Goalpara, Aug 11: Pangolins despite being listed as a Schedule 1 animal still continue to be traded and hunted. They are reported to be the “most trafficked wild mammal in the world” threatened by indiscriminate hunting and poaching.

The Northeast is a prominent trade route in the trafficking of pangolin scales and other illicit wildlife from India into China.

Assam Forest Department apprehended a group of poachers at Daranggiri in Goalpara district on Sunday, catching them red-handed with pangolin scales.

Forest officials acted on a tip-off that poachers from neighboring Meghalaya were planning to smuggle pangolin scales into the Goalpara area. The authorities intercepted four individuals at a roadside eatery in Daranggiri, where they were attempting to sell the scales for Rs 20,000. A team from the Rangjuli Forest Office promptly arrested the suspects and seized the scales.

There have been reports earlier of poachers from Meghalaya smuggling pangolin.

Dharmendra Das, of Rangjuli Forest, stated that the scales weighed approximately one kilogram and have an estimated market value of Rs 1.5 lakh.

The arrested individuals, identified as Jindas Momin, Benarson Momin, Kilen Sangma, and Cabisto Momin, are all residents under the Kharkutta police station in Meghalaya. The forest department has registered a case against the smugglers and has initiated further investigations.

The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is reported to have seized 336.9 kg of pangolin scales
from 2019-2022 in the country. At least 1203 pangolins have been found in illegal wildlife trade in India
during 2018-2022, according to the seizure of live pangolins and their derivatives in India.

Pangolins are also ecosystem engineers that build burrows that help circulate soil organic matter, increase soil moisture and aeration and affect plant community succession through their burying behaviour. The burrows made by pangolins also get utilised as shelters by other species within their ecosystem. Habitat loss also impacts the species significantly.

Read: Manipur CM appeals to Ministers, MLAs to share lunch with people in relief camps on Independence Day

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