manis pentadactyla- is banned under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 while their international trade is prohibited under CITES (Convention on International Trade In Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
The Indian Pangolin is found across almost all of the country, while the distribution of the Chinese Pangolin in India is restricted to the North-East.
Terming the pangolins as farmer’s friend as they help keep a check on ants and termites population, Ravi Singh, CEO of the WWF-India said, “The large number of pangolins in illegal wildlife trade is alarming, as a population decline of pangolins could lead to serious ecological imbalance.”