World Pangolin Day on 20 February 2021

Image Source: worldpangolinday.org

The 10th Annual 'World Pangolin Day' will be celebrated on 20th February 2021

  Join 'World Pangolin Day' by creating awareness about the Plight of Pangolins and promising for the conservation of these unique mammals. World Pangolin Day is celebrated every year on the third Saturday of February month. This blog post is to create awareness about Pangolins which are found in India and the problem of 'Pangolin Hunting and Smuggling'. I request you all to share this post and create awareness about the endangered Pangolins in India.

Pangolins in India

Pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters belong to the Pholidota family. There is a total of eight species of pangolins in the world; out of which two are found in India - Indian Pangolins (Manis crassicaudata) and Chinese Pangolins (Manis pentadactyla). 

These species have large, protective keratine skins covering their skin. They live in hollow trees and burrows. Pangolin eats ants and termites, which they capture with their long tounges. 

The Indian Pangolins are found throughout the country except in some arid regions,  snowclad north Himalayas and North East. The Indian Pangolins have thick-tails. They have 11-13 rows of scales on their back. Like other pangolins, Indian Pangolins also curl themselves into a ball in self-defense against predators. Males are larger than females by 40% in weight. Pangolins are solitary animals. They meet only to mate. They raise their children for two years. Chinese Pangolins are found in the Himalayan region, near the borders of Tibet, Nepal, China, etc. They can be easily distinguished due to the absence of the Termite Scale layer, which is found only in the Indian Pangolin. In ICUN Red List 'Indian Pangolin' is classified as 'Endangered species' while 'Chinese Pangolin' comes under 'Critically Endangered'. 

Threats to Pangolins:

    Pangolins are in high demand for 'Chinese traditional medicine' in Southern China and Vietnam because their scales are believed to have medicinal properties. Their meat is also considered a delicacy. Apart from this, some Indian Tribes are also involved in hunting and consumption of its Meat. Deforestation and reducing ant and termite rich habitat all have contributed to the large decrease in the population of the Pangolins. It is believed that thousands of Pangolins are trafficked illegally to China every year from across the world for treating asthma, cancer, and reproduction-related problems under TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicines). Under special circumstances, legal trading of Pangolins also happens in China due to loopholes in WildLife related laws. Chinese pay up to $1000 for alive Pangolin and $300 per one kilo of Pangolin meat. Chinese consider eating Pangolin meat as a luxury. Their eating habits have started backfiring as we can see the Spread of Novel Coronavirus in the year 2020 from their wet markets. Another ploy to market Pangolin is they put a battery-operated light in it to emit light so it can get sold as a Lucky charm to customers for as high as $4000. The blind faith makes them sell the pet Pangolin to another China-man seeking luck at a higher price. This way the price of live Pangolin goes on increasing as it changes the hands. Pangolin trade is also linked to Narcotics. Methamphetamine kind of psychotic drugs is also made from its scales.  These are several reasons why Pangolins are the most trafficked animals in the world. 

Pangolin Conservation Issues in India

     As per data, nearly 6000 pangolins were poached in India from 2009 to 2017. Over 3000 pangolins were hunted for meat and 5000 Kgs plus of Pangolins were confiscated in more than two dozens of seizures. As per the TRAFFIC network, Manipur and Tamil Nadu state people are more involved in the smuggling of these endangered species. Pangolins from the Southern States are collected in Chennai from where they are sent to China through Myanmar. The Pangolins from North India are trafficked through Jammu, Nepal to China. The central part of India collects Pangolins and sends them to China through West Bengal and Odisha routes. As per the Mongabay India website, Sapera, nomadic Bawariyas, etc communities are mostly culprits in the Pangolin-Trafficking cases who deal from Tamu (Tamilnadu), Moreh (West Bengal), Berhampur (Odisha), etc. areas. It becomes very difficult to track down these Smugglers as most of the time they use Fishing Export establishment to export the Pangolin meat to China. 

    In  India, Pangolins are protected under Schedule 1, Part 1, of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972. Hunting or Trading Pangolins can send the culprit to Jail for three to seven years and a fine of more than INR10,000. We see news of Pangolin seizing frequently than any other animals in India. Fortunately, people in India are aware of the endangered status of the Pangolins. They immediately call Toll-Free number 1926 to inform the Forest Department. Police act as a dummy customer and reach sellers in undercover to catch they red-handed with Pangolins. We have seen a recent case of Satara where Wai based mastermind Vijapurkar and his gang were caught with Pangolin while they were trying to sell it. 

As a responsible citizen of India, we must protect WildLife by raising our voice whenever we come across such illegal trafficking and poaching. Inform Wildlife Crime Control Bureau immediately if you encounter any such hunters and smugglers.  It is important to raise awareness about Pangolins. Kindly take part in the online campaign of World Pangolin Day of 20th February 2021. Share this post on your Social Media with HashTage #WorldPangolinDay and #SavePangolin. Do not forget to Follow this Blog for more such posts on Environment and Wildlife Protection. Join hands with 'Ratneya Cares' to show that you too care about the environment and the wildlife.