Why recent instances of pangolin poaching are worrying forest authorities in Telangana

Inquiries point to three more instances of pangolin smuggling linked to the one busted in the state’s Amrabad. Around the same time, two similar instances of pangolin poaching were reported in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district. “It suggests the resurgence of middlemen in the region who lure poor tribal youths with small amounts of money,” said senior Telangana forest officials.

Pangolins in India

The Indian pangolin, scientifically called Manis crassicaudata, is one of eight such pangolin species available worldwide. It is protected in the country under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972—granting it the highest level of protection—and its international trade is banned under Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora.

The 2023 analysis of pangolin seizures in India by TRAFFIC and WWF-India for 2018-2022 found 1203 endemic pangolins poached and trafficked for illicit wildlife trade in 342 seizure incidents.

Over a period of five years, 199 live pangolins were seized across the country, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) data reveals. This translates to around 40 live pangolins a year. More than 880 kg of pangolin derivatives were also reportedly seized in 342 incidents during the five years.

The Indian pangolin, scientifically called Manis crassicaudata, is one of eight such pangolin species available worldwide.

In India, the pangolin is seen in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhad, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Among these states, Odisha reported the highest number of seizures during the five-year period, equivalent to 154 pangolins in 74 incidents. This was followed by Karnataka with 150 pangolins, Maharashtra (135), Tamil Nadu (125), West Bengal (108), Assam (106), Chattisgarh (95), Maghalaya (54), Uttarakhand (41), Telangana (30) and Andhra Pradesh (22).

A defensive posture that ‘harms’

Although capable of protecting themselves against natural predators, thanks to the armoured scales, pangolins are highly vulnerable to poachers who pick them up when they curl into a ball when threatened. Ironically, it is their defensive posture that renders them highly susceptible to poaching.

While their scales make for exotic coats, their meat remains a delicacy in several Southeast Asian countries. The mammal is also used in traditional Chinese medicine, skyrocketing its demand globally. “The mediators claim the value of a pangolin to be Rs 10 lakh or more. We cannot take it at face value unless we catch the buyers,” says a forest officer in Andhra’s Anantapur district where officers arrested five persons in November in two instances of pangolin smuggling.

In Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district, 13 people were arrested by forest officers after they seized a pangolin being smuggled into the Amrabad tiger reserve on November 10. Investigations revealed that the pangolin was caught by tribal youths at the Maddimadugu range of its Amrabad division. The officers found out that it was the same gang that was involved in another illegal pangolin trade busted by officers in Rangareddy district.

According to the data available from the Telangana forest department’s anti-poaching wing, two live pangolins were seized from Nirmal and Sirpur Kagaznagar in 2020, one was seized in Nirmal in 2021, one was seized near Shamshabad in 2022, while no seizure was reported in 2023. In 2024, three instances of illegal trade of live pangolins were stopped at Bhupalpally, Shamshabad, and Maddimadigu in October and November 2024.

“We cannot say there is a rise in pangolin smuggling but there is definitely a cause for concern with three cases in about a month. A pangolin is a friendly animal and it is easy to capture one. The mediators then look for buyers who smuggle them to Mumbai, Chennai or other seaports and out of the country. Otherwise, there is no market for pangolins in the country,” explains Tirumala Ramesh Kumar, Forest Range Officer, Anti-Poaching Squad, Telangana.

Pangolin smuggling, like any other form of smuggling, involves three layers – those who catch the animal in the forest, the middlemen, and the buyer. Often, it is the middlemen who are caught during transit with live pangolins and further investigation hits a wall as buyers are not involved yet. Officials point out that tribal youths are lured with as little as Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 to catch live pangolins from the forest.

In Telangana, three of the seven poaching cases registered in the last seven years were reported in the previous two months.

“Catching a pangolin is not as easy as it sounds, it requires some skill, especially considering that the animal is not in abundance and is nocturnal in nature,” says a forest officer in Amrabad.

After reaching out to tribals, the intermediaries start looking out for buyers. It is often during their quest for buyers that they get caught. “The investigations revealed that the same people have caught five pangolins in the last few months and two of them were seized alive. It came to light that the poachers themselves lost the rest during their search for buyers. The investigation is still progressing,” says Rohith Gopidi, district forest officer, Nagarkurnool.

He added that the animal’s nocturnal nature also allowed it to escape easily. “Rs 20,000 for the catcher is not a small amount and it is paid by the intermediary in the hope of finding a buyer who may pay in lakhs for a pangolin,” he explains.

Tribal people lured with promise of money

Even as it is clear that an invisible demand for a pangolin is prevalent in the local market among illegal animal traders, foresters believe tribal people are being misled with promises of big money. “We believe that it is here that our ecotourism initiatives – engaging local tribal people for sustainable and economically viable activities – would come in handy. Otherwise, the lure of money is destroying nature. No one realises the magnitude or gravity of such poaching if it continues unabated,” adds Gopidi.

R M Dobriyal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, and the head of the forest force in Telangana, agrees that any form of wildlife crime, including poaching, cannot be allowed. “While human-animal conflict is one cause for wildlife crimes, especially in the case of tigers, it is the lack of prey base and suitable habitat due to poaching and encroachments of forest lands that lead to human-animal conflict. Habitat management is one way how such human-animal conflict could be avoided. It roughly requires a prey base of around 500 animals for one tiger to sustain itself in its habitat for a year,” explains Dobriyal, who says organised crime is not at an alarming state in Telangana, but the department is alert and aware.

One of the reasons the investigations into wildlife crimes hit a roadblock after the arrest of perpetrators and intermediaries is that the department lacks intelligence networks and support on the ground to track down the people behind the illegal trade. “Unless we know the organised networks and the origin of the crime, we cannot do much about poaching,” says Ajaya Kumar Naik, Chief Wildlife Warden of the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department.

Stern action against organised crime and raising awareness among local people is thought to be the way forward. “The tribal people hardly make any money. So, as a solution, we are trying to involve them in all our ecotourism development activities like in Amrabad where 250 Chenchu tribals are educated and engaged as naturalists, guides, drivers, and staff. They are given skill development training in making jute bags to earn a living. We are also providing them with healthcare and employment,” says Dobriyal, explaining the department’s countermeasures to stop wildlife crimes at the grassroots.