As India gets ready to attend the forthcoming 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) from Saturday in South Africa, the country will put up the proposal to transfer Indian pangolins from Appendix II to Appendix I as the species is subject to increasing levels of poaching, largely for its meat and scales, both for local use and for illegal international trade.
The sources in the Ministry informed that the country has put up a proposal for changing the classification status of the species of Indian Pangolin. It is presently classified as 'Endangered' as per the IUCN Red list. However, the species is predicted to decline by 50% over the next two decades based on current rates of trade and there has been a marked decline in the population size in the wild and thus calls for a change in classification status.
India is unfortunately, becoming a major supplier of pangolin body parts to illegal markets in China, Vietnam and Thailand. Pangolin meat is a delicacy in Southeast Asian countries, and their blood is believed to have aphrodisiac properties. Their scales are used in traditional oriental medicine to cure various diseases, including headaches, asthma and certain cancers.