ONGOLE: The Forest Department and the Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society (EGWS), a Visakhapatnam-based NGO, have joined hands to protect the world’s most-trafficked “Pangolin” species in the Nallamala Nagarjuna Sagar- Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) forest limits. The Forest department staff of the NSTR and EGWS have jointly undertaken a comprehensive survey on Pangolin species, their protection and other related issues.
This project will continue up to two years and as part of it, the forest department and EGWS will conduct public awareness camps and training sessions, special drives for the protection of Pangolin population, and to know more about their habitations in the NSTR limits. According to the wildlife conservation experts, this is the second such comprehensive survey project on the Indian Pangolins in the country. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has declared World Pangolin Day on February 15 to protect this endangered small scaly mammal species across the globe.
Under this survey, the joint teams are going to study in-depth the lifespan of Pangolins in Nallamala, their consumption of food, and whether they live in pairs and such other details. There are eight species of pangolins in the world and among them, India is home to two i.e., Indian Pangolin (in south India) and the Chinese Pangolin (north and north-east parts India), both of which are endangered. They are protected under an international treaty.
Pangolins are trafficked by the thousands for their scales, which are boiled for use in ‘traditional medicine’; for their meat, which is a high-end delicacy in Vietnam, Indonesia and China; and for their blood, which is seen as a healing tonic in those countries. As per an international survey, around 10,000 pangolins are trafficked every year illegally. In fact, none knows how many are actually left in the wild. But, scientists and activists say the number is shrinking fast.
The Pangolin, a rare, scales-covered nocturnal mammal, about the size of a medium house cat, looks like a walking pine-cone or a mini dinosaur or a baby crocodile. They don’t have teeth and are very shy in nature. When the pangolin is frightened, it immediately curls up into a roll ball as a self-protection mechanism.
Pangolins eat ants, termites and various larvae including the bee larvae, worms and flies etc with their long tongue. They reside in burrows dug by their strong front legs which have sharp nails. If Pangolins disappear, wild forest ecological balance may be damaged and it could lead to disastrous results in the entire environment.
They play a vital role in maintaining the ecological food chain. Though the Pangolins don’t have any qualities of better-known animals like tiger, lion, cheetah, jaguar, bear, etc., it is a hot cake on the international black market.
“Luckily we found some Pangolins in our NSTR limits which were caught in our trap cameras fixed to track tigers and other wild animals. A few years back, one case was also registered on a Pangolin catch in our NSTR limits. Now with the EGWS, we are starting this two-year field level survey to know more about Pangolins and their lifestyle, habitation, food habits, movements etc.
Some hunters catch them for trafficking to foreign countries mostly China, Vietnam etc where one Pangolin can be sold for Rs 60 lakh to Rs 1 crore. Now we are going to conduct more awareness camps in the surrounding villages of our NSTR forest and workshops with our field level staff to protect this endangered wild species in our NSTR limits” Visvesvara Rao, Forest Range Officer (FRO), Giddalur told TNIE.
KLN Murthy, founder of the EGWS organization, said many countries in the world are doing their best to protect this rapidly vanishing scaly ant-eater mammal species. It is reported that the illegal trafficking of Pangolins is there in our state. The forest department is determined to conserve this rare species by taking all measures.
“After consulting the NSTR- forest DD Vighnesh Appavu, we joined hands with the forest department. Now, EGWS will do its best to save the Indian Pangolin species in the Nallamala forest limits and try to make this a safe habitation for them. We are going to create awareness among the locals as well as the forest field level staff about how to stop poaching and illegal trade of Pangolins and how to provide rehabilitation here for the recovered pangolins and how to feed them properly etc,” Murthy explained.